Senior Communications Manager

The Society of Family Planning advances a vision of just and equitable abortion and contraception, informed by science. By leveraging the powerful tools of science and medicine, we aim to ensure that abortion and contraception practices and policies are grounded in science and center people whose access to care is constrained by systems of oppression, and that all people have access to evidence-informed and person-centered abortion and contraception.To achieve our vision and desired impacts, we focus on the following strategies, as described in our 2023-2028 strategic plan:

• Convening a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and multidisciplinary community of all engaged in the science and medicine of abortion and contraception
• Supporting the production and resourcing of research primed for impact
• Organizing and leveraging research primed for impact
• Ensuring clinical care is evidence-informed and person-centered through guidance, medical education, and other activities
• Developing and supporting leaders in abortion and contraception to transform healthcare systems, and
• Aligning the organization’s governance, operations, and overall resources to be in service of the strategies designed to bring our collective vision to life.

We seek a motivated, strategic, and detail-oriented individual with exceptional communication skills to ensure a consistent and impactful message across all Society platforms. The Senior Communications Manager will have a deep understanding how the tools of science and medicine shape family planning policies and practices, employ an innovative and highly organized mindset to engage in creating, writing, editing, and managing the Society’s written and digital content, as well as serve as a coordinator for media engagement. This role involves managing a wide range of communication channels and serving as a critical convening point of organization-wide teams and their programming, working directly with the Director of External Affairs to create robust proactive and responsive communications strategies within a strong and consistent organizational brand. Persons in this role develop and implement complex and highly visible programs, communications, and/or operations, after receiving minimal guidance from a supervisor. They are also key partners in coordinating efforts across teams. This is a remote position and is open to candidates living in the US who are within one hour of a major airport. It is anticipated that the person in this position will travel approximately 10% of the time. This position reports to the Director of External Affairs.

Responsibilities:

Develop and coordinate Society communications (45%)

• • Develop, manage, and enhance the Society’s weekly newsletter through staff engagement, creative thematic planning, and highly skilled writing and editing
  • Write, edit, and proofread engaging content for social media, website, emails, and other Society communications, ensuring alignment with the Society’s strategic plan, style guide, DEI vision, and consistent messaging and branding
  • Support and coordinate on the development of graphics and design assets for various uses, including social media posts, brochures, educational content, and other printed and digital materials
  • Coordinate and collaborate on distributing content on social media, website, emails, and other Society communications channels
  • Work in collaboration with external consultants as needed

Integrate a cohesive communications strategy across the organization (35%)

• • Implement communications strategies that advance the Society and Society members as the source and voice for abortion and contraception science
  • Develop and maintain a consistent brand voice and visual identity across all communications, including managing and editing the Society’s style guide
  • In collaboration with the Director of External Affairs, create systems and processes across teams to implement the Society’s voice and brand and highlight Society programs, products, publications, and community members
  • Collaborate across teams to ensure adherence to brand guidelines across all communications content
  • Oversee the distribution of engaging content across various channels, including our website, social media, email newsletters, annual reports, and printed materials that support cohesive communications and brand storytelling
  • Support Annual Meeting communications programming

Coordinate media relations (10%)

• • Draft press releases and other materials to promote the Society’s work
  • Serve as administrative coordinator for intake and tracking of media requests

Track and evaluate programming for improvements (10%)

• Serve as administrative coordinator for intake and tracking of media requests
• Track, analyze, and report on content performance and communications best practices using relevant metrics
• Interpret monthly Altmetric reports and make recommendations for data-based adjustments
• Engage with the evaluation team to optimize data collection and organizational learning, including on DEI goals
• Contribute to implementing our Annual Meeting

Qualifications

Highly qualified applicants will meet many of the qualifications below:

• 5-7 years leading the development and implementation of communication strategies strengthening brand alignment and managing complex multi-channel strategies.
• Demonstrated experience utilizing communications strategies to advance diversity, equity, inclusion.
• Extensive background in initiating and bringing programming to life, elevating existing plans and cultivating excellence in execution.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and implement complex, highly visible communications or initiatives in the fields of abortion, contraception, and science, with minimal supervisory guidance.
• Established ability serving as a key partner in coordinating cross-team efforts to ensure alignment and integration of organizational goals.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with a high level of detail orientation and the ability to craft compelling, brand-aligned messages through strong writing, editing and storytelling across diverse communications channels.
• Highly flexible and able to adapt work in response to emergent public events impacting abortion science and contraception.
• Ability to contribute to crisis communication planning and provide support during sensitive situations.
• Proactive in seeking clarity and understanding and enthusiasm for incorporating the wisdom of others.
• Enthusiasm for innovation and experimentation around programming in reproductive health, science communications, and membership organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to operate both independently and collaboratively, effectively managing multiple high-priority projects and delivering high-quality results on deadline.
• Willingness to pitch in as needed as we are a small nonprofit and everyone contributes to necessary administrative work.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including empathetic listening, responsiveness to collaborators’ needs, self-awareness and responsiveness to one’s own learning edges; able to acknowledge and learn from mistakes.
• Proficiency in digital communication tools, including social media platforms, email marketing software, content management systems, and basic visual content creation/editing using tools like Canva.
• High level of computer literacy, including confidence using (or learning to use) Microsoft and Google suite, Airtable, Asana, Box, Slack, Grammarly, and other digital tools.
• Demonstrates commitment to the Society’s strategic plan and DEI Vision.