Senior Communications Associate

The Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society. Since its founding in 1949, the Institute has been driving change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the most critical challenges facing communities in the United States and around the world. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Institute has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, and an international network of partners.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

To achieve our mission of a more free, just, and equitable society, we commit to working proactively to advance the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion across our myriad endeavors such as the recruitment, compensation, training, and advancement of staff. The best people-serving institutions make this commitment, and we seek to be a leader in the ways that we do so and learn from others. Visit our website to learn more about our commitment and recent actions taken toward building and nurturing a diverse and inclusive environment.

The Religion & Society Program: The world we live in today is multi-religious, multi-racial and multi-ethnic. The Religion & Society Program at the Aspen Institute believes there is value in those differences. We envision a society where religious and non-religious people thrive, respecting and engaging together across beliefs. Launched in 2012, the Religion & Society Program strives to strengthen the understanding of religion’s role in advancing equity and the common good. The Program focuses on bridging the gap between ideas and impact, building the capacity of faith-based leaders, galvanizing philanthropic investment, and serving as a national knowledge hub that informs and connects leaders from various fields and worldviews. By emphasizing network and community building, the Program is creating and amplifying connections that can break down barriers for generations to come.

Basic Function:

The Senior Communications Associate works under the direction of the Associate Director. She/he/they will be responsible for clearly articulating the Program’s mission, vision, and programming to a variety of audiences in their communication workstreams.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

The Senior Communications Associate must be a professional, responsible, very detail-oriented self-starter with experience in religious pluralism and exceptional communications abilities.

This candidate must be well organized and flexible, have strong writing and communication skills, and the ability to interact with staff and external stakeholders at all levels. This position requires general familiarity with the communities, organizations, and networks with which we partner, comfort working in diverse groups, and an ability to translate strategy into communication for a variety of audiences. The Senior Communications Associate must be able to manage multiple sets of overlapping deadlines and should be results-oriented, highly motivated, creative, and a team player. Willingness and ability to travel domestically about four to six times per year, when safe to do so, is a requirement.

Communications Strategy

• Develop and execute cohesive communications strategies that successfully connects the Program’s strategy to programming and thought leadership to increase our reach and influence;
• Maintain and build relationships with other Aspen Institute departments, especially the communications department, and external partners to advertise Program events and other programming;
• Forge media relationships, pitch op-eds and other writing, and grow earned media attention to the Program;
• Create coordinated outreach plans and lead on marketing and advertising for Religion & Society Program content and programming, including framing for and dissemination to various audiences;
• Grow Program audience via social media platforms, email lists, and other forms of communication;
• Lead website redesign to better convey our mission, vision, and seven areas of religious pluralism;

Communications Execution

• Prepare communications materials including the Newsletter, press releases, information briefs, media kits, and other items;
• Craft speeches, op-eds, and talking points for Director as needed;
• Manage printed or multimedia publications such as reports, primers, and case studies through drafting and editing to formatting, printing, and launch.
• Maintain and improve public website, blog, and Twitter account content including brainstorming and implementing new features and content mediums;
• Design graphics for events, newsletters, web pages, and social media;
• Maintain impact and reach tracking using google analytics and other methods;
• Build the Program’s communications policies and processes including publication and communication style guide, calendar planning, outside engagement management, etc.

Other Responsibilities

• Build an annual communications budget in collaboration with the Associate Director; and
• Determine scope of work and manage communications consultants and intern(s)

Required Knowledge, Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree and minimum of 5 yrs. experience in the field;
• Interest and experience in issues of religious diversity and pluralism;
• Strong written and oral communications skills; experience and ability to write professional correspondence and communicate with a wide variety of stakeholders;
• Excellent attention to detail, personal organization and time management;
• Ability to successfully work in fast-paced environment and manage multiple tasks simultaneously under pressure;
• Proficient in MS office, including Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook;
• Experience with contact databases (such as Salesforce), project management software (such as Asana), email marketing services (such as iContact, MailChimp), social media and website management tools (such as TweetDeck, HootSuite, WordPress), and graphic design tools (such as Canva);
• Ability to work and communicate effectively within a team;
• Ability to exercise professional discretion, judgment and diplomacy; and
• Ability and willingness to travel up to 5% of the time.

Level of Authority:

• No budget authority;
• Manage interns; and
• Opportunities for advancement and increased responsibilities.

The Institute has implemented a mandatory COVID vaccination policy for all employees who will work at one of our physical locations, attend any of our in-person events or travel on behalf of the Institute. Staff unable to be vaccinated may request an exemption under certain circumstances.

The Aspen Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all District and federal laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or protected veteran or disabled status and will not be discriminated against.