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The Communications Specialist will be the lead marketer for a fast-growing national initiative under the leadership of Freakonomics co-author Steve Levitt and many others, redefining how we teach 21st century skills in America. The Specialist will help lead development and implementation of communications and marketing strategies, including brand management, event publicity, community engagement, and digital/social media management. This position requires a knowledge of and passion for multi-channel communications and marketing, complemented by an interest in education policy (local, state, and national), and an ability to build relationships across diverse constituencies and communities.

Responsibilities

  • Plans, develops and disseminates information designed to keep the public informed of the DS4E Coalition’s programs, accomplishments, or point of view, with moderate levels of guidance and direction.
  • Creates and manages DS4E’s digital and social media assets, compiling and analyzing relevant metrics based on established goals.
  • Designs and executes outreach campaigns to keep coalition members, educators, and the broader K-12 education community informed of DS4Es programming and field-building initiatives.
  • Maintains editorial oversight of public outreach/social media feeds, especially in order to create and preserve equitable attention to diverse audiences (educators, policymakers, parents, students).
  • Strategizes ways to increase social media following and engagement in order to build a significant educator and student community.
  • Attends national and local education conferences to cover them for our social media; trains communications interns and/or other students for social media assistance.
  • Manages a monthly newsletter, in collaboration with DS4E’s leadership team, coalition members, and advisors.
  • Assists with creation and outreach management of public fundraising campaigns.
  • Improves and manages organization of DS4E’s CRM system, including data management and analysis.
  • Designs and compiles two community engagement and feedback surveys per year.
  • Performs other related work as needed.

Location

Chicago, IL or Remote.

Preferred Qualifications

Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree, preferably in public relations, marketing, English or related field.

Experience:

  • Prior experience in communications or related field.
  • Working knowledge with educators or the education sector.
  • Background with relational organizing.
  • Finger on the pulse of social media trends.
  • Eagerness to try new things.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

  • Deep fluency and knowledge of digital communications best practices including accessibility, website development, social media, data maintenance, and email marketing.
  • Excellent communications skills for the effective delivery of DS4E’s vision, mission and brand.
  • Demonstrated experience in website editing (Wix/Squarespace) and graphic design.
  • Knowledge of and passion for modernizing U.S. education and igniting a similar passion in diverse audiences, especially parents and/or students.
  • Knowledge of or exposure to data science, computer science, and related technical fields.
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office.
  • Proficiency with social media platforms (Twitter, Slack, Facebook).
  • Proficiency with Mailchimp and CMS/CRM management.
  • Proficiency short-length video editing.
  • Proficiency in survey development.

Competencies

  • Exceptional time management and organizational skills including the ability to meet external and internal deadlines.
  • Meet tight external and internal deadlines.
  • Entrepreneurial, creative thinking about how to improve DS4E’s communications and outreach efforts.
  • Proven ability to be a valuable part of a team.