Director of Strategic Communications

Water For People is a global nonprofit working across nine countries, bringing together communities, local entrepreneurs, and governments to build and maintain water and sanitation services that will last. We have a sustainable solution to end the global water and sanitation crisis, and our employees across the world help drive this solution.

POSITION OBJECTIVE:

The Director of Strategic Communications will set and guide the strategy for all external communications and public relations messages to consistently represent Water For People’s mission and values. This person will work to further position Water For People as a high-impact leader and innovator in the WASH sector, international development community, and social enterprise circles, and as a reputable and respected organization within donor communities and the general public.

The Director will work closely with the Global Leadership Team, Donor Impact and Global Programs as the lead communications partner on Destination 2030 and other strategic initiatives.

The ideal candidate has experience leading strategic communications for a similarly complex range of audiences and complex program model, covering areas such as PR, media relations, strategic messaging, communications strategy, website content, and donor communications. The ability to take deep, detailed information and transform it into exciting and useful messages and disseminate it to the right audiences through the best distribution channels is critical. The Director should have strong written and oral communications skills with a proven ability to guide and edit others’ communications.

The Communications team aligns its activities and objectives across the global team and with our nine country offices to ensure alignment with a consistent global brand and communications strategy.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS & DUTIES:

Leading a Robust Strategic Communications Strategy

• Lead the development and execution of Water For People’s communications plan.
• Develop brand voice and maintain brand integrity across all platforms.
• Build upon outstanding brand recognition, work across channels to further increase awareness and understanding of the organization and its mission to stakeholders around the globe.
• Position Water For People as a high-impact leader and innovator in the WASH sector, international development community, and social enterprise circles, and as a reputable and respected organization within donor communities.
• Lead PR/media initiatives and connect PR firm (as needed) with organizational initiatives and milestones to increase Water For People’s share of voice.
• Collaborate with our Global Programs team on influence objectives, and to translate Global Programs priorities for all audiences.
• Ensure effective creation and implementation of communications templates and tools.
• Support international Marketing & Communications staff to create strategies, plans, and budgets through training and creation/delivery of effective strategic planning tools.
• In collaboration with the Chief Growth Officer and Creative Director, manage the budget and financial reporting for all communications activities.
• Manages content development for specific external communications needs as requested by Global Leadership.

Strategic Messaging

• Keep abreast of global conversations and relevant areas, to provide guidance to Water For People on key themes, talking points, and related messages.
• Provide guidance to Donor Impact, GLT, and Global Programs on key messages/themes annually.

Analyzing & Adapting

• Develop and manage key performance indicators and analytics to track effectiveness of communications strategy.
• Measure and report impact of all communications activities.
• Direct and analyze audience engagement and use findings and insights to inform and strengthen our initiatives.

Inspiring a Team

• Recruit, motivate, organize, manage, train, and lead communications team in a manner which promotes professional development, while maintaining team focus on organizational priorities.
• Build alignment and consensus within the team around organizational goals.
• Demonstrate leadership in cross-functional collaboration across the organization.
• Set individual contributor and team goals, and conduct performance reviews for direct reports.
• Ensure team is following appropriate business processes, procedures, and policies.

BEHAVIORS AND COMPETENCIES:

• Builds Teams and Talent – Open and approachable, and able to extract excellent performance and develop leadership and confidence in others. Attracts, engages, develops, and rewards talented people to build individual and organizational capability needed to achieve desired impact.
• Connects to the Mission – Embraces the mission of Water For People and is passionate about advancing the dynamic role it plays leading social impact in international development. Understands and demonstrates how own efforts impact on the larger organization and operates in alignment with the vision, values, and strategic objectives of the organization.
• Manages through Ambiguity – identifies, supports, and champions opportunities for change and continuous improvement. Proven record in change management and competent and confident negotiator. Demonstrates flexibility and adaptability in responding to change and ambiguity.
• Demonstrates Cultural Awareness – shows empathy, a high comfort level in the developing world, and unquestionable integrity; able to engage the wide range of stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds and cultures.
• Action-oriented – takes an entrepreneurial, adaptable, and innovative approach to completing tasks. Has an unwavering commitment to delivering quality work products. Maintains an attitude of open, curious, and proactive learning, continually expanding own area of understanding and expertise.

EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS REQUIRED:

• Bachelor’s degree is required or equivalent work experience.
• 5+ years preferred of progressively responsible and relevant experience in marketing/communications, digital/print campaigns, media relations, business development, public relations or another related field.
• At least 3 years of experience successfully leading and managing a team.
• Experience working with various social media platforms and web design/development.
• International Development experience strongly preferred.
• Experience collaborating with key internal and external stakeholder groups.
• Experience selecting and managing outside vendors to maximize benefit to the organization.
• Advanced computer proficiencies in MS Office, Adobe Suite, etc.
• Spanish language skills preferred.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS/WORKING CONDITIONS: **

• Ability to travel 15-20% of the time domestically and internationally to developing countries, where travel is rugged.
• Our main office is located in Denver, Colorado; the ideal candidate may work from our main office or remotely in any of the U.S. states except for NY, NJ, VT, WA and CA.
• This position will also have the option to work from an office or remotely in one of the countries where Water For People is present. Applicants must be a citizen or legally authorized to work in the country they live in.
• Ability to work outside regular business hours to meet with personnel located in other time zones.

Note: This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications associated with the job.

Salary Range:

US anticipated salary range: $90,000 – $107,000 per year. (If based outside the US an equivalent country market – based salary will be determined)

Actual payment will be determined based on experience and other job-related factors.

Benefits:

Benefits are one of the ways we encourage healthy living for you and your family. Our generous package includes medical, dental and vision coverage. But health is more than a well-working body: it encompasses body, mind, and social well-being. To that end, we provide a global EAP and Telehealth benefit to address your holistic health. Healthy living also includes financial wellness tools including, digital tools, classes, counseling, paid time off and generous retirement savings plan. If based outside the US benefits will be dictated by the country in which the ideal candidate is located.

Water For People cannot provide immigration sponsorship for this position.

Water For People is committed to protecting children encountered during our work and by our employees, preventing sexual abuse and exploitation of all individuals with a particular focus on women and children and other marginalized communities in the performance of our work, preventing human trafficking in the performance of our work and in our supply chain and to having a drug-free workplace. During the recruitment processes, additional documentation will be requested to comply with our policies and in accordance with the legal requirements in your country of residency, this includes a background check. If you apply for employment, we want you to be aware of our recruitment, selection and hiring processes including important policies regarding employee conduct.

Water For People is an equal opportunity employer who is committed to creating a culture of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in our workplace. Water for people strives to create and maintain a level of diversity that reflects the communities we serve. Achieving this—regardless of race, ethnicity, ancestry, tribal affiliation, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, veteran status, disability, socioeconomic class, educational attainment, or other social identities is critical to our ability to have a world where every person has access to reliable and safe water and sanitation services.

Our commitment ensures that we:

• Have a different array of thinking that comes from diverse backgrounds and cultures, enabling us to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges.
• Strive for a culture of inclusion and belonging by treating each other with dignity, respect, and appreciation enabling us to feel welcome, supported, and valued.
• Effectively connect, communicate, and build long-lasting relationships with stakeholders within our diverse communities.
• Have diversity of thought, perspectives, backgrounds, identities, and talents that will support our mission to develop high-quality drinking water and sanitation services are available to Everyone Forever.