Director of Communications

We are seeking a creative, strategic Director of Communications to steward CU’s voice and brand, shape how our ideas and offerings reach the world, and drive program marketing & recruitment. This full-time, exempt role calls for a thoughtful and creative strategist who values the joy and connection sparked by powerful, responsible citizenship, and also brings a clear-eyed understanding of the complexities of civic renewal work. The ideal candidate is both excited and prepared to strengthen CU’s impact as an innovative leader in the field, while modeling spirit, curiosity, and collaboration.

Who We Are

At Citizen University, we are working to fortify habits and skills of powerful, responsible citizenship in communities around the country. We believe that the health of civic life in America - from our neighborhoods to the whole of our nation - is shaped by how we practice citizenship every day with the people around us. We’re working to make that more possible, through relational programs, innovative projects, and civic network-building. Explore our website to learn more about what we do.

What You'll Do: Key Responsibilities

Communications Leadership (30%):

• • Drive the vision and strategy for how CU’s work is amplified and communicated, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities.
  • Collaborate with leadership to develop and maintain organizational narrative and core messaging
  • Steward our brand identity and visual style, ensuring fidelity, quality, and vibrancy across all materials and channels. Oversee production of design projects.
  • Oversee major communications projects and special initiatives, including our 2026 new Flagship program launch.
  • Serve as CU’s point person for media engagement–coordinating opportunities, delegating as appropriate, and representing our voice when needed
  • Establish and track key communications metrics to sharpen strategy and amplify impact
  • Lead planning, budgeting, and resource allocation for the department.

Circulating Our Work (40%):

• • Lead the Communications & Marketing team to design and execute campaigns that share our ideas, tools, and impact with our core audiences.
  • Oversee the development, distribution, and maintenance of communications & marketing collateral, including video and social media content, marketing materials, email newsletters, and web content; and ensure cohesion across channels.
  • Guide audience and channel strategy to deepen reach, engagement, and participation.
  • Oversee program marketing campaigns to drive program recruitment and participation.
  • Collaborate with Programs teams to translate our ideas and innovations into accessible, actionable content and shareable toolkits and materials
  • Cultivate media coverage, promotional partnerships, and public positioning in collaboration with executive leadership.
  • Partner with the Development team in support of fundraising communications, including Annual Report production and collaborating on donor engagement campaigns.
  • Ensure effective use of digital tools and systems (e.g., Mailchimp, Google Analytics, Salesforce, photo bank).

Organizational Leadership & Team Management (30%):

• • Serve on our Directors Team, contributing to organizational strategy, goal-setting, and cross-team initiatives.
  • Hire and supervise Communications department staff and support their professional development through work planning, coaching, and mentoring (including regular 1:1s, providing feedback, performance evaluations).
  • Represent the Communications team’s needs, risks, and dependencies clearly and constructively, and help implement cross-functional workflows.
  • Foster an inclusive and healthy team culture, and lead staff in ways that encourage collaboration and creativity.
  • Oversee budgets, contracts, and compliance for the Communications team.

Who You Are: What You'll Bring

Your Skills & Experience:

• Demonstrated expertise in leading communications strategy and program marketing campaigns that drive engagement and participation, preferably in a civic, community, or non-profit context.
• Advanced writing and editing skills across multiple formats and audiences.
• Experience stewarding an organizational brand and cultivating media opportunities and partnerships.
• Experience calibrating messaging and developing content that’s emotionally resonant and practical in the face of shifting, and often challenging, broader context.
• Proven experience leading long-term strategic initiatives and complex cross-functional projects.
• Comfortable with flexing and evolving requirements to fulfill responsibilities. Willing to “jump in” where necessary to meet department and organizational needs.
• Track record of supervising and developing staff, providing coaching, accountability, and support.
• Working knowledge of basic financial management practices, including budget management and contract oversight.
• Proficiency with standard Comms & Marketing tools (e.g., WordPress, Mailchimp, Canva, Salesforce, Google Analytics or similar).
• Skill in building and maintaining organized systems and workflows across collaborative teams.

Your Relational Strengths:

• Mission & Values Driven: You are deeply committed to Citizen University’s mission and ideas around powerful, responsible citizenship, and strengthening healthy, pluralistic civic culture.
• Collaborative & Inclusive: You are skilled at–and understand the value of–working across cultural, ideological, and geographic differences with respect and inclusion and understand how this supports our broader aims.
• Integrating Emotion: You value bringing both spirit and emotional awareness into organizational communications and recognize the importance of relational, connective communications as essential to our impact.
• Navigating Disagreement: You are capable of navigating disagreement or complexity with steadiness, discernment, and curiosity.
• Coaching & Developing Others: You are committed to coaching and developing others with honesty, care, and belief in their potential.
• Building Trust: You have strong interpersonal communication and listening skills that build trust internally and externally.
• Serving as an internal role model: You model a growth mindset and a sense of humor, embracing feedback and continual learning for yourself, your team, and the organization.

Working With Us

At Citizen University, we place high value on an innovative spirit, deep commitment to our mission, and a can-do attitude. Even if you don't check every item above, if you know your background and experiences would make you a good fit for this role, we encourage you to apply.

This is a regular, full-time, exempt remote position with occasional travel for program support and staff meetings (approximately 5-8% of the time, or 14-20 days per year). We prioritize the safety and comfort of our employees and will make reasonable accommodations to create the least restrictive work conditions possible.

To apply: Please complete your application by October 10th on our career site. Candidates must be US-based and not require sponsorship for employment.

Citizen University is an equal opportunity employer. Our team values equity, justice & belonging, and we seek to recruit and retain talented people who represent a variety of backgrounds and lived experiences. People from communities who have traditionally had less access to power and civic opportunities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Benefits that support our people: We offer a robust benefits package that includes 100% employer sponsored health insurance coverage including dental and vision (with optional dependent additions), Flexible Spending Accounts, an Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, Short-Term Disability, a company match on 403(b) Retirement Plan eligible contributions, 2 weeks of sick time, 3 weeks of PTO plus the entire week between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day, and 10 additional holidays off. You'll also receive a MacBook, a home office equipment and tech stipend, and a professional development budget to help you grow.