Communications Coordinator

Job Details

Job Type: Exempt

Position: Full Time (Mid-level)

Location: Portland, OR

Compensation: $67,000.00 - $67,000.00 (Annually)

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To Apply Submit your cover letter, resume, and work sample by visiting our website. The cover letter should include why you are applying to Children’s Institute as the Communications Coordinator and how your experience aligns with the role. The work sample should include a writing and design sample.

Deadline: Oct 18, 2024

Application Link

Job Description

At Children’s Institute (CI), we are making Oregon a great place to be a kid. We envision a socially just and equitable Oregon where all children have the love, care, and education they need. CI leverages research, practice, policy, and advocacy to shift systems toward justice for families so that all of Oregon’s children, prenatal to grade 5, have access to opportunity. We are focused on children who experience barriers to opportunity due to race, poverty, disability, language, and geographic location. And we strive to connect research, lived experience, and community voice as we work to ensure that more children succeed in kindergarten, meet third grade benchmarks, and thrive in their early childhood experiences. CI prioritizes an integrated, team-based work culture grounded in our values of honor, equity, learning, connectedness, and innovation. This position is open to applicants residing anywhere in Oregon.

Position Description CI is looking for someone who is excited and energized by our mission who will bring their creativity, curiosity, and confidence to our work. The Communications Coordinator position is an exciting opportunity for a strong communicator skilled at translating complex content into plain language. You will use storytelling and narrative to support CI’s mission and work as an integral part of a four-person team. You will contribute to the organization’s overall digital presence, create a range of content for the website, emails, and social media, and assist with other communications functions with a broad range of audiences. Collaboration with multiple CI teams is essential, including policy, advocacy, school-based, executive, and development teams. We are looking for candidates with a strong communications background and excellent writing and technical skills, a passion for storytelling, and the ability to dig deep into complex issues related to early care and education. The Communications Coordinator will have a demonstrated commitment to advancing racial and economic justice. An understanding of the state and federal legislative landscape is helpful.

Essential Responsibilities

Communications Responsibilities

• Lead the development of social media content and strategy across multiple social platforms to increase audience growth and engagement.
• Produce multimedia content, including podcasts and videos.
• Create images for social media, website, and documents or publications.
• Write a wide range of communications materials including articles and website content, policy briefs, event documents, and press releases.
• Contribute to adding content to the website.
• Generate content and production ideas for audience engagement across communication, marketing, and public relations.
• Analyze social media, email, podcast, and website data to inform and refine communications strategies, goals, and learnings.
• Contribute to the development of the strategic communications plan and editorial calendar.
• Conduct research, interviews, and media outreach, as needed.
• Build knowledge and expertise of organizational point of view, advocacy efforts, programs, and other content areas.
• Support staff teams by editing and proofreading memos, reports, and presentations.
• Interact with contractors to support content creation, including website, video, and graphic design.

Other Responsibilities

• Support equity and inclusion initiatives within CI and support a culture of belonging.

• Serve as the communications point, primarily for the policy and advocacy and development teams, and as a liaison with other teams, as needed.
• Communicate about CI’s priority issues in a thorough manner that demonstrates familiarity with key subjects.

• Provide support to special projects and collaborate across CI programs, as needed.
• Engage in growth and leadership opportunities.
• Occasional travel to research and capture stories or other content or participate in professional development.
• Other tasks as assigned.

Qualifications and Requirements

Preferred Skills and Experience Any satisfactory combination of experience and education that ensures the ability of an individual to perform the duties and responsibilities of this position may substitute for the stated qualifications.

• A minimum of two years of organization communications experience that includes writing and editing, maintaining websites and social media accounts, and/or mass email communications.
• Demonstrated experience with generating and managing social media creation and distribution.
• Experience with multimedia content creation and editing with Adobe Creative Suite, Canva or other applications.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and proofreading skills with the ability to quickly absorb and explain complex information and interpret ideas for a variety of audiences.
• Proven digital skills including experience using content management systems such as WordPress, mass email tools such as EveryAction, project management tools, and basic knowledge of HTML.
• A commitment to practices of diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism.
• Demonstrated understanding of early childhood issues, policy advocacy, or health policy.
• Excellent interpersonal communications skills with a demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and build trust and rapport with a range of diverse community partners and staff.
• Ability to prioritize multiple projects, work under pressure, create solutions, and meet multiple deadlines.
• A self-starter who is flexible, motivated, and takes intiative.

Don’t meet every single requirement? At Children’s Institute, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace that exemplifies our values of honor and equity. If you’re excited about this role but concerned your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply!

Benefits

• Employer fully paid medical/dental coverage for employees
• Employer fully paid long-term disability coverage
• Employer fully paid life insurance, accidental death, and employee assistance plan
• 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan with qualified match and contribution
• 125 Flexible Benefits Plan
• Generous paid time off, sick leave, and holidays

Other Info

Equal Employment Statement Children’s Institute is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. It is the policy of CI to provide equal employment opportunity in accordance with applicable law to all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, military status, political opinion, national origin, familial status, mental and physical ability, source of income, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law in all personnel actions. Personnel actions include recruitment, selection, promotion, compensation, training, and termination. Relations between employees shall be based on mutual respect and regard for the effectiveness and well-being of the organization.

Reasonable Accommodation Statement Consistent with applicable disability law, Children’s Institute will provide reasonable accommodations to assist qualified applicants or employees with disabilities to participate in the job application process, to perform the essential functions of a job, and to enjoy the same benefits and privileges of employment applicable to similarly situated employees without disabilities, provided the accommodation would not impose an “undue hardship” on the operation of CI. Please contact the Director of People and Culture, Whitney Wong, [email protected], with any requests for accommodations.

COVID-19 Vaccination Policy Children’s Institute agrees to follow the internal protocols for partner organizations and school districts as a condition of employment for all employees unless they are granted reasonable accommodation under applicable law.

To Apply Submit your cover letter, resume, and work sample by clicking the apply link above. The cover letter should include why you are applying to Children’s Institute as the Communications Coordinator and how your experience aligns with the role. The work sample should include a writing and design sample.

About the Organization

We’re making Oregon the best place to be a kid. Children’s Institute has always worked passionately to improve outcomes for Oregon’s kids. Since our founding in 2003, we’ve come to know that a brighter future for our state rests on a foundation of love and care for every child and family. Love sometimes requires a reckoning. We have to grapple with a difficult truth: many policies and practices designed to address economic inequity do not meet the needs of children of color and children living in rural communities. We’re committed to shifting these systems toward justice. And we invite you to join us.