Director of Marketing and Communications

Position Overview

The Director of Communications and Marketing is a member of EIF's leadership team, responsible for leading EIF’s communications and marketing function. This role owns the organization’s messaging strategy, brand voice, and communications output across all audiences—scholars and alumni, school and district partners, donors and investors, board members, and the general public. The Director drives agency-wide and program-specific communications from strategy through execution, coordinating internal stakeholders, communications staff, and external contractors and vendors to deliver high-quality work on deadline, and partners with the Senior Development Director in executing fundraising communications.

This is a role for a proactive, strategic thinker and doer who is equally comfortable setting a long-term brand awareness plan, writing a compelling appeal from scratch, and capturing video content for social media. The ideal candidate has led several communications and marketing projects end to end, understands how to prioritize and manage multiple projects simultaneously, and brings both creative vision and organizational discipline to their work.

Key Responsibilities

Communications Project Management

•      Serve as the primary project manager for EIF’s major communications and marketing initiatives, including agency-wide campaigns and program-specific communications.

•      Partner with the Senior Development Director to plan timelines and coordinate resources for fundraising and development communications projects.

•      Develop and oversee a master communications and marketing calendar, tracking deadlines, deliverables, and production timelines across all active projects.

•      Manage and coordinate communications staff, external contractors and vendors, such as graphic designers, photographers, videographers, web developers, PR consultants, and digital marketing specialists, to execute high-quality work within scope and budget.

•      Ensure all communications and marketing projects are delivered on time, within budget, and aligned with organizational brand standards.

•      Develop and manage the annual communications and marketing budget, including vendor spend, and make recommendations on resource allocation and staffing needs.

Messaging Strategy and Brand Consistency

•      Lead EIF’s organizational messaging strategy, establishing and maintaining a clear, consistent brand voice across all communications channels and stakeholder audiences.

•      Develop and implement a brand consistency framework across the schools and districts EIF serves, ensuring that all partner-facing, student-facing, and public-facing materials reflect EIF’s identity and mission with fidelity.

•      Serve as EIF's senior communications advisor to the executive team, leadership team, and Board, defining measurable goals and developing action plans to achieve them.

•      Supervise, mentor, and evaluate current and future communications and marketing staff, interns, and agency partners as the function grows.

•      Advise leadership on reputation management and serve as a communications lead in time-sensitive or crisis situations.

•      Proactively identify opportunities to increase EIF’s brand awareness locally and nationally, and recommend strategic initiatives to advance those goals.

Content Writing and Editorial

•      Serve as EIF’s lead content writer and editor, producing compelling, mission-aligned copy for donor and investor communications, newsletters, impact reports, grant narratives, program materials, press releases, social media, and web content.

•      Write and edit content across multiple formats and for multiple audiences, with the ability to adapt tone, style, and messaging appropriately for each.

•      Meet content deadlines consistently, including tight turnarounds, without sacrificing quality—demonstrating the discipline and adaptability of an experienced deadline-driven writer.

•      Lead production of EIF's e-newsletter on at least a quarterly basis, overseeing content planning, writing, design coordination, list management, distribution, and post-send performance reporting for each issue.

•      Maintain an editorial standards guide for EIF communications to ensure consistency in terminology, style, and organizational voice.

Digital Marketing and Social Media

•      Oversee EIF’s social media presence across platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X), managing strategy, content calendars, and performance metrics.

•      Lead digital marketing campaigns, including email marketing, social media advertising, and geofencing, in partnership with staff, vendors, or directly as appropriate.

•      Oversee EIF's website content, ensuring routine and time-sensitive updates are completed as needed in coordination with staff and web vendors, and conducting an annual full-site review to ensure the site accurately reflects EIF's programs, staff, impact data, and brand.

•      Bring working knowledge of SEO, SEM, and digital advertising strategies to effectively manage vendors and evaluate campaign performance.

Design and Production Support

•      Manage the design and production of marketing materials—including brochures, event programs, email campaigns, sponsorship packets, and donor presentations—in collaboration with communications staff and through contracted designers.

•      Create or support the development of flyers, social media graphics, and other visual assets using design tools (e.g., Canva) when timelines require rapid turnaround or additional support is needed.

•      Maintain working knowledge of graphic design principles sufficient to direct staff and vendors effectively, provide clear creative briefs, and evaluate design quality.

•      Lead production of EIF's annual report (Impact Report) end to end—content planning, writing, impact data collection and storytelling, design direction, proofing, and both print and digital distribution—in collaboration with internal teams and external design vendors, on an annual production calendar set with leadership.

Fundraising and Development Communications

•      Partner with the Senior Development Director and development team to develop donor and investor communications, stewardship materials, and fundraising campaign assets that advance EIF’s revenue goals.

•      Support the planning and execution of fundraising events from a communications and marketing standpoint, including event collateral, pre- and post-event communications, and social media.

•      Leverage CRM and email marketing platforms to develop targeted communications for donor segments, and analyze engagement data to inform strategy.

Required

•      Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, Marketing, English, Public Relations, or a related field.

•      Minimum five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in communications and marketing, including at least two (2) years leading a function, team, or agency relationships, with demonstrated ownership of a broad communications function.

•      Exceptional writing ability with experience producing content across multiple formats (donor communications, press releases, newsletters, social media, web copy, etc.) under deadline pressure.

•      Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, coordinate staff, contractors, and vendors, and deliver results on time and within budget.

•      Experience developing and executing social media strategy and digital marketing campaigns.

•      Demonstrated experience leading recurring publications on a set schedule—such as e-newsletters and annual or impact reports—and maintaining organizational website content.

•      Working knowledge of SEO/SEM, digital advertising, and website management sufficient to manage specialized vendors and evaluate their work.

•      Proficiency with email marketing platforms and CRM tools (e.g., Salesforce, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, or similar).

•      Comfortable creating or supporting the development of basic visual assets (flyers, social graphics, etc.) using design tools such as Canva when needed.

•      Strong strategic thinking skills with the ability to set measurable goals and translate them into actionable plans.

•      A collaborative, proactive work style with the ability to operate both independently and as a partner to organizational leadership.

•      Passion for EIF’s mission and a commitment to educational equity and community impact.

Preferred

•      Background in journalism, editorial writing, or content strategy; former journalists are strongly encouraged to apply.

•      Experience in nonprofit communications and marketing or in a cause-driven organization.

•      Experience supervising staff or interns and managing a departmental budget.

•      Experience presenting to or working directly with a nonprofit board of directors.

•      Familiarity with geofencing, paid social advertising, or advanced digital targeting strategies.

•      Experience with public relations, including media relations and press release distribution.

•      Proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite or comparable design software.

•      Experience with video content strategy and coordination (production may be contracted).

•      Knowledge of Google Analytics or comparable platforms for measuring digital marketing performance.