Communications & Digital Strategy Director

Bay Rising & Bay Resistance

Communications & Digital Strategy Director

About the Organizations

Bay Rising is a regional movement organization building grassroots power across the Bay Area to advance racial, economic, and social justice. Bay Rising anchors and coordinates a network of aligned local formations—including San Francisco Rising, Oakland Rising, and Silicon Valley Rising—working together to build regional political power through base-building, electoral organizing, issue-based campaigns, and coalition building.

Bay Rising serves as the organizational home for multiple projects, including Bay Resistance, a mass organizing network mobilizing communities to resist authoritarianism and defend impacted communities. Together, these projects engage tens of thousands of voters, volunteers, and community members across the region.

This position would primarily focus on Bay Rising, Bay Rising Action (c4), Bay Resistance Institute, and Bay Resistance (c4).

ROLE SUMMARY

Lead a unified digital and narrative strategy operation across the Bay Rising (Action) and Bay Resistance (Institute) ecosystems. Build a high-impact digital organizing program, set clear and practical narrative direction, and head rapid response and crisis communications. This role blends big-picture narrative and organizing strategy leadership with hands-on execution.

The Communications & Digital Strategy Director reports directly to the Executive Director.

Key Responsibilities

The following responsibilities are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel classified in this manner. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

1. Digital Organizing & Narrative Strategy (20%)

Lead integrated narrative and digital strategies to advance organizational goals and maintain flexibility in shifting political conditions.

• Partner with other senior staff to drive cross-team strategy, ensuring digital and communications tactics advance organizational objectives.
• Develop and lead a coherent narrative strategy aligned with long-term political goals, organizers’ priorities, and statewide partners.
• Define audiences, narrative arcs, frames, and messaging discipline for base constituencies, persuadable communities, and movement partners.
• Develop and maintain rapid-response and crisis communications systems with clear decision pathways and activation protocols.
• Integrate cultural strategy, creative communications, and movement storytelling across campaigns.
• Ensure narrative cohesion across electoral, issue, mobilization, and federal rapid-response work.

1. Digital Organizing Program (30%)

Oversee a comprehensive digital organizing program that moves supporters from engagement to leadership, linking digital work to field organizing and political strategy.

• Manage email, SMS, distributed organizing tools, relational organizing platforms, social media, paid digital campaigns, and action hubs.
• Build digital supporter journeys: acquisition, segmentation, engagement, and mobilization ladders.
• Lead rapid digital escalation during federal or political response moments, coordinating with relevant partners.
• Establish experimentation frameworks, analytics dashboards, A/B testing, and performance reviews.
• Oversee digital content calendars aligned with narrative strategy and political moments.
• Manage digital contractors, designers, creators, and external partners.
• Supervise digital tool acquisition, adaptation, and integration across platforms (CRMs, P2P texting, online communities).

1. Media Relations & Public Voice (20%)

Drive strategic earned-media and public communications efforts, with emphasis on federal and rapid-response coverage.

• Lead proactive and reactive media strategies, including press releases, advisories, public statements, op-eds, and LTEs.
• Identify and prepare spokespeople with clear messaging and alignment to narrative and organizing strategy.
• Cultivate relationships across mainstream, ethnic, community, and political media.
• Coordinate press events, media-ready actions, and political moments with coalition partners.
• Oversee story banking, multimedia content creation, and deployment across campaigns.

1. Coalition Systems & Operational Infrastructure (15%)

Maintain and improve communications infrastructure to support coordinated multi-organization campaigns.

• Manage shared systems: press lists, digital asset libraries, analytics, brand guidelines, project management platforms, websites, and action hubs.
• Run or co-run communications committee meetings with clear agendas, decision pathways, and documentation.
• Maintain coordination with statewide narrative hubs (e.g., We Are California).
• Oversee communications inboxes, routing, and workflows for rapid, effective execution.
• Produce analytics reports, narrative/political landscape scans, and learning memos to guide strategy.

1. Capacity Building (5%)

Develop long-term communications, digital, and narrative capacity among partners and coalition members.

• Provide training, coaching, and materials on narrative development, message discipline, digital organizing, and media strategy.
• Lead communications cohorts, fellowships, or peer-learning circles.
• Support partners in building their own digital and narrative capacity.

1. Team Management & Organizational Leadership (10%)

Foster a healthy team, sustainable workloads, and strong cross-organization leadership.

• Supervise, mentor, and develop communications and digital staff, fellows, and volunteers.
• Integrate narrative and digital expertise across the organization.
• Set standards for digital tactic selection and guide teams on best practices.
• Participate in leadership spaces for cross-organizational coordination and planning.
• Contribute to strategic planning, budgeting, and evaluation cycles.
• Support and staff development for communications roles.

Required Skills and Experience

• 7–10+ years in strategic communications, digital organizing, political campaigns, narrative strategy, journalism, or movement communications in fast-paced, multi-organization environments.
• 1-2 years experience with electoral campaigns and campaign reporting requirements.
• Proven experience managing high-performing digital organizing programs (email, SMS, social media, distributed and relational organizing, digital ads).
• Strong narrative strategy skills: translating political analysis into frames, messages, and story arcs across diverse audiences.
• Rapid-response and crisis communications experience with sound judgment under pressure.
• Excellent writing and editing skills across statements, op-eds, emails, social content, scripts, and toolkits.
• Experience building and maintaining media relationships, including ethnic and community outlets.
• Skilled in analytics, segmentation, A/B testing, and data-informed digital program decision-making.
• Experience supervising staff or contractors and supporting professional development.
• Comfortable in high-velocity, cross-organizational coalition environments.
• Deep commitment to racial, economic, gender, and environmental justice and building power for directly impacted communities.
• Familiarity with California movement ecosystems, Bay Area political landscape, and statewide narrative infrastructure.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience with organizations with strong digital and earned media programs for electoral and power-building campaigns (e.g., Working Families Power, People’s Action).
• Proficiency with key digital tools: Action Network or similar email CRMs, Hustle/ThruText/Strive, Airtable, social scheduling platforms, Squarespace/WordPress, Canva/Adobe Creative Suite.
• Experience training, facilitating, or coaching on digital organizing, narrative strategy, or media relations.
• Experience in coalition communications committees, rapid-response hubs, or distributed organizing environments.
• Fluency in Spanish or another language widely spoken in Bay Area communities.

Work Environment / Physical Demands

This position will work out of the Bay Rising office in Oakland. Must be able to work on a computer including sitting at a desk for extended periods of time with or without reasonable accommodation; manual dexterity to operate a keyboard; able to see or read a computer screen and printed material with or without vision aids; able to speak clearly and in audible tones on the phone and in-person and be understood by others; able to hear and understand speech, including on the phone; able to understand and follow oral and written instructions; able to occasionally lift objects weighing up to 10 pounds, travel to and participate in protests, mass meetings, door knocking and phone banking.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Employment Terms

This position is an exempt, full time position with an estimated salary range of $90,000-$100,000 depending on experience. We offer a competitive health benefits package that includes: medical, dental, vision, and a generous paid time off schedule.

How to Apply

Submit resume, cover letter, and references through this job portal. https://workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/default/mdf/recruitment/recruitment.html?cid=c858a322-00a0-4526-9713-59699ec1e4bf&ccId=9200135808800_2&jobId=576355&source=CC2&lang=en_US Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, priority for applications received by January 31st. Candidates should expect to participate in two rounds of group interviews and a job simulation exercise. Final candidates will be asked to provide references.

Bay Rising and Bay Resistance contract with Resilient Strategies LLC for backend and operational support including hiring and employment. Resilient Strategies is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. Folks who are queer, trans, non-binary, Black, Indigenous, people of color, disabled, parents, are/have been system-impacted, are immigrants, and anyone who has experienced systemic oppression and/or gender-based violence are encouraged to apply. Pursuant of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment.