Director of Communications + Marketing

Who We Are

Serving more than 3,300 scholars in sevenschools across two cities; Jackson, Mississippi and Nashville, Tennessee, RePublic Schools is the only school network solely dedicated to reimagining public education in the South.

Part of reimagining education in the South means that we confront the historic inequities that work against our scholars and actively work to dismantle those inequities. We are doing this by intentionally creating environments that embrace, honor, and celebrate our scholars’ identities and experiences, as well as the identities and experiences of every member of our community.

At RePublic, we know that people are the key levers to the ultimate success of our scholars. In order to actualize our mission, RePublic’s team must be composed of the highest-quality talent. We are looking for a people-focused, story-telling, wordsmith to serve as Director of Communications + Marketing at RePublic Schools.

What You’ll Do

Develop a comprehensive communication and marketing strategy for RePublic

• Create a comprehensive communications approach for strategic engagement with RePublic Schools staff and families
• Develop a marketing strategy to include content strategy, outbound student communications innovations, paid media, data and trends analysis, and project management.
• Develop and systematize various ways to engage and communicate with our RePublic schools community including the use of communications platforms and tools
• Codify practices and develop systems that will increase efficiency, eliminate redundancy, and advance the work of mission-aligned communications
• Build systems to receive ongoing feedback from key stakeholders to ensure that the communications systems are responsive to the needs of key stakeholders

Build and maintain a strong online presence for RePublic

• Build a robust, highly engaging profile on social media including LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter by developing a strategic social media plan in alignment with organizational initiatives.
• Support schools to execute strong social media plans that further the RePublic brand and strengthen relationships with families.
• Build innovative social media campaigns to distinguish RePublic’s brand among competitors for jobseekers and potential scholars.
• Ensure that the RePublic website is up to date and reflects various network initiatives.
• Manage the RePublic blog by sourcing and developing stories that embody the network’s core values.
• Ensure that the RePublic website is up to date and reflects various network initiatives.

Share what is happening at RePublic

• Build a scope and sequence of potential media stories to position RePublic Schools as a thought leader in the local and national education spaces, as well as to generate positive coverage of the network.
• Source and pitch stories to local media.
• Develop relationships with local media.
• Respond to media requests.
• Work with consulting firms to meet external communications goals.
• Identify opportunities for the CEO to build public profile through speaking engagements.
• Support the CEO to prepare for any communications opportunities.
• Maintain the CEO’s online presence.
• Prepare senior leaders for speaking engagements.
• Develop protocols and systems for communicating to staff and families in risk management and other time-sensitive developments
• Respond to immediate risk management situations by drafting correspondence and talking points for the leadership of Breakthrough Public Schools

Leadership and Accountability

• Lead the organization’s marketing and communications initiatives and provide leadership and accountability for the communications and marketing team.
• Coordinate with schools and departments across the organization to ensure brand alignment, integrity, and network communications standardization.
• Report directly to the CEO and work closely with the senior leadership to ensure communication captures the mission and brand of RePublic as well as the voice of the CEO and senior leadership.
• Develop metrics to adequately assess brand awareness.
• Provide regular monitoring of metrics via measurement of website traffic, social media engagement, search volume, and survey.

Who You Are

Our Director of Communications must demonstrate a deep understanding of and commitment to RePublic’s mission and the communities and families we serve in the South. Beyond that, you are:

• A serial optimist. You’ve got a deep, personal commitment to the mission of RePublic Schools, and a genuine belief that all students can achieve academic excellence, regardless of race or socioeconomic status. You’ve got a “healthy rage” about the state of public education in the South – and you want to be a part of a team that is doing something about it every single day.
• A details maven. Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to tailor messages for various audiences.
• A storyteller. You are a word wizard, and love to craft a compelling narrative. You understand the importance of storytelling.
• A hustler. You are doggedly persistent. You will do whatever it takes to capture the right visuals and stories to effectively and persuasively share the RePublic story with diverse audiences. You are self-directed, take initiative, and seek opportunities for feedback.

The Fine Print

• Qualifications.
• Bachelor’s degree required. A Bachelor’s degree in Communications , Public Relations, or a related field is preferred.
• At least 4 years of experience in a communications role. Management experience is highly preferred.
• Candidates must have excellent organizational and interpersonal skills, as well as outstanding oral and written communication skills, and strong attention to detail. Strong problem-solving skills and time management skills are required. Excellent adaptability, cultural sensitivity, and an ability to work with many different types of individuals is required.
• Candidates must be a proven leader with supervisory experience who can set priorities and carry out initiatives to drive successful outcomes and to manage a high-performing team.
• Candidates must be effective decision makers with an ability to manage competing priorities. They must be able to analyze and interpret data to solve problems, and to provide effective communication across all stakeholders (internal and external).

Diversity Statement

As a part of reimagining public education in the South, we are intentionally creating an environment that embraces, honors, and celebrates our scholars’ identities and experiences. We are working to make environments that affirm our differences across race, gender, age, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, gender orientation, physical abilities, socio-economic class, and other characteristics that make up our unique identities. Additionally, we’ve committed to hiring and developing individuals who share the life experiences of our students because we believe these individuals have an additional impact on our scholars.

RePublic Schools