Director, Strategy, Growth & Communications - What Work Cities

Results For America•Columbia, WA

12d•Remote

About The Position

Results for America (RFA) is a national nonprofit organization that helps policymakers use evidence and data to address challenges and improve policy and funding decisions. What Works Cities (WWC), a Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded initiative, works with city governments across North, Central, and South America to improve residents’ lives through effective use of data and evidence. Its support includes coaching, implementation assistance, learning opportunities, and a professional network, guided by the What Works Cities Standard for data-driven local government. WWC has supported more than 300 cities since 2015 and is expanding its reach while exploring new regions. The Director, Strategy, Growth & Communications is accountable for developing and executing WWC’s growth strategy and expanding its reach, influence, and impact in current and emerging markets. The role leads WWC’s Strategy, Growth & Communications portfolio, including expansion, outreach, partnership development, and the identification of ways for cities to engage with WWC and adopt the What Works Cities Standard. The Director oversees the Communications team and leads communications and marketing strategy to strengthen WWC’s international brand and visibility and grow its community of cities and government leaders. The Director supervises the Associate Director for Strategy & Growth and the Associate Director for Strategic Communications. The position works closely with the Senior Vice President & Managing Director for What Works Cities, City Experience, and Operations & Planning teams to align growth strategies with organizational priorities, program capacity, and market opportunities. This is a full-time, exempt position based in a home office anywhere in the United States, Canada, and/or Latin America. International travel of up to 40% annually may be required.

Requirements

12 or more years of relevant work experience and a bachelor’s degree.
Experience developing and leading growth, business development, partnership, or market-expansion strategies.
Demonstrated success developing and executing integrated marketing and communications strategies across digital and traditional platforms.
At least 5–10 years of experience supervising multiple full-time staff and building multi-layer, high-performing teams.
Experience managing annual budgets and strategic initiatives.
Experience cultivating and managing senior-level partnerships and stakeholder relationships.
Expertise in communications and/or media, particularly in nonprofit and philanthropic sectors.
Deep understanding of the current media and communications landscape, especially at the local-government level.
Strong media-relations track record and experience managing high-profile or sensitive issues.
Ability to set, lead, and hold accountability for program or product efficacy and long-term projects with organization-wide strategic impact.
Strong attention to detail and ability to identify trends, risks, and opportunities.
Experience designing and developing programs, products, or services and engaging a broad range of stakeholders in them.
Ability to set, collaborate on, and lead others to meet ambitious program or product goals and plans within a designated budget.
Confident communication across diverse professional settings and with a wide range of stakeholders and audiences, including executive leadership.
Adaptive approach and ability to anticipate unplanned variables in dynamic project environments.
Critical-thinking skills and ability to use data, research, and feedback to drive program, product, or service decisions.
Alignment with Results for America’s mission and organizational values.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in city or local government, public-sector consulting, philanthropy, or government innovation organizations.
Experience working across multiple countries, regions, or international markets.
Master’s degree in MPP, MPA, MBA, International Affairs, Public Policy, or a related field.
Experience scaling a program or initiative, preferably with international experience.
Familiarity with Salesforce, Google Suite, Asana, Slack, Zoom, Tableau, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.

Responsibilities

Lead development and execution of WWC’s growth strategy across North, Central, and South America and assess future growth opportunities.
Set annual growth goals and KPIs, monitor performance, and develop practices, models, and initiatives to achieve targets.
Analyze trends, opportunities, and risks across target markets and translate findings into strategic recommendations.
Lead city segmentation, engagement pathways, and recruitment strategies to increase awareness, participation, and conversion, including opportunities involving high-priority cities, regions, sectors, and institutions.
Identify, cultivate, and maintain strategic relationships with senior government leaders, partners, and key networks.
Develop and execute a global communications and marketing strategy that establishes WWC as a leading international benchmark for data-driven government.
Advance strategies to embed the What Works Cities Standard and criteria across partner institutions and regional networks.
Set communications goals and KPIs aligned with WWC’s needs and ensure metrics align with grant reporting, impact, and evaluation deliverables.
Lead performance-management and reporting cadence with the Senior Vice President & Managing Director and other leaders as directed.
Develop an overarching strategic communications plan aligning messaging, tactics, brand governance, and thought leadership with organizational priorities.
Manage editorial content for brand consistency, tone, and strategic alignment, including Certification announcements, media pitches, press releases, editorial content, and thought leadership events.
Lead storytelling and narrative development across owned and earned platforms, including blogs, op-eds, press releases, social media, and reports.
Set strategy for and manage WWC’s presence at conferences and activation events such as panels, keynotes, workshops, and sponsorships.
Coordinate media relations and targeted public relations campaigns to promote thought leadership and attract strategic partnerships.
Lead the Strategy, Growth, and Communications team in achieving annual and individual goals.
Build systems, processes, and operating norms that support execution, collaboration, and accountability.
Coach and develop a diverse team and foster an inclusive, collaborative, innovative, learning-oriented, and results-focused culture.
Generate actionable market insights to inform strategy, outreach, and partnership engagement; support experimentation with new engagement models, partnerships, and growth initiatives.
Capture and share lessons from tactics and strategies to support continuous learning.
Assist in managing communications agencies, public relations firms, freelance writers, designers, and other vendors, ensuring timely delivery and budget alignment.
Serve as a core member of the WWC leadership team and collaborate with the Senior Vice President & Managing Director, City Experience, and Operations & Planning counterparts.
Integrate Strategy, Growth & Communications workflows with WWC systems and processes and align outreach, engagement, and communications objectives.
Champion RFA and WWC’s values, culture, and commitment to excellence.