Senior Director of Marketing and Communications

This is a full-time position located from a remote office.

What You’ll Do

In partnership with the CEO and Chief of Finance and Strategy, the Senior Director of Marketing and Communications will lead the marketing team, carrying forward Instruction Partners’ marketing and communications strategy and plans while collaborating with internal teams to best support their work. Specifically, you will:

Responsibilities:

Marketing and communications strategy

• Develop, execute, and oversee the implementation of marketing strategy, including campaigns, content marketing, success stories, events and conferences, public relations, and earned media with an overall focus on:
  • Audience engagement: Grow our known audience, specifically in our target regions
  • Sustainability: Generate warm marketing-qualified leads for specific business streams
  • Brand awareness: Build brand awareness nationally
  • Thought leadership: Influence the field
  • Internal development: Maintain brand professionalism (e.g., design, polish, guidelines); create/provide resources for the internal team; equip and empower all team members to be true stewards of the brand

Thought leadership, public affairs, and market research

• Position Instruction Partners’ key messages so that they speak to the organization’s target audiences
• Support the growth of Instruction Partners’ brand identity
  • With a PR consultant, develop and execute an earned media strategy that builds national brand awareness and elevates the profiles of our executive leaders
• Ensure that assets are meaningful, well written, and beautifully designed in partnership with the CEO and other internal teams.
• Support the development and release of CEO thought leadership assets (e.g., blogs, op-eds, keynote presentations)

External communications and lead generation

• Oversee the development of priority, externally facing assets to ensure that they are of high quality and aligned to key messages
• Leverage thought leadership and program team releases to create assets that tell compelling stories and provide genuine value to our audiences, including current and prospective partners
• Oversee the development of marketing campaigns targeted to primary educator audiences, in sync with district buying patterns and timelines
• Lead collateral development to highlight our services, including pitch presentations, partner artifacts, annual reports, marketing flyers, and keynote presentations
• Oversee the maintenance of and updates to Instruction Partners’ website to ensure ease of user experience, message alignment, and SEO optimization
• Oversee the development of a social media strategy to grow our known audience

Engagement (sales)/development support

• Work with members of the executive leadership and sales teams to monitor competition, identify opportunities for growth, and develop  partner recruitment strategies
• Establish and document criteria for moving contacts through a marketing funnel and delivering marketing qualified leads to the sales team
• Utilize inbound marketing software (i.e., Hubspot) to direct email nurture campaigns that move contacts through the marketing to the sales funnel

Systems and reporting

• Oversee the implementation of a system for tracking and reporting marketing progress to goals; provide senior leadership with regular updates
• Oversee the maintenance of a content calendar and project management system
• Provide marketing data insights for grant applications and fundraising reports

Internal marketing-related communications

• Elevate relevant news and research to the team (leadership team or whole org based on context)
• Develop new employees’ skills as brand ambassadors; ​​regularly communicate the value of brand stewardship organization-wide
• Serve as the internal keeper of marketing knowledge and provide ongoing training and support across teams on effective communications strategies, writing and designing best practices, how to support marketing initiatives, and—in partnership with the engagement team—training on sales best practices and processes (e.g., building sales confidence for new business and renewals)

Team management

• Oversee a marketing and communications team of three to four direct reports
• Support planning and manage the execution of the team’s work
• Support internal team communications
• Model and hold team members accountable to Instruction Partners' culture and core values, vision of team experience, and commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion
• Focus on developing and supporting a strong and joyful team culture
• Coach and develop team members, including working with them to find appropriate resources for their growth (e.g., professional development opportunities)
• Scope marketing and communications roles and contractor needs
• Hire when/as appropriate, including facilitating onboarding

Candidate Required Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree (in Business, Marketing, or Communications preferred)
• Minimum of 10 years of experience working in marketing and/or communications with management experience
• Experience developing and executing a communications strategy
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including storytelling and editing
• Incredible attention to detail
• Ability to form strong relationships with team members internally and collaborate across stakeholders
• Commitment to our mission of excellent daily instruction for all students
• Ability to travel nationally, to Nashville, Tennessee quarterly, and to team retreats annually

Candidate Qualifications and Traits:

• Education and/or nonprofit experience preferred
• Strong knowledge of Google Workplace, specifically Google Slides and Google Docs
• Strong knowledge of marketing and sales software, including content management systems (WordPress preferred), inbound marketing software (Hubspot preferred), and customer relationship management platforms (Salesforce preferred)
• Experience developing and executing a successful social media marketing strategy
• Proven skills with social media (Instagram, Facebook)
• Solid understanding of brand design and the creative process
• Experience supporting design concepts that meet business objectives and advance brand strategy
• Flexible mindset—excited to wear multiple hats and eager to take on new projects and responsibilities as needs arise
• Fast learner, with a deep commitment to continuous improvement
• Highly organized; effortlessly creates project plans and manages their execution, including delegating responsibilities to other team members as appropriate

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Hiring

At Instruction Partners, we know that difference enhances, transforms, and strengthens our ability to serve students and schools. We invite and celebrate the diversity of all perspectives, and we are deeply committed to ensuring equitable access and voice throughout our organization. Instruction Partners is proudly an equal opportunity workplace, and we value the inclusion of persons who have experienced poverty and/or for whom English is not their first language, and every race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, culture, ancestry, religion, national orientation, age, marital status or Veteran status. Join us, and let's work together to support great teaching and accelerate learning for every student.

Research shows that while men apply to jobs when they meet about 60% of job criteria, women and other marginalized groups tend to apply only when they check every box. So if you think you have what it takes, but you’re not sure that you check every box, we still want to hear from you

Compensation:

The salary for this role is $143,687.00. Detailed information about the organizational compensation philosophy is available upon application. Instruction Partners offers flexible work hours and location. Competitive benefits and private retirement investment options are available, as well as a generous vacation policy.

Timeline:

We are looking for candidates to join our team summer of 2022, with an ideal start date in July 2022.

Our Vision

All students experience an excellent education that prepares them to contribute to their community, achieve economic security, and pursue their dreams.

Our Mission

We work shoulder to shoulder with educators to support great teaching and accelerate student learning. We focus on small systems, both districts and charters, and we work to ensure equitable access to great instruction for students in poverty, students of color, students learning English, and students with disabilities.

Our Core Values

Live Big-Hearted

We care deeply about ourselves, each other, our work, our partners, and the students we serve. We value the differences each other brings to the table because we know diversity of voice, thought, and experience makes us better. We operate joyfully and without ego, collectively focused on the broader good.

Choose Optimism

We believe that, with the right support, every student can succeed. We have the courage to lean into challenges and believe in the possibility of overcoming obstacles while holding a high bar for ourselves, partners, educators, and students. As we advance antiracist actions, our path may not be smooth, but we will walk it anyway because we have faith that the journey will make our team and our education system better.

Advance Antiracism

We create and uphold space for all team members, partners, and students so they are seen, valued, and heard. We lift the voices and experiences of Black, Latinx, Native, and Asian American and Pacific Islander people. We actively look for and confront patterns and systems that cause inequitable harm in order to create more equitable outcomes within our organization and with partners. We embrace diverse expressions of excellence that make our team more inclusive and effective.

Be Honest

We are open, authentic, and truthful with ourselves, teammates, and partners. Our trust in each other and our work gives us the courage to lean into difficult conversations, put forth new ideas, and give and receive feedback through the lens of equity of voice and experience. We understand the intense and gripping nature of our work, so we name our needs to ensure we are practicing self-care and love within our beloved community.

Get Practical

We believe support should be thoughtful by meeting people, schools, and systems where they are. We leverage the voices, strengths and stories of families, educators, partners and teammates to find answers, because we know there isn’t a “one size fits all” solution to the challenges of our education system. We always look for ways to work smart, focus on the most relevant impact, and reduce friction to make it easier to take action while grounding our progress in equity.

Keep Learning

We know and love that we don’t yet have all the answers because we are nerds for learning, even when it’s hard or ambiguous. We actively pursue new knowledge, research, and evidence so that we can leverage the latest insights and best practices in our work, then we put that knowledge to work in partnership with our team, our partners, and the students and communities we serve. We respect the learning that springs from our own antiracist journeys and vow to activate our knowledge in pursuit of equity and excellence.

How We Work

Instruction Partners is a nonprofit organization dedicated to excellent instruction for all students, with a focus on students in poverty, students with disabilities, students learning English, and students of color. We keep one foot in practicality and the other in evidence-based best practices because we believe that leveraging high-quality, grade-level content and providing just-in-time supports will accelerate learning for all students.

Instruction Partners spends time getting to know the needs of the educators, leaders, and systems it serves, allowing the team to custom-build service plans to support partner goals. Partnerships include on-the-ground support, and partnership team members serve as thought partners to the school systems they serve, a team educators can reach out to and feel supported by.

Instruction Partners provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Instruction Partners complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Please submit your application on Instruction Partners hiring site: https://instructionpartners.applytojob.com/apply/aPr3x8A8fX/Senior-Director-Of-Marketing-And-Communications