Communications Manager

Job Description

Company Description

The Children’s Opportunity Alliance (The Alliance) is an independent 501(c)(3) designated as the early care and education (ECE) coordinating entity for Montgomery County. It is responsible for building an equitable, high-quality, accessible, and sustainable early childhood system to support the well-being of children and families in the County. The Alliance is also charged with identifying and impacting systemic inequities and structurally violent practices and structures that create access barriers for vulnerable, racially, and ethnically diverse populations. The Alliance is governed by a county-appointed Board. The Alliance puts children and families first; collaboration, innovation, and accountability are key values of the Alliance and will require close engagement with many diverse stakeholders from the public and private sectors.

Position Summary

Communications is a key element in order for the Children’s Opportunity Alliance to fulfill its legislative mandate of connecting our community to build an equitable, accessible, high-quality, and sustainable early childhood system that narrows disparities and puts all young children on a path to reach their greatest potential. The Communications Manager will be a part of a small team responsible for driving the organization’s work forward, spearheading our communications strategy, branding, messaging, digital engagement, and storytelling across platforms to strengthen visibility, community engagement and advocacy efforts to raise awareness in our community about the importance of early care and education. We are seeking a skilled storyteller, strategic thinker, and collaborative leader with a strong commitment to our mission and who is enthusiastic about working with a team of colleagues who share our values of accountability, equity, family-centered, justice oriented and synergy.

Duties:

Content Creation

• Lead editorial planning across social media, email, and online articles/content.
• Write and edit high-quality copy, including email campaigns, regular newsletters, blog posts, and op-eds/press releases.
• Develop and cultivate relationships with local media and reporters, creating opportunities for earned media and storytelling across mediums and tracking opportunities, reach and engagement.
• Plan, execute, and analyze communications campaigns tied to our strategic goals.
• Support design for organizational collateral, including emails, presentations and flyers.
• Steward the Alliance brand by ensuring its tone, voice, and visual consistency across all public-facing materials.
• Update our organizational website based on upcoming events, new projects, previous meetings, and convenings; coordinate updates to resource website for early care and education in our community.
• Support content capture at events and programs, including photos and short-form video

Social Media

• Manage and craft social media content across platforms (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and X).
• Create and publish simple visual and video assets using tools like Canva and CapCut.
• Engage our audiences on social media platforms, looking for opportunities to share our mission in relevant conversations in a thoughtful way.
• Monitor content performance and analytics to inform future messaging decisions.

Messaging & Storytelling

• Gather and determine top channels to share the stories of Montgomery County residents regarding early care and education.
• Ensure consistency in Alliance messaging across key audiences.
• Translate data and policy language into compelling calls to action for the broader community.

Collaboration

• Work closely with leadership, development, and programmatic team members to raise the Alliance’s profile and meet strategic goals.
• Partner with organization’s external marketing and communications consultants on awareness and growth campaigns.
• Support the Board and local early care and education partners in lifting up shared messages and stories.

Requirements

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Marketing, Journalism, Public Relations, or a related field, plus at least 5 years of professional experience in marketing communications. In place of a degree, at least 9 years of professional experience in marketing or communications.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• A passion for our mission
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• 4+ years of relevant communications/marketing experience
• Experience building and executing strategic communications campaigns and plans
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Strong time management and interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple workstreams under daily or weekly deadline pressure
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite – including Word and PowerPoint
• Skills in editing and proofreading
• Basic graphic design skills using Canva; comfort with Adobe Creative Suite is a plus
• Experience supporting or managing social media channels
• Experience using a website CMS; Squarespace experience is a plus
• Experience in email marketing; Mailchimp experience is a plus
• Experience in early childhood, education, or child-serving work is a plus

Benefits

Compensation

Salary range for this role is $70,000 to $90,000 annually, dependent on qualifications and experience.

Benefits

Alliance employees are offered individual medical, dental, life, and disability insurance at no cost, as well as a 401(k) plan with 4% match, and generous paid time off.

Physical Demands

This position requires the ability to perform the essential functions of an office-based role, including prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer, communicating effectively in person and via phone/email, and occasionally lifting up to 20 pounds. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these functions.

The Children’s Opportunity Alliance (The Alliance) is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Prohibits Discrimination of Any Kind. The Alliance is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, sex (including pregnancy), age, physical, mental or sensory disability, HIV status, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. The Alliance will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics, as we foster an open and inclusive professional environment. your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Alliance employees are offered individual medical, dental, life, and disability insurance at no cost, as well as a 401(k) plan with 4% match, and generous paid time off.