The Opportunity

As the Communications Manager, you will have the unique opportunity to shape and support visual and verbal communications and marketing campaigns across the Reach Out and Read network.

As a member of Reach Out and Read National’s Department of External Affairs, the Communications Manager will write and/or design content for a variety of digital and print communications, from crafting text and creating visuals for a social media post for an emerging Affiliate to designing a digital ad or one-sheet for National. The new position requires both a keen eye for design and a keen ear for words — they’ll be deeply involved in both writing and design across the nonprofit’s network.

The position will create, manage, and share engaging, brand-oriented, paid and organic content for Reach Out and Read National and its Affiliates and/or support Affiliate staff in doing so. They will coordinate print and digital collateral, e-newsletters, website content, and more. The position also handles a variety of administrative tasks, including working with vendors, creating processes, scheduling meetings, and more. The role reports to the National Senior Director of External Affairs and the National Director of Marketing and Design.

Your Key Responsibilities Will Include:

Content and Collateral Creation (45%):

Work with Senior Director of External Affairs and the National Director of Marketing and Design to identify communications and marketing needs and strategies and to create and deploy brand content for internal/external audiences.
Plan, draft, revise, and design Reach Out and Read print and digital collateral, including advertising, mailers, paid social media, posters, one-sheets, infographics, donor materials, branded items, and more.
Research, write, and create original, brand-aligned content for Reach Out and Read National to use on social, digital, and print platforms.
Work with the External Affairs team to execute email marketing, including newsletters, fundraising campaigns, news updates, and more across Reach Out and Read National.
Draft copy for press releases, event invitations, print collateral, and more.
Write, edit, and place web and promotional copy, including alt text for images. Ensure information presented on sites is current and correct.
Upload and embed videos and other content. Edit photos for the web.
Work with web developer to design compelling landing pages.
Track digital analytics across multiple platforms and create reports.
Track media mentions. Catalog notable media coverage on web pages.
Maintain a content calendar.
Ensure that Reach Out and Read’s promotions are accessible across all platforms and inclusive for all audiences.

Affiliate Communications and Marketing Functions (45%):

Work with Senior Director of External Affairs and Reach Out and Read Affiliates to identify communications and marketing needs and strategies and to create and deploy brand content for internal/external audiences.
Research, write, and create original, brand-aligned content for Reach Out and Read Affiliates to use on social, digital, and print platforms and/or tailor Reach Out and Read National content for Affiliate use.
Plan, draft, design, and/or localize a variety of Reach Out and Read print and digital collateral for Affiliates.
Work with National Director of Marketing and Design to utilize National’s marketing and promotional budgets for Affiliate work and/or to help Affiliates build their own.
Review and track ROI and engagement data and analytics.
Liaise with National’s PR consultants and handle requests for Affiliate interviews, quotes, etc.
Work with the External Affairs team to assist Affiliates with select email marketing, including newsletters, fundraising campaigns, news updates, and more.
Make edits and maintain some internal and external Affiliate websites.
Manage engagement across social channels for select Affiliates, particularly in new geographies.
Develop and grow the scope of tools, training, and resources provided to Affiliate leaders and staff to drive the impact of marketing across the organization.

Other Communications Functions (10%):

Edit copy for accuracy, clarity, grammar, style, campaign continuity, and brand consistency. Recommend edits that improve the quality of the copy, the meaning of the message, and reflect Reach Out and Read’s overall brand voice and tone.
Ensure consistent messaging and image, both visually and verbally, across all platforms.
Generate creative ideas.
Work comfortably with varied stakeholders.
Handle other administrative duties – scheduling meetings, communicating with vendors, and more – as assigned.

Qualifications and Experience

There are innumerable ways to learn, grow and excel professionally. We respect this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. We want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work. We’ll honor your lived and professional experience as key aspects of your candidacy for the role and prioritize applicants with experience dismantling the structural inequities that disproportionately impact children and families with traditionally marginalized identities. We are most likely to be interested in your candidacy if you can demonstrate the majority of the qualifications and experiences listed below and are committed to doing this work from an equity lens:

Commitment to increasing equity in opportunity and outcomes for children and to recognizing factors known to significantly impact differential outcomes for children, including race, ethnicity, language, and socio-economic status.
Three to five years’ relevant work experience in graphic design.
Two to three years’ relevant work experience in writing and editing, content creation, email marketing, and website management.
Experience in public relations, communications, or marketing for a nonprofit highly desired.
Experience in social media management. Adept across social media platforms, including basic experience creating multimedia content.
Experience working on websites and within content management systems.
Skilled in Adobe Creative Suite with experience in Canva.
Skilled in Microsoft Office, with a strong knowledge of Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Strong writing, editing, and design skills.
Comfortable working in a fast-paced, remote environment on tight deadlines.
Team player used to working collaboratively and in an editing environment.
Able to clearly and precisely express complex ideas with interesting and compelling angles.
Strong organizational skills, including a track record of balancing and prioritizing multiple priorities simultaneously.

Position Specifications

This is a full-time, exempt position. This remote role will work from a home-based office and will require national travel for meetings and projects four to five times each year.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $63,000-$67,000 and is commensurate with experience. Reach Out and Read offers a robust benefits package including medical, dental and vision insurance, 401(k) retirement plan with match, paid time off, and more.

Commitment to Diversity

Reach Out and Read is committed to building an organization that embraces diversity, pursues equity, and fosters an environment of inclusion. Reach Out and Read sits at the intersection of health and education, uniquely positioned to play a critical role in addressing systemic disparities and inequities in the public health framework. Reach Out and Read strives to be an antiracist organization, using its influence to fight against social injustice by supporting a culture of learning, empowerment, equity, and a deep appreciation for the unique experiences that we each bring to our communities. And, we believe that changing the world begins with holding ourselves and our workplace to that same standard.

About Reach Out and Read

Founded in 1989, Reach Out and Read is a national non-profit organization working to ensure all families have the opportunity to create meaningful everyday moments through shared reading aloud and building relationships. By leveraging pediatric care to champion the positive effects of reading daily and distributing books, Reach Out and Read gives young children a foundation for success and reaches 4.2 million children across the county – half of whom identify as BIPOC and a quarter of whom come from low-income families.

Reach Out and Read’s tens of thousands of trained pediatric providers use books as a diagnostic tool during regular check-ups, and teach parents how to engage their child with a book to promote positive parent-child interactions during the rapid brain growth between birth and age five. The daily practice of reading aloud with a parent supports children’s literacy and math skill development, their social-emotional development, and prepares them for future success in school. Working together with our sites and providers, we leverage our three decades of expertise, build on our literacy foundations, and engage our shared networks as a catalyst for change, focusing on equitably strengthening and deepening our impact on the children, families, and communities we serve.

The Impact

Reach Out and Read program sites are located in 6,200 clinics, safety net hospitals, medical systems, and other healthcare settings in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Reach Out and Read serves 4.4 million children and their families annually.
More than 7.1 million new, developmentally appropriate books are integrated into well-child visits with families annually.
36,000 clinicians currently participate in Reach Out and Read
Our peer-reviewed body of evidence demonstrates that Reach Out and Read parents are two-and-a-half times more likely to read regularly to their children, and that children experiencing Reach Out and Read show enhanced language development.

To learn more about Reach Out and Read, visit www.reachoutandread.org.

ROR is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Reach Out and Read is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, cultural heritage, ancestry, political belief, age, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability or veteran status. Reach Out and Read is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and we are committed to making special accommodations for your interview or work as a member of our team. If specific accommodations are needed, please email HR @ reachoutandread.org and our HR team will work to accommodate your needs.

National Communications Manager