Intro to Position

The Senior Manager, Corporate Communications is a key driver of NPR's institutional communications, helping the organization communicate clearly, consistently, and confidently with employees, member stations, donors, partners, policymakers, and the public.

Reporting to the Vice President, Communications, this role develops communications strategies that strengthen NPR's reputation, support organizational priorities, and help audiences understand the mission, impact, and value of public media and NPR’s wide array of content.

The Senior Manager drives corporate and executive communications execution, partnering closely with colleagues across Communications, Brand, Legal, People, Development, Policy, and other departments to deliver high-impact communications around major organizational initiatives, executive visibility, media relations, and institutional storytelling.

This role leads and develops Corporate Communications staff and works closely with colleagues across the Communications division to ensure message consistency and alignment with overall strategy. 

The ideal candidate is an exceptional strategist, writer, and operator who brings sound judgment, strong execution skills, and the ability to communicate effectively during moments of both opportunity and change.

Corporate communications strategy

• Develop and execute communications strategies that support NPR's organizational priorities and strengthen the institution's reputation.
• Develop and drive integrated communications strategies for key announcements, strategic initiatives, and major milestones.
• Build and maintain a central communications calendar for major organizational initiatives, announcements, milestones, and executive appearances.
• Develop messaging that clearly communicates NPR's mission, priorities, and impact.
• Ensure institutional communications are aligned across all audiences, platforms, and channels.
• Identify opportunities to proactively tell NPR's story and strengthen public understanding of its work.

Executive communications 

• Drive day-to-day communications support for executive speaking and interviews.
• Ensure end-to-end preparation for executive appearances, including message development, briefing documents and prep sessions. 
• Author high-impact executive speeches, town hall remarks, op-eds, and executive social content (e.g., LinkedIn).
• Coordinate with conference organizers and reporters to ensure opportunities are fully vetted and all relevant information is collected. 

Media relations

• Oversee corporate media relations, ensuring timely and appropriate responses to incoming media requests.
• Drive proactive media strategy for corporate priorities, owning announcement planning, exclusives, and embargo sequencing.
• Maintain and build relationships with key reporters and secure earned media around key milestones. 
• Serve as a press contact for sensitive and complex coverage; supporting rapid response in partnership with the VP, Communications.

Stakeholder engagement

• Build strong relationships with colleagues across NPR to develop thoughtful communications strategies.
• Meet regularly with stakeholders to ensure visibility into corporate communications calendar and executive appearances. 
• Bring people together around shared messages and common objectives.

Team and operations

• Support staff to effectively deliver on priorities.
• Coach and develop communications staff.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing team culture.
• Set priorities, manage workloads, and support professional growth.
• Encourage thoughtful planning, strong writing, and continuous learning.

The above duties and responsibilities are not an exhaustive list of required responsibilities, duties and skills. Other duties may be assigned, and this job description can be modified at any time.

Minimum Qualifications 

• 7+ years of experience in corporate communications, executive communications, public affairs, or strategic communications.
• Experience leading communications strategies for complex organizations.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and messaging skills.
• Demonstrated experience supporting senior executives.
• Experience managing sensitive communications and organizational issues.
• Strong leadership and people management experience.
• Excellent judgment, diplomacy, and relationship-building skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting executive leadership teams and Boards.
• Familiarity with issues management and crisis communications.
• Experience leading cross-functional communications initiatives.

Required Skills/Competencies

• Exceptional strategic thinking and judgment.
• Outstanding writing and editing skills.
• Strong executive presence and communication skills.
• Excellent relationship-building and collaboration abilities.
• Calm decision-making under pressure.
• Political awareness and organizational sensitivity.
• Curiosity and openness to diverse perspectives.
• Strong coaching and people leadership skills.
• Ability to simplify complex issues into clear, compelling communications.

Education Requirements

• Equivalent hands-on experience, in lieu of a bachelor’s degree.

Work Location & Requirements

• NPR and SAG-AFTRA Hybrid Permitted: This is a hybrid permitted role. The employee will be required to be in the office at the Washington, D.C. or New York City location at least 3 days a week. The employee must also be in commuting distance to Washington, D.C. or New York City.

Job Type

• This is a full-time, exempt position.

Compensation

Salary Range: The U.S.-based anticipated salary range for this opportunity is $140,000-$155,000 plus benefits. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salaries NPR expects to provide for new hires for the position across all US locations.

NPR Benefits: NPR provides comprehensive benefits for employees and dependents. Regular, full-time employees scheduled to work 30 hours or more per week are eligible to enroll in NPR’s benefits options. Benefits include access to health and wellness, paid time off, and financial well-being. Plan options include medical, dental, vision, life/ accidental death and dismemberment, long-term disability, short-term disability, and voluntary retirement savings to all eligible NPR employees. 

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