Communications Manager, Goleta, Other

Position Description

Position: Communications Manager (Exempt Position)

Employer: Vitamin Angels Alliance, Inc.

Division: Marketing Division

Location: Flexible. This person can work remotely from anywhere in the US or work from our corporate headquarters in Goleta, CA or our office in Chicago, IL, or any combination thereof.

Salary Range: $85-90k, depending on experience

About Vitamin Angels

Founded in 1994, Vitamin Angels is a public health nonprofit working to improve nutrition and health outcomes in low-resource settings worldwide. We strengthen, extend, and amplify the impact of our partner organizations working to reach the most nutritionally vulnerable groups – pregnant women, infants, and children – who are underserved by existing systems. We do this by delivering evidence-based interventions and offering technical assistance, including ongoing monitoring and evaluation, to ensure program quality, scale, and impact. Vitamin Angels works with over 1,200 local organizations, including governments, to reach more than 71 million women and children in about 65 countries annually. Both Charity Navigator and GuideStar give Vitamin Angels their highest marks for financial transparency. To learn more, visit: www.vitaminangels.org.

Vitamin Angels is an equal-opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are committed to fostering a supportive environment where everyone can contribute, thrive, and grow.

High-level description of Position

Vitamin Angels is seeking a Communications Manager for an anticipated global program (Program). The Communications Manager will help facilitate communications materials designed to uplift Vitamin Angels' entire suite of programmatic work, especially as it relates to a donor-funded Program, which is a grant-funded collaboration between several implementing organizations. The Communications Manager will sit within Vitamin Angels' Marketing division and work cross-divisionally—between the Marketing and Programs divisions—to create and coordinate communications materials designed to support the grant-funded program along with Vitamin Angels' overall global health portfolio.

The Communications Manager will use their technical background in public health and expertise in project management, knowledge management, writing and copy editing, and creative content development to facilitate the development and launch of effective, technically accurate, and programmatic communication materials.

The Communications Manager reports to the Associate Marketing Director of Programs and works with various creative staff/contractors (i.e. graphic design, videographer, photo asset manager, etc.) and Program team members (i.e. knowledge manager, monitoring & evaluation manager, and others) to ‘bring to life' creative initiatives including program reports/briefs, long-form articles, regional storytelling, newsletters, blog posts, webpages, social content, and various other items designed to enhance and communicate our technical work.

The ideal candidate will have a background in health communications, public health, nutrition, and/or international development, with demonstrated skills in writing for public health audiences, project management, liaising across a diverse set of internal and external stakeholders, and donor/partner relations. They will apply their expertise in all aspects of communication for public health while working to ensure the technical accuracy of our work and promote, exemplify, and further the mission and values of Vitamin Angels.

Contingency statement

This position and start date are contingent upon the approval of grant funding. In the event that funding is not secured, the position will be reevaluated. The selected candidate will be notified of any changes in a timely manner.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

Core responsibilities for the grant-funded program:

• Work with the Associate Marketing Director of Programs to build/deliver effective communications assets designed to promote and communicate the technical work of Vitamin Angels, particularly as it pertains to the Program, to be used across a wide range of internal and external channels

• Work across a diverse set of Program stakeholders including VA, funder, and co-implementing organizations

• Help to identify, build, and package regional and local stories to tell the story of the Program, to be used across a variety of marketing touch points

• Work with the Program team—including technical advisors, program managers, knowledge management lead, and monitoring & evaluation team members—to support monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) efforts around the grant

• Write copy for various channels including social posts, LinkedIn articles, video scripts, newsletters, blog articles, presentations, web content, and various other outlets

• Copy edit/proof various internal/external communications

• Collaborate with broader Marketing team to ensure a cohesive division-wide editorial calendar and marketing plans

• Support PR and external communications efforts by ‘packaging' technical stories or coordinating the publication of various media opportunities

Additional support as needed:

• Support communications-related efforts for Vitamin Angels' Program Division as a whole, including overall documentation and dissemination planning, development of program learning and capacity-strengthening materials, etc.

• Leverage technical information/assets to create content and communication that resonates with various audiences (funders, technical partners, B2B, and B2C audiences)

• Support the archival/knowledge management efforts of the organization

• Update or add to various pages in WordPress

• Other duties as assigned

Level of Decision-Making

Within the bounds of Vitamin Angels' mission, values, and policies, and sound professional practices, the Communications Manager has the discretion to use independent judgment to make decisions of significant consequence that affect VA clients, partners, and employees.

Organizational Relationships

VA operates under a collaborative, matrix management model. The Communications Manager is supervised by the Associate Marketing Director of Programs (or their designee), coordinates his/her activities with other leaders (unit leads from Programs, Marketing, and various contractors) or their designated staff, and interacts daily with a range of members of the VA team. Each VA team member establishes work priorities and ensures that their individual activities are continuing within the context of an established schedule and budget.

Reports to: Associate Marketing Director of Programs

Supervises: None at this time

Primary working relationships: Project team (within VA as well as across the consortium), Program Division Unit Leads, Marketing Creative Team, VA Country Consultants, Various Contractors

Travel required: Possible, up to 10%

Qualifications and Skills (Required and Preferred)

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in marketing/communications/health communications/public health communications or related field from an accredited university

• 5+ years experience working in nutrition/public health/health communications, ideally in the international development/global health sector

• 5+ years of experience working in creative content development

• Strong skills in writing for public health audiences ranging from highly technical to low-literacy populations

• Strong ‘eye' for design. While no graphic design or illustration is required/expected, an understanding of marketing aesthetics and experience proofing creative content is required

• Demonstrated project management experience

• Experience using ClickUp (or similar project management software such as Asana, Trello, etc.)

• Experience making basic updates in WordPress

• High level of attention to detail and fluency working with highly technical information

• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision

• Highly organized and detail-oriented

• Strong outreach and verbal communication skills

• Fluency in written and spoken English required; Additional languages a bonus

• Ability to work in a global organization spanning all time zones

• Ability to travel

• A passion for the mission and work of Vitamin Angels

• Demonstrated ability to work well under pressure and manage multiple work streams

• Ability to lift, or carry, approximately 20-40 lbs. on a regular basis.

• Ability to remain seated and/or stationary for extended periods of time, including but not limited to prolonged air travel, and general job assignments performed at a desk.

• Must have a valid passport and ability to travel internationally.

• Ability to receive necessary vaccines and medication for travel to certain countries.

Preferred:

• Experience working on donor-funded programs and/or in a multi-partner consortium

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