Vice President of Strategy, Marketing & Communications

About the position

Democracy Prep educates responsible citizen-scholars for success in the college of their choice AND for lives of active citizenship. In close partnership with families, we empower young people with the skills and values to flourish as community leaders who will strengthen our American democracy and change the world! The Vice President of Strategy, Marketing & Communications is an executive level leader at Democracy Prep principally responsible for regional strategy and support, and the Democracy Prep brand and storytelling. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, the Vice President of Strategy, Marketing & Communications manages at the systems level, works closely with internal and external stakeholders, partners directly with Regional Superintendents and Directors of Operations in Texas and Nevada, and directly supervises the Marketing & Communications Team.

Responsibilities

• Consult directly with the Chief Operating Officer and other executive teammates to ensure the viability of our strategy in each region and our marketing & communications infrastructure.
• Serve as a trusted partner to executive team leaders solving the most complex regional strategy and marketing & communications issues with empathy, sound judgment, efficiency, and reasonable approach to risk.
• Ensure fiscal responsibility for budgets in the purview of marketing & communications.
• Continuously drive improvements and innovation as it relates to regional strategy and marketing & communications.
• In partnership with the Chief Operating Officer and the Vice President of Infrastructure & Operations, lead annual manager, leader and CMO training and development specific to work on the COO-Team.
• Attend in-person Executive and leadership meetings as assigned.
• Perform other related duties as assigned, including leadership of and/or participation in network-wide or department specific initiatives and/or projects.
• Co-lead the regional strategy for Nevada and Texas, which will include a Strategic Review of each region.
• Co-lead the implementation of Strategic Plans for Nevada and Texas that come out of the strategic reviews of those regions.
• Serve as lead project manager for all strategic work specific to the Nevada and Texas strategic plans.
• Support the Chief Operating Officer in relationship-management and collaboration with the Regional Superintendents of Nevada and Texas.
• Support Directors of Operations in Nevada and Texas to ensure strong operational team member’s effectiveness, strong operational systems and robust enrollment.
• Co-lead the New York future footprint planning and 10-year growth plan for the New York region.
• Co-lead the aggressive vetting of potential merger and acquisition opportunities in the New York Region.
• Serve as lead project manager for all merger and acquisition opportunities in New York.
• Serve as lead project manager for all new seat growth in New York.
• Develop all Board related communications and presentations on regional strategy for DPPS and local Boards and co-present with other Executive Team members.
• Oversee and manage all communications related to regional strategy, including internal and external communication.
• Develop and maintain relationships with key external stakeholders across Democracy Prep’s three regions.
• Attend and share relevant information from regional conferences, meetings, and authorizer events, as needed.
• Drive execution of priority projects, as needed and required by the Executive Team and the organization.
• Lead a re-start of the Marketing & Communications function at DPPS, starting with leading an effort to codify our core pillars, key differentiators and key brand stories.
• Design and implement a marketing & communications/storytelling strategy for the organization, including internal and external communications to all stakeholders.
• Serve as the 'protector' of the Democracy Prep brand, including reviewing and approving all external communications and marketing materials.
• Oversee all public relations and marketing contracts and relationships, including enrollment and talent acquisition-focused vendors.
• Serve as the primary point of contact and steward for all media inquiries.
• Oversee the Marketing & Communications Team, ensuring each team member’s effectiveness in their roles through clear feedback, strong accountability and routine coaching.
• Oversee exposure opportunities for the Chief Executive Officer and other key organizational leaders.
• Oversee the Democracy Prep website and all social media accounts.
• Oversee graphics design and video production.
• Oversee the preparation of presentations and written materials for the Chief Executive Officer.
• Oversee emergency and crisis communications, including creation of templates and management of decision-making stakeholders.
• In partnership with the Vice President of Infrastructure & Operations, oversee the effective execution of Regional Town Halls, Graduations, Senior Signing Days and other high profile events.
• Ensure effective collaboration between the Marketing & Communications Team and other CMO teams on the execution of materials preparation for events as-needed.

Requirements

• A graduate of a Bachelor’s degree program (required), Master's degree in related field (preferred).
• 5-10 years of experience in charter management organization (CMO) or school district leadership.
• Operations experience or leadership within a school-based setting or high-functioning social sector organization strongly preferred.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience designing complex and scalable systems/processes from scratch and improving upon existing ones.
• Ability to define strategic issues clearly despite ambiguity.
• Strong relationship builder with excellent interpersonal skills.
• Excellent writer and skilled orator.

Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Vision insurance
• Dental insurance
• 403B matching
• Parental leave