Communications Associate

Who We Are

Impact Justice advances safety, justice, and opportunity through boundary-breaking work that honors and empowers people and is changing expectations about what we can accomplish together. We imagine, build, and scale innovations, leverage research and other knowledge to connect the desire for change with informed action, and work to shift the narrative so that decision-makers and the public understand what’s at stake and what’s possible.

The Role

The Communications Associate role is a mid-level, high-impact opportunity within our growing Communications and Marketing team. The role touches every facet of the communications function — from opportunities to hone your strategic chops and creative ideation, to project management and writing, to social media and email campaign planning and execution.

With the Director of Communications and Marketing and the Associate Director of Communications, and in collaboration with staff across the organization, the Communications Associate will own several communications workstreams and play a key supporting role on various communications efforts that advance long-range projects and program initiatives. This is a great role for someone who loves both big-picture thinking and day-to-day execution, and who is energized by building systems that consistently help a team do its best work.

Who You Are

You’re a collaborative, organized communications generalist who brings a thoughtful, future-leaning approach to mission-driven work. You’re a strong writer who can translate complex, nuanced concepts into clear and compelling communications. You enjoy juggling a mix of responsibilities and can move between strategy, writing, project tracking, and execution without losing the thread.

You’re comfortable working with direction and priorities from leadership, and you also know how to take initiative, identify what’s needed, and keep work moving. You care about details and follow-through, and you’re motivated by contributing to a team culture that is welcoming, values-aligned, and committed to learning.

We know there are great candidates who may not think they fit every part of what we describe, or who have skills we haven’t thought of. If that’s you, we encourage you to apply and tell us more about your experience and what you’d bring to the role.

Key Responsibilities

What You Will Do

You will report to the Associate Director of Communications. Your core responsibilities will include:

Communications Strategy Support

• Support the development of creative, innovative communications plans in collaboration with the Director of Communications and Marketing and the Associate Director of Communications.
• Help clarify communications goals, audiences, and desired impact for priority initiatives.
• Coordinate with program leads and internal stakeholders to gather inputs and translate program strategy into an actionable communications work plan.
• Contribute ideas for messaging, narratives, and content angles that reflect Impact Justice’s mission and values.

Project Tracking

• Lead day-to-day project tracking for communications workstreams, including timelines, owners, dependencies, and deadlines.
• Maintain project plans and task tracking in tools like Asana (or similar).
• Monitor progress across deliverables, flag risks or bottlenecks, and propose adjustments to keep work on track.
• Support meeting preparation and follow-through by tracking action items and ensuring next steps are clear.

Content Development and Editorial Support

• Draft and edit communications materials, including email content, press releases, media pitches, web copy, toolkits, and internal communications.
• Review and refine materials drafted by teammates as needed, ensuring clarity, tone, accuracy, and alignment with organizational goals.
• Help uphold quality and consistency across outward-facing communications (voice, messaging, and brand alignment).
• Support content planning by identifying what’s needed, when, and in what format for key initiatives.

Media Relations Support

• Monitor relevant news and media opportunities connected to Impact Justice’s work.
• Brainstorm and write compelling media pitches that secure impact-driven press for the organization.
• Support intake and routing of press inquiries in alignment with communications priorities.
• Coordinate logistics for interviews and media engagements, including scheduling and preparation support.
• Track media placements and outcomes, and share patterns or learnings with the communications team.

Social Media and Digital Campaign Support and Execution

• Create, schedule, and publish social media content (primarily Instagram and LinkedIn), aligned with brand guidelines and evolving platform norms.
• Support multi-channel campaign execution, including social and email planning, calendars, and coordination with internal stakeholders.
• Track performance metrics and synthesize learnings into practical improvements over time.
• Help maintain a steady, high-quality publishing rhythm while staying responsive to timely moments and organizational priorities.
• Support culturally-relevant brand authenticity and social community building through social listening and direct audience engagement

Communications Asset Maintenance and Process Refinement

• Maintain core communications assets, including routine website updates such as posting content, updating pages, and keeping key information current.
• Organize and maintain shared drives and communications asset libraries (e.g., Google Drive), ensuring version control and easy access.
• Keep templates, trackers, and other shared team resources updated and easy to use.
• Help refine team processes for drafting, review, approvals, publishing, and archiving to improve clarity and consistency.
• Support smooth team operations by ensuring systems stay current and work is documented in ways others can easily follow.

Required Qualifications

• At least 3 years of professional experience in communications, public relations, digital communications, marketing, journalism, or a closely related field.
• Strong writing and editing skills, with a demonstrated ability to translate complex, nuanced topics into clear, engaging communications for varied audiences.
• Experience supporting earned media work, such as pitching, coordinating interviews, drafting press materials, or tracking media outreach.
• Project management and project tracking experience, including maintaining timelines, coordinating stakeholders, and keeping work moving across multiple concurrent deliverables (experience using tools like Asana or similar preferred).
• Digital communications experience, including creating and scheduling social media content and supporting email campaigns using platforms like Mailchimp.
• Basic design or multimedia skills (e.g., Canva), and comfort working within brand guidelines.
• Experience maintaining communications assets and systems, such as updating and managing website content (CMS experience a plus), organizing shared drives and asset libraries (e.g., Google Drive), and keeping templates and key documents current.
• Operational strength and follow-through, including attention to detail, good judgment, and the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines with consistency.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to correspond thoughtfully with colleagues and cross-organization stakeholders to coordinate work across teams.
• Ability to work independently with general direction, while also collaborating closely with communications leadership and program staff.
• Alignment with Impact Justice’s mission and values, including a thoughtful approach to communications in a social justice context.

Preferred Qualifications

• Comfort using basic analytics and reporting (social insights, email performance, website metrics) to inform improvements over time.
• Experience utilizing relevant AI tools to ethically and strategically bolster team capacity and deliverables.
• Experience developing and maintaining processes for content development, review, approvals, publishing, and asset management.
• Experience in nonprofit or mission-driven communications, especially related to criminal legal system reform, juvenile justice, or adjacent issues.

Applying

The anticipated start date for this position is Spring 2026. Consistent with our compensation philosophy, our starting salaries are established to represent strong compensation in the marketplace and to maintain internal equity. The starting salary for this position is fixed at $70,304, with annual increases defined by the current collective bargaining agreement. This is a bargaining unit position with Impact Justice United represented by OPEIU International. The benefits that come with working at Impact Justice include medical, dental, and FSA plans, significant vacation and wellness leave, and immediate vesting in our 401K with a generous match. This is a full-time, salaried position.

This is a full-time, salaried position. The candidate should be located in Oakland, CA, Los Angeles, CA, or Washington, DC. The Communications Associate will work on a hybrid schedule, currently at least two in-office days per week. Periodic deviations to the regular hybrid schedule may be required due to program needs. We are not considering remote staff for this position.

If this all sounds like a good fit for you, please send your resume and a one-page cover letter explaining why you are particularly interested in the role and why we should be particularly interested in you! We will review applications and reach out to candidates selected for interviews.

Hiring Process

Elements of the Impact Justice hiring process may include phone screen interviews, candidate exercises (written or presentations), Zoom interviews, in-person interviews, and reference checks. Candidates are welcome to ask for alternative arrangements in the process if needed (for example, conducting an interview via phone rather than Zoom), Impact Justice will do our best to accommodate reasonable requests. Please communicate any alternative arrangements requested to the hiring manager.

Equal Opportunity Employment

Impact Justice provides equal employment opportunities to all applicants without regard to race/ethnicity, color, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, national origin, age, criminal history, or disability.

About Impact Justice

Impact Justice advances safety, justice, and opportunity through boundary-breaking work that honors and empowers people and is changing expectations about what we can accomplish together. We imagine, build, and scale innovations, leverage research and other knowledge to connect the desire for change with informed action, and work to shift the narrative so that decision-makers and the public understand what’s at stake and what’s possible.

This is a bargaining unit position with Impact Justice United represented by OPEIU International. The benefits that come with working at Impact Justice include medical, dental, and FSA plans, significant vacation and wellness leave, and immediate vesting in our 401K with a generous match. This is a full-time, salaried position.