Senior Director, Philanthropy Communications (M2)

Save the Children 2022 • Lexington, KY

12d • $96,050 - $133,475 • Hybrid

About The Position

As the Senior Director, Philanthropy Communications you’ll be integral to our work in helping vulnerable children achieve a brighter future. You will be responsible for maximizing private sector support through the development of high-quality content that effectively positions Save the Children with high value donors across individual, corporate, and foundation donors across multiple channels. As a senior member of the Marketing & Growth Operations team within the Marketing & Growth division, the SDPC will oversee the team’s communications pillar, which works across fundraising, brand, marketing, communications and program teams to create accurate, timely and compelling materials for private donors and prospects. This includes assigning tasks to communications staff as needed and assessing the team’s quality of work. The SDPC will join the team at a particularly important time as it looks to evolve its approach to philanthropy communications, emphasizing greater use of technology to tell important stories about Save the Children’s work and visually demonstrate the impact of our programs and advocacy. The SDPC must have a solid understanding of various resources in the sector (i.e. InDesign, Shorthand, Flourish) and be able to foster the team’s commitment to using these tools and strengthening the content they produce.

Requirements

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, plus at least 7 years of relevant experience
• Experience in communications and/or new business development at a nonprofit organization
• Prior experience in international development, preferably active engagement in emergency response/humanitarian environments
• Extremely effective communicator who can quickly distill information from multiple sources and tailor for private audiences and fundraisers
• Ability to think and act strategically, to quickly mobilize support for a vision across large-scale multi-discipline functions, including through influencing and championing ideas in a matrixed organization
• An inclusive and confident leader who is extremely adaptable to working in a fast-moving environment and who is comfortable with dealing with constant change
• Willingness to work out of conventional office hours when an emergency strikes
• Professional proficiency in MS Office suite
• Professional proficiency in spoken and written English

Responsibilities

• Optimize private fundraising through the ongoing development of creative content for donors and prospects (40%)
• Manage editorial production calendar, setting editorial tone and style for Marketing & Growth communications, which include solicitations/proposals, program reports, email appeals, and acknowledgements as well as speech writing, editorial pieces, and other formats that bring Save the Children in front of the team’s prioritized audiences.
• Modernize donor communications, with an emphasis on identifying, testing and rolling out more effective tools that incorporate best practices for leveraging digital capabilities, videos, interactive graphs, as well as a mix of short and long content pieces.
• Assess the impact of our communications and course correct when needed.
• Maintain a detailed understanding of what our peers are doing and how Save the Children can differentiate ourselves in the current donor market.
• Provide creative oversight on content for high-level donors, ranging from prioritized program overviews, reports, journalistic pieces or others as needed.
• Collaborate with global colleagues as needed, identifying opportunities to amplify our existing assets.
• Lead content development for international/domestic emergency responses and fragile settings in partnership with the Philanthropy Operations Humanitarian Partnerships team and humanitarian colleagues (40%)
• As the communications focal point for private humanitarian fundraising, assess media coverage and private fundraising viability at emergency onset and develop a compelling communications plan for private donors.
• Ensure fundraisers have the essential tools and resources to initiate fundraising activities with their respective constituencies (foundations, corporate and high-net worth individuals).
• This includes preparing/customizing talking points, crisis briefings, and social media messaging drawn from information on sitreps and working group meetings.
• Identify humanitarian content asset gaps and keep knowledge management systems updated.
• Work with new business and existing account managers to develop custom and compelling humanitarian proposals for high level funding opportunities.
• Team management (20%)
• Oversee a team of communication staff and ensure appropriate staff are assigned to priority communications projects to support private fundraising efforts.
• Hire external consultants for specialized projects as needed.
• Act as a resource for colleagues with less experience.
• Train, develop, coach, lead, and supervise staff, clearly communicating organization, division and department priorities, and how their work contributes to our mission.

Benefits

• Flexible schedules and time off: Flexible schedules, generous PTO, 11 paid holidays plus 2 floating holidays and hybrid working opportunities
• Health: Competitive health care, dental and vision coverage for you and your family
• Family: A variety of paid leaves: caregiver, parental/adoption, critical child illness and fertility benefits
• Employee Rewards Program: Annual merit increases and/or additional incentives for eligible employees
• Retirement: A retirement savings plan with employer contributions (after one year)
• Wellness: 15 safety and wellness days annually (if hired on or after July 1, safety and wellness days prorated to 8 days), mental health benefits and support through Calm and company-hosted events
• Employee Assistance Program : free and confidential assessments, short-term counseling, referrals, and follow-up services
• Learning & Growth: Access to internal and external learning & development opportunities and mentorships

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees