Director, Strategic Communications

Director, Strategic Communications

Job Locations

US-Remote Position | US-IA-Iowa City

Job ID

# of Openings

1

Category

Marketing & Communications

Travel

No Travel Required

Overview

At ACT Your Work Makes a Difference

Education has power - a power that changes lives forever. It creates opportunities that lift up individuals, their families, and sparks societal change that echoes through generations to come. From our grassroots we have fought the good fight for equity in education, and we remain devoted to helping anyone who struggles to access that power. This is what matters to us and we must do better -- we've never been more sure of our purpose.

ACT Education Corp. team members are part of an organization dedicated to an important mission: Helping people achieve education and workplace success. Advancing the mission internally, by helping team members achieve education and workplace success of their own, is core to our values. ACT values a diverse workplace and is committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable environment in which every team member has an opportunity to grow.

We want our team members to have the well-being and confidence they need to do their best work, in an environment where both they and the company thrive. To support this, our total rewards include company paid life insurance, medical, dental, vision, flexible spending accounts, 401(k) with company contributions, paid holidays, paid time off, and so much more. You can find a comprehensive list of our benefits here.

The Director of Strategic Communications will be a key participate in the development of ACT's external communications strategy. They will be responsible for implementing the external communications plan that will advance ACT's enterprise strategy, priority initiatives, brand identity and equity, and business outcomes, with a focus on increasing the visibility of programs across key stakeholder audiences.

This leader will implement the external communications strategy through creation and implementation of speeches, research positioning, and communications activities that promote, enhance, amplify, and protect the organization's brand reputation.

The finalist will be hired at the salary and level commensurate with their qualifications. We anticipate offering a market competitive annual salary in the range of $125,000 to $140,0000. ACT manages salaries within the range based on relevant factors including, skills, experience, and internal equity. The position is incentive eligible.

Location: This is a remote position

A Day in the Life:

Implementation of Strategic Communications Plan

• Implement the comprehensive external communications plan to advance ACT's strategy, brand identity and equity
• Increase the visibility of programs across key stakeholder audiences
• Create and be responsible for public relations collateral that will allow ACT leadership to cultivate and enhance meaningful relationships with targeted, high-level external audiences, including national media; local, state, and federal policymakers; educators; and influential policy and advocacy organizations.
• Identify communications challenges and emerging issues faced by the organization and propose recommendations for addressing them.
• Position the organization and its brand to better serve learners, educators, schools, higher education institutions, policymakers, and other stakeholders in education equity, research, policy, learning, navigation, and measurement:
  • Create and be responsible for ACT's integrated communications materials, products, and services, including: print publications; web content (blogs, webinars, etc.); public relations collateral; social media.
  • Work closely with individuals across the business to develop messaging and enforce message discipline, including by preparing talking points, speeches, presentations, and other supporting materials that will promote, enhance, amplify, and protect the organization's brand reputation.
  • Work collaboratively with individuals and cross-functional teams in support of building and leveraging ACT's positions on education equity, policy, research, and thought leadership, and to ensure alignment with external communications plan.
• Prepare talking points, speeches, presentations, and other supporting material as needed
• Oversee the day-to-day activities of the communications function including budgeting, planning and staff development

Team Development/Management

• Lead the communications team that supports the development and execution of the communications strategy.
• Attract, retain, and enable the career development of top talent by promoting a culture of high performance and continuous improvement that values learning and a commitment to quality.
• Support team members' individual goal development and achievement, communicate expectations, coach and provide feedback, and advocate for and recognize individuals through consistent conversations.
• Oversee day-to-day activities of the communications function including budgeting, planning, and staff development.

Role Progression:

• Within 1 month you will have a high level understanding of ACT's products and customers and will be getting to know the team and the work they do, and starting to develop relationships with individual across the organization, as well as vendors in this space.
• Within 3 months you will be leading the team and have a solid understanding of the work they do and what ACT does. You will start to draft the strategic communications plan with defined metrics, KPI's, deliverables and timelines.
• Within 6 months the strategic communications plan will be actionable and you will start to drive it with support from the team and others, using the metrics and KPI's to measure progress and refine as needed. You will have a clear picture of how the various communication channels are being used and the topics that are coming across then. The team will see you as a supportive leader who challenges them to excel at the work they do.

About You:

• At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience in a communications leadership role with a focus on strategic communication functions
• Demonstrated record of pro-actively building relationships with top tier reporters and editors, and in successfully positioning subject matter with the media to achieve high-impact placements
• Demonstrated experience and leadership in managing a comprehensive strategic communications program to advance an organization's mission and goals
• Experience in planning, writing, editing, and production of newsletters, press releases, annual reports, marketing literature, and other print publications and directories
• Experience in building, mentoring, empowering, and coaching a team of communications specialists
• Innovative thinker, with a track record for translating strategic thinking into action plans and outcomes
• Excellent judgment and creative problem-solving skills, including negotiation and conflict resolution skills
• Ability to have proactive and thoughtfully communications with individuals inside and outside the organization
• Develops ideas that are creative; embraces and promotes diverse perspectives; uses data to analyze options and form opinions
• Ability to manage change and navigate, with a positive attitude, an environment experiencing change at a fast pace.
• A customer-centric focus and service oriented with a strong sense of urgency and persistence while working through a complex matrix organization to ensure success for the customer, organization, and team members
• Skills and knowledge required for success in this position attained through experience and education (Bachelor's Degree in Communications or related field of study), or a combination of both

Preferred Qualifications:

• Education industry experience
• Experience with hands-on role in external communications efforts at an organization going through significant transformation

About ACT

When ACT was founded in 1959, it disrupted the assessment industry with a new approach to helping students better understand their readiness so they could take steps to improve it. By leveraging our expertise and authority in assessment and research, we will again disrupt the industry-helping more people learn, better measure their progress, and improve their navigation through life's transitions.

More than ever before, ACT is fulfilling its mission of helping people achieve education and workplace success. We're doing it by pushing the boundaries of learning innovation through the work of our people, who we call team members because we're all in this together.

We know transformation does not come without challenge. That's why ACT invests in a variety of experiences for team members to strengthen their connections, explore ideas, learn from customers, and celebrate success.

Learn more about working at ACT at

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ACT is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. ACT values diversity in people and ideas and participates in E-verify. ACT's online position announcements are intended only to provide general descriptions of employment opportunities; none of the information provided for any position should be interpreted as a commitment by ACT to specific terms and conditions for employment.

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