Vice President of External Communications

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia•Cleveland, OH

8h•Onsite

About The Position

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s mission is to foster the stability, integrity, and efficiency of the nation’s monetary, financial, and payment systems while representing the Fourth District perspectives. As part of the nation’s central bank, we are a team of mission-driven professionals who are committed to serving with excellence. Our core values are: Build Trust Every Day, Own Our Actions, Collaborate with Intention, and Be Open to Change. For twenty-six years in a row, we’ve been named “One of Northeast Ohio’s Best Places to Work” by North Coast 99. This prestigious award honors organizations with outstanding employment practices, including compensation, benefits, training, recruitment, retention, community services, and employee communications. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and our YouTube channel – Cleveland Fed The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is seeking a Vice President to lead our External Communications team that includes executive communications, media and messaging, marketing, and digital in the development and execution of critical communications strategies. As a part of the broader External Engagement team, which also includes the community development and outreach functions, the incumbent will collaborate closely with senior leaders to maximize the impact of the Bank’s outreach efforts. This position reports directly to the Senior Vice President of External Engagement. A key focus for this role is to lead the evolution of the Bank’s voice in the world – building a modern, connected, and digitally fluent communications ecosystem that is digital first, data-informed, and tells the organization’s story across channels with authenticity, agility, and impact. This role may be based at one of our onsite locations to include Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland or Pittsburgh.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in journalism, public relations, public affairs or a related field or commensurate experience.
10 + years leading teams focused on external communications strategies, message development, news media relations, content development and distribution, social media, and website engagement.
Deep understanding of stakeholders served by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
Demonstrated success in leading complex external communications functions, including managing multi-disciplinary teams, navigating high-stakes or ambiguous issues, and aligning messaging across multiple audiences, platforms and stakeholders.
Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to develop and deliver presentations to executive audiences and prepare written plans.
Experience advising principals/c-suite leaders on speeches, thought leadership and external positioning.
Understanding and experience in news media relations, digital and paid media.
Strong people leadership and talent management skills.
Strong project management and operations management abilities, including the ability to manage multiple highly visible initiatives concurrently.
Ability to work cross-functionally to solve complex problems, manage change and improve quality and service.
Strong organizational agility skills; demonstrated personal resilience when faced with challenges and setbacks.
Strong track record of inspiring teams, fostering collaboration, and leading cultural change.
Demonstrated ability and willingness to have direct conversations to address and resolve issues at all levels of the organization.
Emotionally intelligent, collaborative, and empowering leader.
Hands-on enough to engage in content and strategy discussions, but strategic enough to empower staff and focus time on transformation and outcomes.
Ability to develop and leverage a strong external network including contacts in other Reserve Banks and in other external organizations.
Travel (15-20%)

Responsibilities

Manage the work of highly skilled, motivated communications professionals.
Support a culture of innovation, results-oriented impact and professional growth.
Oversee and support the external communications team’s work in the following areas: Development and execution of a principal positioning strategy, which includes a bank-wide news media and messaging strategy (local, national, global), executive communications (e.g. speechwriting) strategy, and a bank-wide social media engagement plan.
Development and distribution of public-facing content, including web, special reports, multi-media content – across all Bank channels.
Close coordination with leadership of other functions (e.g. Research, IT, Supervision, Legal, Community Development, Regional Executives, etc.) across the Bank to help them communicate externally with key stakeholders.
Partnership with our Office of the President function to support the work of Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack.
Work closely with the Bank’s most senior leaders to support and continually refine external communications efforts.
Advise senior leaders on communications positioning, messaging, and storytelling opportunities.
Serve as the Bank’s Public Information Officer (PIO), overseeing media relations and crisis communications.
Collaborate with other external communications leaders across the Federal Reserve System to support their work and share best practices.
Continually explore new ways to maximize the Bank’s communications efforts, including the use of generative AI, as well as new content formats (video, podcasts, interactive features) to reach new audiences.
Stay up to date about issues and trends that could affect our work. Lead discussions about those topics and our approach among leaders across External Engagement and the Bank.
Develop and implement a digital-first external communications strategy aligned to organizational priorities and audience needs.
Use analytics and audience insights to drive decision making, measure impact, and continuously optimize strategy.
Model curiosity, creativity, and inclusivity, encouraging experimentation and innovation.