Senior Communications Manager

Overview

Are you a creative visionary ready to transform a growing organization's voice? The Senior Communications Manager is an entrepreneurial, full-time leadership role directly responsible for all creative communications, external messaging, and brand collateral. Reporting to the Executive Director, you will be the chief storyteller and strategic communications architect, wielding the power of narrative to drive and support unprecedented fundraising success, outreach, and marketing.

Your mission: to shape and evolve the Boston Food Forest Coalition's (BFFC) visibility as a leading force in parkland equity, ecological agriculture, community resilience, and climate action right here in Boston. This is more than a job—it's an opportunity to build a strong, engaging, and creative brand from the ground up, with the explicit goal of fueling significant revenue growth, increasing individual donor engagement, and expanding our local and national presence. You will be the engine that translates our on-the-ground impact into compelling appeals for philanthropic investment.

BFFC is operating at the cutting edge of change, embracing an entrepreneurial stage of learning and growth with diversity, equity, and inclusion at its core. If you thrive on thinking creatively, collaborating deeply, and working with an action mindset to build a better future—and understand how to strategically connect mission to money—this is your platform.

Responsibilities

I. Communications Strategy and Fundraising Leadership (25%)

• Strategic Planning: Develop and execute a comprehensive, creative communications strategy that views all external messaging with the core objective of significantly increasing organizational visibility to support budget scaling and reach a broader base of individual donors.
• Advocacy and Partnership: Act as a senior advocate for creative brand, storytelling, and media initiatives, ensuring that the communications strategy serves as a service and strategy role that is integrated across the Advancement Team (Development and Communications), Program, and Stewardship teams.
• Narrative Ownership: Proactively identify and champion emerging narrative opportunities and shifts, working autonomously with the leadership team to define and execute plans that advance BFFC’s brand and directly support fundraising goals.
• Fundraising Communications:
  • Lead core fundraising communications efforts, including the annual appeal process (writing, building, scheduling emails, graphics), and project management for key advertisements and event marketing collateral.
  • Collaborate closely with the Executive Director and Development team to create bespoke communications and presentation materials for major donor cultivation and stewardship meetings.

II. Narrative Storytelling and Content Generation (25%)

• Creative Content Direction: Lead creative storytelling efforts across all digital and print channels, focused on sharing the impact and expertise of BFFC through compelling, on-the-ground narratives about our stewards, plants, park design, and agroecology. Generate content that effectively demonstrates impact to current and prospective donors, aligning narratives with key funding priorities and appeals.
• Content Execution: Directly manage and execute high-quality content generation, including writing, editing, proofreading, layout/design, video creation/editing, and graphic design, with proficiency in tools like the Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator) and Canva.
• Print & Digital Production: Oversee the development of all BFFC print and digital communications, including the annual report and marketing collateral, managing vendor relationships as needed.
• Visual Management: Manage external photographers and videographers for events, interviews, and the capture of park transformation.

III. Digital Strategy and Brand Management (20%)

• Brand Oversight: Provide strategic oversight to the BFFC brand, ensuring creative and visual consistency across all platforms and collateral, including park signage.
• Social Media Focus: Lead the organization’s social media strategy, focusing on creative, trend-aware content to set a growth strategy and increase engagement.
• Web Management: Manage and evolve BFFC’s website (Squarespace), including building new resource sections (e.g., “what’s growing and recipe section”) and updating individual park pages in collaboration with other departments.
• Newsletter & Inbox: Redesign and manage the monthly newsletter (Bloomerang) for greater brand consistency and impact, and manage the general info@ email account.

IV. Media Relations and Visibility (20%)

• Media Strategy: Develop and execute a robust media placement and pipeline strategy, cultivating and managing press relationships with key local and regional media outlets to secure coverage surrounding BFFC programs, special events, and public announcements.
• Ensure the media strategy includes securing placements to raise BFFC's profile among key philanthropic audiences, corporate partners, and potential high-net-worth individuals.
• Media Engagement: Serve as the lead media contact for select interactions and prepare the leadership team and staff for press and speaking engagements.
• Community Presence: Drive in-neighborhood communication strategy, initiating and facilitating BFFC’s presence at key local and regional events to increase visibility, neighborhood use, and participation.

Measurement, learning, and improvement (5%)

• Develop and execute a measurement & learning plan to track the success of BFFC communications through analytics.
• Monitor and report quarterly on the progress of communications programs and development to the leadership team.
• Make department learnings and data digestible and visible to the rest of the team.

Qualifications

• At least 7 years of professional experience with demonstrated success in communications, marketing, fundraising, and content strategy, ideally in a nonprofit or startup environment.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, high-growth, ambiguous environment.
• Demonstrated ability to directly support and contribute to measurable increases in fundraising revenue through strategic communications, annual appeals, and donor reporting.
• Strong experience with various social media platforms and a deep understanding of how to set a growth strategy & use them creatively and strategically.
• Proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator), Squarespace and Canva. Experience with Bloomerang (or similar CRM) is a plus.
• Connections with media outlets and/or an understanding of how to tap into media are a plus
• High degree of experience with nonprofit impact measurement practices, assessment tools (e.g., surveys), and making communications improvements based on data.
• High familiarity with proactively communicating goals and updates, and eliciting input from various stakeholders.
• Extensive experience cultivating external relationships and forging strategic new partnerships.
• Familiar with using web browsers and Google Suite tools (Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets), or similar, with a willingness to learn Google Suite.
• Knowledge of Boston’s urban agriculture sector is a plus!
• Demonstrated knowledge in the field of permaculture / ecological agriculture / agroecology / food forest maintenance is a plus, or willingness to learn!

Skills

• Creativity and strong visual talent, with an enthusiasm for bringing stories to life through diverse mediums.
• A proactive, entrepreneurial mindset with a willingness to experiment and try new approaches.
• Proven ability to translate complex ecological and program impact data into clear, compelling, and concise narratives that inspire donor action and long-term engagement.
• Strong project management skills, especially in managing work across multiple departments in a collaborative, inclusive, and efficient way
• Strong creative and entrepreneurial thinking ability to develop innovative strategies and engage across multiple platforms with various audiences simultaneously.
• Strong writing, editing, proofreading, layout/design, photography, photo editing, printing/publishing skills.
• Strong ability to assess, package, and present programs and impact data and learnings for organizational budgeting and decision-making.
• Creative, entrepreneurial, action-oriented with a flexible and adaptable style.
• Excellent organizational skills and capacity to prioritize and manage time well, with strong attention to detail.
• Ability to work as a self-starter without oversight, and as a team player who proactively engages with others within and outside the organization.
• Ability and desire to learn and grow in new situations and from mistakes; actively integrates feedback to improve.
• Ability to share a clear perspective, both orally and in writing.

• Health Insurance
• 40 days Personal Time Off annually (includes: holidays, sick days, and vacation)
• Retirement match
• Professional development stipend
• Cell phone and laptop stipend
• BFFC is committed to internal equity for salary and benefits and therefore does not negotiate compensation.

Location

• This is a Boston, Massachusetts-based position that will require regular in-person time, with travel between Boston neighborhoods.
• The position will include a mix of in-person (at least 3 days a week) and virtual/remote work, with some time spent documenting community events and workshops, interviewing community members and stewards, and supporting cross-coalition on-site events on the weekends.
• BFFC is committed to sustainability and supports staff in taking time off to balance evening and weekend hours.
• We ask all staff to abide by the COVID-19 guidance set by the City of Boston.