Communications Coordinator

Job Type: Full-time

Reports To: Communications Director

Location: Remote, with the option for DC-based candidates to work hybrid

Compensation: $55,000 - $65,000, depending on experience, with excellent benefits including fully paid medical, dental, and vision insurance and retirement plan with 3% match - more below

To Apply: Start by filling out our application form.

Who We Are:

Hi! Nice to meet you. We’re the American Humanist Association.

Humanists believe in people. We believe that people have inherent worth and dignity, without needing to be saved or redeemed. We believe that people can do anything as long as we live in a society where people are free to think freely and pursue rational truth. And we believe the highest good is to help other people live lives of freedom and flourishing.

Humanists have always moved America. Kristen Bell, Gloria Steinem, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, Steve Wozniak, Joyce Carol Oates, A. Philip Randolph, John Dewey, Margaret Atwood, Abraham Maszlow, Jamie Raskin - these are some of the American visionaries whose humanism led them to envision new frontiers for advancing human worth and dignity.

For over 80 years, the AHA has been the epicenter of the humanist movement. We promote humanism as a community and worldview that “nothing in particular,” “spiritual but not religious,” atheist, and agnostic folks can belong to, believe in, and fight for. We fight the radical religious right in the courts, Congress, and the streets, organizing our thousands of members and 200+ chapters nationwide to fight for the separation of church and state, make the moral case for progressive public policy, and take direct action to improve their communities. We train hundreds of secular chaplains and celebrants who perform marriages and work in hospitals, college campuses, and prisons.

We are a small but mighty team building a movement where science tells us what’s real and empathy tells us what’s right. We all lean in, get our hands in the work, and strive to build a kinder tomorrow, every single day.

And we’ve got lots of work to do.

Who You Are:

You’re an upbeat, energetic, confident self-starter who knows they can organize our team and its sprawling to-do list to greatness. You’re raring to be part of a fast-paced, ambitious team where no two days will be exactly the same. You see massive potential in our organization’s attempts to bring meaning and community to people through humanism, and are unafraid to bring your own perspective to these efforts.

With the litany of projects the Communications team has under its belt, you will seize the opportunity to create processes, systems, checkpoints, and other infrastructure that makes our small but mighty team its most efficient and impactful. You are a proactive and resourceful problem-solver who thrives on bringing clarity to complexity and anticipating needs. “No job is too big or too small for me” is your M.O. You dream big for yourself and the places you work for, aiming high, working hard, and always asking “What can we do better?”

You’re also not afraid to pivot and adapt to new circumstances and information. You take pride in your work, and would rather ditch an idea that isn’t working than commit to mediocrity. You’re comfortable with failure, unafraid of rejection, and always up to (thoughtfully, strategically) court a little controversy. You see feedback as a gift, and leave your ego at the door.

You might also be someone who is hoping to one day be a Communications Director or in a leadership role yourself! You’re an eager, fast learner who wants to soak up all there is to learn (and there is a LOT).

As far as workplace culture goes, you want colleagues who share your passion for service, empathy, and making the world a better, more joyful place – but who also respect your right to play and rest as hard as you work.

If that sounds like you, AWESOME! We’re excited to meet you.

The Role:

1. You will be our project manager in chief, owning the Monday board, creating timelines, tracking progress of all major initiatives, making sure staff have the resources they need to be successful, and helping keep the rest of our staff on-schedule and accountable to goals.
2. You will be right-hand support to the Communications Director, having visibility over the entire portfolio of department work and serving as the go-to when the CD is unavailable. Through your duties you will learn the ins and outs of managing a communications team, driving strategy, deploying rapid response, engaging with the media and so much more.
3. You will be tasked with workflow optimization, constantly looking for ways to streamline processes, improve communication between the different roles and teams, and prevent good ideas from getting lost in the shuffle.
4. You will lead cross-functional collaboration efforts, acting as the liaison between the communications team and other AHA departments to ensure everyone’s needs are met and projects are successfully integrated.
5. You will fill in gaps in our current day-to-day communications operation, while also executing on big-picture projects – whatever the needs may be. One day you may be researching guests for AHA’s podcast and moderating our community Discord, the next you’re helping brainstorm outreach and marketing strategy for a grant program while drafting rapid response tweets on the latest SCOTUS ruling!

Requirements:

Non-negotiable:

• Impeccable organization skills
• Solid interpersonal skills
• Strong project management and coordination skills, able to hold lots of moving pieces at once, prioritize, and keep things from falling through the cracks
• A bias towards over-communicating and follow-through
• A strong writer, skilled at executing with little or ambiguous direction
• Experience in an administrative, coordinating, or operations role, preferably in a non-profit or community-based organization. Experience providing support to a team leader or executive is a strong plus.

Nice To Have, But Not Necessary:

• Experience with/connection to the humanist/secular movement or affiliated movements like Unitarian Universalism (but willingness and enthusiasm to learn is an absolute must)
• Experience “managing up” and working with principals
• Graphic design skills (even Canva competency is a plus)
• Strong research skills
• CMS/tech experience
• Prior experience working remotely

We Don’t Care About:

• Your degrees or where you went to school
• Your years of experience (tenure doesn’t matter, demonstrated success does)

Hiring Process:

You can start by applying here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScifEtFzZ6rhJFhKdjucaWKkuHP7uJTuhLYTgdFrzTW_4sWGQ/viewform

We like to share our full hiring process for transparency. However, please note that all parts of this process, including timelines, may change.

Stage 1: Application + Resume (Applications open through 10/13)

• All applicants will fill out the hiring application, responding to several short-answer questions and submitting a resume. (No cover letters. Who likes cover letters?)
• Responses to short-answer questions will be anonymized and rated by a panel of interviewers.
• All candidates will receive a response regardless of whether or not they are invited to an interview.

Stage 2: First-Round Interviews - 6-8 candidates (10/15 - 10/22)

• Candidates invited to a first-round interview will meet with the hiring manager for a 45-minute video call. This is a mutual interview - we’ll start with any questions you have for us, and then ask questions about your skills, experiences, and interest in the role, so we can both determine if this is a potential fit.
• We will let all candidates know about their status after second-round interview offers have been made and accepted.

Stage 3: Paid Work Sample - likely 4-6 candidates (Week of 10/27 - 10/31)

• Candidates selected will be asked to complete a paid work sample (two hours of time, at the timing of your choosing). This exercise will help us evaluate your ability to produce relevant communications work on a time crunch
• We will pay applicants an hourly rate of $30, pegged to the advertised salary range for this position

Stage 4: Panel Interview & Work Sample review - likely 2-3 candidates (Week of 11/3 – 11/7)

• Candidates will meet with a panel of AHA staff for an hour-long interview. Applicants will have the opportunity to ask questions of the group, and will be asked in-depth, situational questions relevant to the role.

Stage 5: Final interviews (Week of 11/10 - 11/14)

• Finalists will meet with AHA’s Executive Director for a final interview and opportunity to ask any questions you may still have about us and the role.
• We will make an offer to our top candidate, and let other candidates know their status when the offer has been accepted.

Our goal is to make offers mid November and have the new candidate start early December.

The salary range for Coordinator-level roles at the AHA is $55,000-$65,000, depending on experience and with new hires rarely starting at the top of the range.

AHA offers employees an annual cost of living wage increase each year based on the inflation rate. In addition, promotions and/or merit-based pay increases are available for team members who consistently exceed expectations.

Benefits:

We offer generous benefits, including:

• Fully paid medical, dental, and vision insurance, and the option to enroll dependents with the AHA covering 50% of the premium
• 403b plan - and we’ll match your contributions up to 3% of your salary
• Fully employer-paid short-term and long-term disability insurance, and life insurance
• Partial cell phone reimbursement ($45/month) and, for fully remote employees, partial home internet reimbursement ($65/month)
• Flexible Spending Account and pre-tax commuter benefits available
• Professional development budget available

PTO:

We want you to work hard on the clock and have plenty of flexibility to live a full life off of it. In general, we tend to be flexible around working arrangements and hours to meet staff needs, but here are our formal policies.

• Earned PTO: 18 days PTO in your first year, increasing by one day a year until you reach 25 days.
• Holidays: 12 paid holidays, plus the days between December 24th and January 1st.
• Flex time: 3 hours of additional “flex time” off each week to schedule as you please, to account for doctor’s appointments, errands, or just starting your weekend a bit early.
• Flexible Scheduling: Employees have the freedom to set their own schedule, as long as they’re available/online 40h a week (not counting flex time) and between the hours of 11a-3p EST.
• Parental leave: 8 weeks of leave at full pay and an additional 4 weeks of leave at 75% pay for new parents.
• Comp time: Time off is earned on a 1:1 basis for evening and weekend events worked and work travel outside of regular hours. (We anticipate this position will travel 1-2 times a year if based in or near DC, and 3-4 times a year if fully remote.)