Communications Manager

Basics

Wild Animal Initiative is seeking a Communications Manager to work directly with our leadership team to develop our content strategy and production across a variety of platforms. We’re looking for a communications generalist who can scale our outreach to academic researchers, nonprofit collaborators, and prospective donors. The ideal candidate will have 5 years of communications experience, 2 years of public relations experience, and history of connecting with scientific audiences. This is a full-time, fully remote, US-based position on a small, flexible team that is looking to double in size over the next year. Salary: $55,584-$67,936.

• Start date: August 1, 2021.
• Terms of employment: Full time (approximately 40 hours per week), exempt.
• Salary: $55,584-$67,936, depending on the approximate cost of living in your area. For a complete description of how we set and raise salaries, see our salary algorithm.
• Location: Permanently remote. US or UK preferred. Must be able to closely collaborate with US team members working on Eastern Time and Central Time. Our organization is permanently remote, with staff in locations ranging from California to Sweden.
• Reports to: Deputy Director Cameron Meyer Shorb.
• Direct reports: Currently none, but personnel management will likely become part of the role as we build our team.

How you will make a difference

Even in nature, most wild animals struggle to survive every day. Unfortunately, preserving habitats or species does not guarantee that the animals themselves have good lives free of disease, hunger, or other afflictions.

At Wild Animal Initiative, we believe we have a responsibility to act to improve the well-being of wildlife. But responsible action requires sound science, and there is still so much we don’t know about which animals are sentient, what their lives are like in the wild, and how we can safely and sustainably help them. Our organization fosters the development of a new academic field dedicated to understanding wild animal welfare. We conduct original research, connect academics from diverse disciplines, and secure funding for the most promising projects.

Prioritizing welfare represents a new scientific paradigm, and launching that paradigm requires informing and engaging academic researchers, nonprofit collaborators, and visionary philanthropists. Recent recognition and discussion of our work has made that more tractable than ever. Now that we are entering a new phase in progress toward our mission, we are seeking a Communications Manager to develop and execute a strategy to multiply the impact of our messaging.

Responsibilities

The core function of the Communications Manager is to be a master of the craft on an otherwise self-taught communications team. They will work closely with the Development Director and the Research Communications Specialist to build a sophisticated communications program that can keep pace with our organization’s rapid growth. Although this role currently has no direct reports, we expect the Communications Manager to take on management responsibilities as we continue to build our team.

Strategy:

Spearhead the Communications Team’s strategic planning, working directly with senior leadership to set long-term goals, develop our audience, and maintain our brand. Specific projects may include:

• Conducting a stakeholder analysis.
• Proposing a detailed one-year communications strategic plan.
• Evaluating and revising our messaging pillars.
• Coordinating the redesign of our brand and logo.

Program marketing:

Plan and coordinate marketing campaigns to spread awareness of our services — including our grant-making, networking, and research support services — through targeted outreach to academic audiences and relevant institutions. Specific projects may include:

• Creating a marketing plan for each new call for proposals (1-4 per year)
• Hosting webinars to attract and inform participants in our programs.
• Coordinating between communications staff, grant managers, researchers, and other staff as needed for smooth execution of our plans.

Public and media relations:

Launch and take charge of our earned media program, including maintaining relationships with the press and producing content for broad distribution.

• Identifying the publications most likely to reach academic researchers or other stakeholders.
• Pitching news stories and op-eds to journalists.
• Finding and booking speaking engagements at conferences, universities, and other relevant groups or events.
• Providing media training to other staff.

Other media:

Support the Research Communications specialist by advising on and occasionally contributing to our:

• Website
• Blog
• Email campaigns
• Social media

Requirements

The success of our mission depends on the diversity of our team. We strongly encourage people of every color, age, orientation, gender, origin, and physical ability to apply.

• Work experience: 5 years of experience in relevant communications roles, including at least two years of experience in public relations (Preferred: marketing agency experience).
• Pitching: Demonstrated ability to build media relationships and successfully place stories in prominent publications.
• Science communications: Demonstrated ability to communicate technical information in a way that is simultaneously compelling to experts and accessible to non-experts.
• Storytelling: Demonstrated ability to shape clear, effective, and engaging narratives from ideation to delivery.
• Cross-functional work: Demonstrated ability to coordinate communications work across earned, owned, shared, and paid media.
• (Preferred) Management: 2 years experience managing direct reports working across multiple channels.
• (Preferred) Relevant scientific experience: Work, volunteer, or course experience in conservation, environmental sciences, biology, or related fields.
• (Preferred) Press contacts: A strong network of relationships with journalists at publications read by scientists and academics.
• (Preferred) Graphic design: Ability to design and produce digital graphic materials for our website, social media, or marketing.
• (Preferred) Public speaking: Comfortable and effective at speaking in front of live audiences with or without rehearsal.

General skills:

• Vocational range: Enthusiasm for moving between high-level strategy, project management, and detailed execution.
• Attention to detail: Exceptional attention to detail, especially in the domains of copy-editing and graphic design review.
• Remote work: Ability to thrive in a remote work environment.
• Mission motivation: Commitment to furthering our mission of understanding and improving the lives of wild animals by developing an academic field focused on welfare rather than naturalness.
• Start-up mentality: Comfort making decisions under uncertainty, experimenting with new approaches, and adapting to a quickly changing environment.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health and dental insurance.
• Four weeks of paid vacation, 12 holidays, two weeks of sick leave.
• A fully remote work environment that allows you to choose when and where you work, including a stipend of up to $2,000 for home office expenses.
• A friendly, open work culture that encourages feedback, collaboration, and experimentation.
• Opportunities for advancement as our team and programs continue their growth trajectory.