Area Communication & Publishing Director - USW

Under the direction of the Director for Temporal Affairs (DTA), the Area Publishing & Communications Director works closely with the Area Presidency. The Area Communications & Publishing Director leads a team of managers, professionals, and called staff that will help the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints communicate clearly and with one voice to priority audiences in the area, thereby assisting the work of salvation and exaltation.

This role will be used in Church Areas located in the United States. This senior manager-level would have 2-3 direct reports in management roles dividing the ownership of communications and publishing. These managers would then have teams of employees reporting to them.

This role will play a crucial part in the following efforts:

• Increase understanding of the Church among all God’s children through effective audience understanding and unified communication efforts across the area.
• Manage the Church’s organizational identity and reputation within the area in close alignment with the area efforts and the Global Church Communication Guide.
• Develop internal and external campaigns.
• Build and lead the establishment of strategic relationships with key opinion leaders across the area to help achieve the mission of the Church, strengthen its reputation, and promote religious freedom. This includes government, interfaith and other community leaders.
• Extend the reach of Church communication (e.g., identity, unified messaging, and communication channels) in a way that reflects a desire to understand and minister to the needs of priority audiences as identified by the Area Presidency.
• Work closely with the Correlation Department to ensure that 1) appropriate research is supporting local product and content development, 2) excellent local product planning is taking place, and 3) that what the Area is producing has appropriate doctrinal, IP, data privacy, and Visual Identity Office (VIO) review and certification to protect the Church.
• Direct the effort to unify church communication and publishing at the area level through an integrated planning process and alignment with the area plan.
• Responsible for the area's annual planning of publishing products including budget forecasting, resource planning, and timelines.
• Develop a team that will help leaders, employees, volunteers, and partners understand audience needs, values, and experiences to increase understanding.
• Oversee product management capability to support area products and the adaptation of global products and initiatives.
• Support the preservation of intellectual property, doctrinal accuracy, data privacy, and product plan alignment for all deliverables.
• Establish a team that will identify, develop, and maintain key relationships of mutual understanding and trust with leaders, organizations, and influencers.
• Direct the team who will work to extend the reach of the gospel of Jesus Christ by coordinating and assuring the effective use of Church channels at the area level.
• Oversee a unified production operation that includes but is not limited to print, video, animation, broadcasting, photography, social media, and web publishing.
• Oversee the work of independent contractors, vendors, and volunteers to accomplish product deliverables.
• Manage the relationship with independent contractors and vendors including the measurement of work quality, sourcing and negotiation with the new resources, and the termination of contracts.
  Manage the work of other employees (may include mixed workforce).
• Responsible, in partnership with HR, to hire employees and recommends advancement, promotion, or any other change of status of employees within their reporting line. This includes performance management and recommendations for discipline and termination.
• Plan, organize, and support leadership, staff, and Church member events. 
• The employee reports to a Director for Temporal Affairs.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent post-secondary education/certificate in business, public relations, or a communication-related field.
• 7 years of professional-level experience.
• A combination of education and experience for a total of 11 years may be considered.
• A proven track record of effective people management with at least three (3) years of people-management experience.
• Strong leadership, communication, collaboration, and organizational development skills.
  Experience in developing, designing, and executing strategic communication plans.
• Active listener and learner with ability to understand the needs of a wide variety of audiences to communicate effectively to them.
• Experience managing organizational brand, reputation, internal communication, and/or external media relations.
• Ability to communicate complex ideas and processes in a straightforward way to leadership and communication teams at all levels.
• Extensive experience with a wide variety of communication channels.
• Solid understanding of public relations and relationship building.
• Skilled at utilizing research methods and strategies to address practical problems.
• Excellent writing and editing skills.
• Ability to think critically and solve problems.
• Experience in crisis management.
• Leadership and management experience with strong people skills.
• Competency in the use of technology, including the Microsoft Office product suite.

Preferred:

• Master's degree.