Director of Communications

Artists transform the world by creating powerful art - stories, images, and songs. The Center for Cultural Power exists to create a thriving ecosystem for artists and culture makers to shift worldview from one of domination to one of collaboration. 

The Center for Cultural Power is a women of color, artist-led organization, inspiring artists and culture makers to imagine a world where power is distributed equitably and where we live in harmony with nature. We support artists through fellowships, training and opportunities for activation. We create intersectional stories and content addressing issues of migration, climate, gender, and racial justice. We engage groups in cultural strategy and organize artists in issues that inspire them. Together with allies, we are co-creating a field of cultural strategy with organizations and practitioners through convenings, design teams and strategy tables. 

Our staff and board align around the following organizational values:

• Learning & Growth.
• Inspiration & Aspiration.
• Collaboration.
• Regenerative Practice.

Position Overview

The Communications Director is responsible for directing Cultural Power’s communications strategy, as well as overseeing programmatic and institutional marketing strategies with a focus on distribution. With a passion for building BIPOC leadership in arts and culture, a commitment to social justice, and strong cultural fluency, the Communications Director will serve on the executive team. Through effective leadership and management, the Communications Director will ensure that the organization’s voice and brand is optimized for targeted audiences across platforms. This is a highly collaborative position in a fast-paced environment that responds to dynamic cultural moments, while overseeing a pipeline of programmatic and institutional marketing.

Location: We are currently evaluating the possibility of becoming a remote workplace permanently. Remote candidates will be considered with a preference for someone based in the Bay Area or Los Angeles. The individual will be expected to work with a team based entirely on the West Coast.

Reports to: Deputy Director

Institutional Marketing & Communications Strategy

• Direct the organization’s voice, aesthetic, design, and brand alignment, including subsidiary brands (CultureStrike, Climate Woke, etc). Grow brand recognition among targeted audiences. 
• Oversee and drive the website and social media platforms with an eye toward impact, growth, and engagement. 
• Direct and deliver PR campaigns, overseeing the relationship with our PR firm.
• Maintain and develop strategic distribution partnerships such as PBS, Spotify, BuzzFeed, and other opportunities to distribute content broadly.
• Oversee the creation of thought leadership strategy, inserting the President’s and organization’s leadership, and other leaders in the field into targeted conversations and relevant outlets.
• Oversee the relationship with our design firm and creation of assets to communicate the organization's scope, scale, and impact including decks, digital content, and other assets.
• Partner with Development and Program directors to identify and understand impact, and to capture stories for newsletter, website, institutional decks, and reports.

Programmatic Marketing, Rapid Response and Distribution

• Direct rapid response communication strategies during major cultural moments on our four key issue areas, including: racial justice, gender equity, migrant rights, and climate justice.
• Run editorial strategy, maintaining a pulse on local, national, and global events related to cultural strategies that intersect with key issue areas, as well as new developments in the digital strategy.
• Oversee programmatic marketing: promoting programs, delivering merchandise, and creating digital assets for all programmatic activities, including convenings, fellowships, and trainings.
• Oversee social media analytics strategy, setting targets for audience engagement and testing strategies to meet targets, delivering and analyzing analytics reports monthly.

Staff Supervision and Budgeting

• Supervise team including Institutional Marketing Manager, Social Media Manager, Equity Content Strategist (reports to Social Media Manager), vendors and contractors, ensuring clear job descriptions and scopes of work. Provide performance feedback and coaching. Ensure that working norms and protocols are followed to foster a collaborative and inclusive team environment. 
• Practice management structures that encourage partnership, accountability, learning, growth, and collaboration. Lead cross-functional teams that are collaborative, high performing, and inspired.
• Build a communications budget that aligns with the organization's strategic priorities and growth. Oversee budget, track expenses, respond to changes to ensure spending is controlled, all while meeting department benchmarks and deliverables. 

Leadership and Strategy Supervision and Budgeting

• Partner with the Executive team on narrative strategy to advance organizational goals.
• Serve as a thought leader and ambassador for the organization.
• Partner with the Development team on fundraising strategies, develop and maintain relationships with certain funders.
• Ensure that the President, Deputy Director, and leadership team are informed of critical issues.
• Partner with HR and leadership on building a vibrant organizational culture.
• Support fundraising efforts through grant proposals, reporting, and meeting with funders.

Qualifications

We are looking for candidates that are self-motivated, collaborative, strategic, and highly-organized. You must possess an ability to respond to pressure and change with equanimity. You are an excellent communicator and writer, and exercise tact and understand nuance in communications. You are a creator by nature and can identify the baby steps needed to bring dreams to reality. You are driven by values, distill drama, and do not engage in blame dynamics. Like others on our team, you are deeply committed to working with artists and BIPOC communities, and to social justice.

Our ideal candidate is able to identify the most strategic path in a high-change environment, to lead, manage, and build teams that collaborate effectively, to design and maintain systems that keep all trains on track, and to work in a relational and collaborative manner across departments, aligning with impact goals.

The ideal candidate for this position will possess the following qualifications:

• Experience working with BIPOC organizations and populations.
• Background in movements for racial equity.
• 5+ years of experience working in communications successfully managing time-sensitive, cross-functional, and increasingly complex projects, including social media campaigns, PR campaigns, and digital content creation.
• 5+ years of staff management experience.
• Ability to lead, collaborate, and work with diverse teams.
• Strong time management and strategic skills.
• Clear visionary thinking, strong communication, and sophisticated systems and habits for self-organization.
• The ability to work in a fast-paced environment where flexibility and team effort are essential.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.