VP of Strategic Communications

Responsibilities

• Lead CDI's communications strategy and narrative
• Set the annual communications and thought leadership strategy, defining editorial priorities and narrative direction in service of CDI's mission and earned revenue goals.
• Serve as a trusted communications advisor to the Executive Director and Chief Growth Officer, helping assess trade-offs, evaluate reputational risk, and align leadership on key messaging decisions before work advances.
• Own CDI's messaging guide and narrative framework, ensuring consistent, politically grounded communication across all external channels.
• Monitor CDI's reputational landscape — including dynamics around partners, founders, and key stakeholders — alongside political, cultural, and higher education trends, to proactively identify risks and opportunities and advise leadership.
• Lead CDI's executive visibility program, building the Executive Director and other key CDI figures' profiles through op-eds, podcast appearances, conference keynotes, and media placements, and preparing and coaching the Executive Director for public appearances and interviews.
• Partner with CDI's thought‑leadership bench (across the Research, Education, Culture Change teams) to translate research findings into media‑ready narratives and public‑facing content.
• Drive proactive media outreach to national, higher education, and mission‑aligned press; build and maintain relationships with journalists, editors, and influencers.
• Lead rapid response and crisis communications, managing reputational risk with speed and sound judgment.
• Provide editorial leadership for CDI's higher education newsletter and blog; manage the Communications & Content Manager to maintain publishing cadence and quality.
• Own organic social strategy (brand, executive, and thought‑leadership content), with the Communications & Content Manager executing the unified calendar.
• Support CDI's broader external relationships — including with funders, board members, and senior institutional partners — by ensuring CDI's communications reflect the organization's impact, credibility, and strategic direction.
• Build and lead the communications team.

Requirements

• Senior communications leader: 10–12 years of experience in strategic communications, or PR, with demonstrated success building organizational reputation and growing audiences in complex, politically sensitive environments.
• Media relationships: Established connections across national, higher education, and mission-aligned press; track record of securing high-quality placements.
• Exceptional judgment: Deep instinct for when to engage — CDI's credibility depends on nonpartisan restraint as much as visibility.
• Strong writer and editor: Track record producing or overseeing high-quality long‑form thought leadership and executive communications.
• Hands‑on operator: Comfortable executing with speed, rigor, and attention to detail while building for scale; in a small organization, VP‑level execution and follow‑through are as important as vision.
• Builder mindset: Experience establishing or significantly evolving a communications function, including processes, standards, and team structure; experience managing people in a startup or scaling organization.
• Cross‑functional collaborator: Proven ability to coordinate editorial and campaign work across research, marketing, and partnerships teams, and to align leadership before advancing work.
• Mission‑aligned: Deeply motivated by CDI's mission, with the political awareness to communicate constructively and credibly across ideological lines.

Familiarity with the higher education landscape strongly preferred.

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