Communications Director

The National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ) advances economic justice for low-income families, individuals, and communities across the country. We fight every day to eliminate an array of unfair economic and racial injustices.

We work to expand access to critical benefits like food stamps, Medicaid, and childcare, protect low-wage workers’ rights and safety, advance the rights of people with disabilities, and end unlawful debt collection.

Our tactics to advance economic justice include​​ winning strategic class action cases, representing marginalized individuals and communities, and changing federal and state legislation and private institutions’ practices.

We partner with other litigation and advocacy organizations, grassroots and community organizations, and individuals in our fight for racial and economic justice.       

Join our growing leadership team to build an exciting future for NCLEJ!

NCLEJ is seeking a Communications Director to lead and execute its communications strategy in collaboration with NCLEJ’s Executive Director, Director of Philanthropy, and our expert staff of lawyers and advocates. As Communications Director, you will develop tactics and create content to meet our main communications and fundraising goals.

Primary responsibilities:

50% – Elevate brand and messaging

• Build on an existing communications system and create and execute a comprehensive annual communications plan that identifies strategies to elevate NCLEJ’s racial and economic justice work and secure new audiences and supporters.
• Drive a multi-channel communications strategy, including social media channels, email marketing, and website.
• Build on-brand voice and maintain brand integrity across all platforms.
• Manage media relations and develop contacts with media members, influencers, and community leaders.
• Prepare and manage all communications material, including the development of digital and print assets, such as press releases, one-pagers, impact reports, video/audio, and donor communications.
• Lead a website refresh
• Review and update systems to improve tracking engagement across various platforms to make data-driven decisions.
• Support Executive Director, Director of Litigation & Advocacy, and other staff in media engagements.
• Elevate the brilliance and expertise of our staff of advocates and lawyers.

30% – Development/fundraising communications

• Align communications plan and strategies with annual development plan and fundraising targets.
• Collaborate closely with Director of Philanthropy to create and implement special events, in-person and virtual, including taking the lead on content creation.
• Work with the Director of Philanthropy on CRM and email management upgrades.

20% – Collaborate as leadership team member

• Coordinate communications strategies with the senior management team including Executive Director, Director of Litigation and Advocacy, Director of Philanthropy, and Director of Finance & Administration.
• Contribute to organizational development and team building, such as creating staff and board engagementopportunities.

Qualifications and experience of the ideal candidate:

• Have a deep commitment to, and understanding of, racial and economic justice issues.
• Have experience growing and engaging audiences for social justice causes. 
• Be a talented leader with a demonstrated ability to work independently and as a team player. 
• Bring an effective social justice writing style – such as tone and approach that is strategic, strong, clear, and accessible to audiences at many levels of understanding.
• Have the ability or experience connecting the specific legal cases we work on with the social justice movement-building we are part of.
• Have experience working with senior management and boards of directors, ideally in a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic work environment.
• Bonus skills include visual design skills such as the graphic design on Canva or other design programs and photography skills.
• Basic skills to manage our current website and email marketing on Mailchimp.

Benefits: NCLEJ has a generous benefits package including health, dental, and vision insurance; 15-24 vacation days and 10-15 sick days per year (based on length of service); 13 paid holidays per year; an FSA plan for medical, childcare, and transit expenses; an Employee Assistance Program; and contributions to individuals’ 403(b) plans.

Vaccination Requirement: To help ensure that NCLEJ continues to operate in the safest manner possible, NCLEJ requires all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Equal opportunity: NCLEJ is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, disability, age, religion, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.

Application process: Please submit a resume, a cover letter, and one work sample (such as an advocacy email, press placement, or similar communications asset) that you wrote, ghost-wrote, or developed which conveys your strategic approach and writing style. Please email us all three pieces in a single Word or PDF document to betsy@SageStrategicHR.com with “Director of Communications” in the subject line.