Director of Communications

OB POSTING FOR COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

City Council Member Sandy Nurse is seeking a Communications Director experienced in strategic political communications, story telling, narrative building and persuasion communications. 

Primary Responsibilities

• Manage external communications for the office including, but not limited to:
• Weekly electronic newsletters
• Official mailed newsletters
• Press releases and statements 
• Timely social media posts related to our top legislative and political priorities
• Coordinate communications for press conferences, rallies, and district events 
• Build and maintain strong and sustainable relationships with community members, organizations and leaders
• Manage relationships with English and Spanish press, including pitching stories and developing long-term media narrative for Council Member
• Draft press releases, quotes, speeches, and op-eds
• Attend, support, and organize events—both those led by our office and those organized by others in our community
• Draft communications such as letters, talking points, presentations, and promotional materials 
• Manage, draft, and schedule content for the Council Members social media channels.
• Research and report social media trends to Chief-of-Staff and Councilmember.
• Engage with partnering community-based organizations, elected officials, and city agencies to communicate news and/or resources from the Council Member to District 37 constituents.   
• Support the Chief-of-Staff and Legislative Director on media
• Represent the Council Member at meetings and public events as needed
• Work with the team members of allied Council offices in shared messaging and strategy
• Set key performance indicators (KPIs) for social media strategies. 
• Support the communications work of caucuses that the Member is part of
• All team members contribute to the office constituent services operations
• Prepare Council Member Nurse for interviews and speaking engagements

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience managing communications strategies
• Creative problem solver that loves working with people
• Exceptionally strong project management and organizational skills and the ability to work with a team and move multiple projects forward at the same time
• Demonstrated ability to learn new topics quickly and thoroughly
• Very strong oral and written communication and analytical skills
• Must be comfortable with public speaking
• Excellent skills in relevant software including Google Suite, basic office software such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel and other data analysis tools, and a proven ability to learn new tools quickly 
• Excellent skills in social media platforms
• Familiar with the goals of leftist, grassroots movements
• Willingness to be immersed in a variety of social issues
• Excellent research skills 
• Flexible, deadline-oriented, works well under pressure

Preferences

• Fluency in Spanish is beneficial but not required

Salary and Benefits

• $60,000 - $70,000  for full-time
• Excellent government benefits including health, dental, and vision coverage, paid time off, retirement benefits, and a commuter plan
• A unionized workplace

Values

Commitment to economic and social justice and political action that is anti-racist, pro-Black, feminist, pro-worker, pro-immigrant, and pro-LGBTQ; alignment with the core values of Sandy Nurse’s City Council platform. Demonstrated commitment to equity that uplifts the rich diversity of our community across race, ethnicity, age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, ability, veteran status, socio-economic circumstance, and record of arrest or conviction.

Work

In-person work is often required for this role, but remote work will also be part of it. The position will be based out of the district and City Hall offices, but travel around the district and city will be a regular part of this job.  Some evening and weekend work will be required. Our office practices comp time.

To Apply

Please submit your resume and 3 references (at least one of which must be a current/former supervisor) to district37@council.nyc.gov with “NAME + Communications Director” in the subject line.