Posted On: January 4, 2016
Media-Related Job
Media Organization: American Civil Liberties Union
Company Description
For nearly 100 years, the ACLU has been our nation’s guardian of liberty, working in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBT community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people from government abuse and overreach. With more than a million members, activists, and supporters, the ACLU is a nationwide organization that fights tirelessly in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., for the principle that every individual’s rights must be protected equally under the law, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability or national origin.
Job Description
The Communications Department of the ACLU’s national office in New York City is seeking applicants for the full-time position of Political Communications Manager.
Reporting to the Deputy Director of Communications and working directly with the national Communications team and with the National Political Director, the Political Communications Manager will work in developing and executing communications strategies that advance the ACLU’s work on civil liberties, by increasing its effectiveness on legislative and policy change at the national and state level. The Political Communications Manager will be a member of the Communications Department and will serve as a communications liaison between the national Communications Department and the National Political Advocacy team, working in both the ACLU’s New York and Washington, D.C. offices.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Serve as a lead member of the unit that is developing and executing a creative, multi-faceted communications strategy to advance the ACLU’s efforts to grow a nationwide non-partisan political program to increase our effectiveness at the state and federal levels.
Guide the ACLU’s rapid response to daily events on issues related to national policy strategy.
Work on a wide array of civil rights and civil liberties issues, including criminal and racial justice, immigrants’ rights, voting rights, LGBT rights, reproductive freedom rights, and national security, technology and privacy.
Develop and implement general and targeted communications strategies to further the ACLU’s issue work and brand as needed.
Develop communications plans, which include traditional communications, message development, web presence, advocacy and social media, to educate, motivate, and influence target audiences.
Work closely with the National Political Advocacy Department to develop communications strategies and tactics for state legislative and advocacy initiatives.
Increase coverage of ACLU issues and ACLU messages by cultivating and maintaining relationships with key reporters, editors, producers and bookers.
Develop and update issue talking points for sensitive and/or controversial issues.
Create communications content, including talking points, news releases, op-eds, letters to the editor, blog posts, backgrounders and website and social media content. Draft or coordinate the drafting of documents with communications colleagues.
Conceptualize, as well as draft and edit, opinion pieces such as blog posts and op-eds.
Strategize to determine the most effective spokespeople for disseminating the ACLU messages and brand.
Prepare lobbyists, advocates, litigators and/or clients and other spokespeople for media appearances.
Provide assistance to affiliates in the development of communications materials and strategies to further the ACLU’s nationwide, non-partisan political agenda and legislative actions.
EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of seven years of professional experience in legislative and political communications strategy.
Strong relationships with national and Washington, D.C.-based political reporters and editors
Excellent research, writing and editing skills; ability to produce clear, concise materials on tight deadlines. The ability to communicate persuasively and professionally, in writing and verbally to a wide variety of media, political, stakeholder and influencer audiences.
Experience and familiarity working with national journalists in print, radio, broadcast, and online, including D.C. media outlets and journalists.
Substantial experience in planning and executing media and other communications strategies.
Experience working on integrated advocacy campaigns and political campaigns, using traditional communications and social media.
Project management and supervision of staff is a plus.
Ability to bring new ideas to our nationwide political strategy, and engage in traditional and social media messaging.
Significant experience and success with social media and digital movement-building tactics.
Strong interest and a regular consumer of all types of news, traditional and online.
Experience working with vendors.
Strong organizational skills, attention to detail and ability to follow projects through to completion.
Highly developed interpersonal skills and an ability to work creatively and effectively with others in a team environment.
Strong familiarity with and demonstrated interest in priority issues of the ACLU—including immigration, reproductive rights, voting rights, and privacy/technology—preferred.
Proficiency with Vocus/Cision public relations software a plus.
Fluency in Spanish is a plus.
COMPENSATION
The ACLU offers compensation commensurate with experience and within the parameters of the ACLU compensation scale.
To Apply
Please send a cover letter including your minimum salary requirement, your resume and a relevant writing sample or no more than 5 pages to: HRJOBSCOMM@aclu.org - reference COMM-47 in the subject line.
Please indicate in your cover letter where you learned of this career opportunity.
Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
This job description provides a general but not comprehensive list of the essential responsibilities and qualifications required. It does not represent a contract of employment. The ACLU reserves the right to change the description and/or posting at any time without advance notice.
The ACLU is an equal opportunity employer. We value a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. The ACLU encourages applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, and veteran status.
The ACLU undertakes affirmative action strategies in its recruitment and employment efforts to assure that persons with disabilities have full opportunities for employment in all positions.
We encourage applicants with disabilities who may need accommodations in the application process to contact: hrjobsincl@aclu.org. Correspondence sent to this email address that is not related to requests for accommodations will not be reviewed. Applicants should follow the instructions above regarding how to apply.
The ACLU comprises two separate corporate entities, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU Foundation. Both the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU Foundation are national organizations with the same overall mission, and share office space and employees. The ACLU has two separate corporate entities in order to do a broad range of work to protect civil liberties. This job posting refers collectively to the two organizations under the name “ACLU.”