Position: Director of Strategic Communications

Department: Communications

Office Location: The ideal candidate is located in any of the following states or major metropolitan areas where Lambda Legal has an office: New York, NY (Headquarters); Atlanta, GA (Southern); Dallas, TX (South Central); Chicago, IL (Midwest); Los Angeles, CA (Western); or Washington, D.C.

Work Type Designation: Work From Home

Per Lambda Legal’s Work Location Designation policy, Work from Home, Work from Office, and Hybrid options are available with supervisor approval.
Generally, employees can live in any of the states that fall within the Combined Statistical Area (CSA) boundaries of their Office of Record as long as they reside within three (3) hours of their Office of Record by ground transportation or ferry. Exceptions may be possible. These states include California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C.
Work from Office and Hybrid employees must be able to commute to the Regional Office as their schedule demands.

Report To: Senior Communications Director, Media & Messaging with a dotted line to the Chief Communications Officer

Union Status: C4. This is a union position.

Annual Salary Range: $77,867 - $131,365. The salary for this role will be based on a step scale and will be determined by a candidate's years of relevant experience related to the position, as well as their geographic region.

Travel: Up to 25%

FLSA Status: Full-Time / Exempt

Supervisory Responsibilities: None

Who We Are

Lambda Legal is a national advocacy organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights for the LGBTQ+ community and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work. Since 1973, Lambda Legal has used impact litigation and other advocacy tools to decriminalize same-sex relationships; challenge discrimination against LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV in the workplace, in the home, in schools, in health care, and in the military; and protect LGBTQ+ families, including by winning and defending marriage equality. Our clients are not charged for legal representation or advocacy and Lambda Legal receives no government funding. Headquartered in New York City, Lambda Legal also has regional offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, and Washington, DC.

We believe that serving the full breadth of the LGBTQ+ and HIV communities requires cultural competency and enthusiasm for diversity of all kinds. To be successful, we must approach our work with an understanding that discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status is not the only obstacle to achieving full formal and lived equality for LGBTQ+ people and everyone living with HIV; rather, we recognize the intersectional nature of discrimination, specifically including biases based on race, religion, national origin, gender, disability, education, and class. Considering this reality, we prioritize a proactive commitment to counteracting these biases and their compounding effects in the work we do, but also in how we work together as an organization.

Director of Strategic Communications

Reporting to the Senior Communications Director, Media & Messaging with a dotted line to the Chief Communications Officer, the Director of Strategic Communications will strategize to reach new and existing audiences in effective and compelling ways, keeping stakeholders informed, engaged, and invested in Lambda Legal. The ideal candidate will also expand Lambda Legal's influence by positioning the organization and its experts as thought leaders in LGBTQ+ and HIV civil rights.

The Strategic Communications Director helps Lambda Legal articulate its mission to the public and is responsible for executing the organization's strategic communications priorities by working closely with a team of communicators and content creators within the Communications Legal, and Development departments, to build capacity, deliver compelling content, and extend Lambda Legal's reach to a wide range of audiences.

What you'll do:

Principal responsibilities include partnering with the department leadership to develop innovative communications strategies, unifying an overarching Lambda Legal narrative, guiding a nationwide Lambda Legal story across a network of regional offices, monitoring and measuring messaging objectives, fostering strong stakeholder relationships, and building capacity among communications professionals.

Establish narratives and targets for extending our reach and deepening our engagement with supporters (subscribers, donors, activists, etc.) to amplify communications campaigns anchored in authentic voices.
Work closely with those contributing to and executing said campaigns within Communications and other departments such as Development, Legal, and external third parties and stakeholders as relevant.
Foster integration of communications, mobilization, and fundraising/growth objectives and key performance indicators around shared narrative and integrated content strategy.
Support with breaking news and crisis communications
Ensure the overarching Lambda Legal story continually evolves and is translated into consistent individual campaign and project strategies.
Ensure the overarching Lambda Legal story gains momentum through a collaborative, open-source approach that actively involves supporters and collaborators of all forms, including influencers.
Collaborate with consultants in developing ambitious nationwide audience-centric storytelling, national coalitions and community voices.
Work closely with the Legal Team and key stakeholders to uplift our attorneys' and position them for media relations. This includes; OpEds, articles, and collaborating with the Digital Team to ensure their digital profiles are complete.
Engage in special projects and other duties as assigned.

Who you are:

Minimum of 4 years of professional experience in developing new communications strategies and leading campaign initiatives with diverse stakeholders.
A track record of delivering audience-centric communication/engagement strategies, and a deep understanding of storytelling approaches.
Understanding of a range of audience segmentation and identification approaches, brand communication techniques (segmentation, test matrices, etc.), and channels
Experience in implementing and bringing about significant positive changes in work culture, practices, and performance.
Strong influence and ability to persuade in communications
Strong analytical skills.
Excellent collaboration, communication, and presentation skills.
Experience in working effectively under very tight deadlines for breaking news and communications crises. Commitment to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and/or conflicts.
Commitment to the mission of the Lambda Legal.
Any successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their understanding and appreciation of the importance of integrating our commitment to combating intersecting forms of discrimination into our work to eradicate discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, nonconformity to gender stereotypes, or HIV status.

Successful candidates will welcome the opportunity to work in a racially- and gender-diverse environment and to contribute to a positive and inclusive atmosphere. Working at Lambda Legal requires a demonstrated awareness of and commitment to the concerns of the breadth of the communities that Lambda Legal serves. Prior work on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community and/or people living with HIV is highly desirable. Experience working with other historically marginalized communities (in a professional or volunteer capacity) is also desirable.

All employees at Lambda Legal are expected to adhere to ethical conduct in all interactions and tasks, ensuring a positive and respectful workplace environment.

Why Work at Lambda Legal?

You get to do meaningful, life-changing work at a national level for LGBTQ+ people and everyone living with HIV. Lambda Legal also proudly offers competitive benefits for our team. We understand that our staff’s dedication and effort are instrumental in achieving our mission. A highlight of the benefits we offer include:

Medical benefits that begin on your start date
Dental, Vision, and Life insurance (effective 30 days from your start date)
Short & Long-Term Disability plans (effective 30 days from your start date)
403(b) Retirement Plan (employer contribution and matching program begins after 90 days of employment)
Paid Time Off:
- Paid Vacation (15 Days)
- Sick Leave (12 Days)
- Personal Leave (3 Days)
- Religious Observance Leave (3 Days)
- Bereavement and Bereavement Anniversary Leave
- Floating Holiday (1 Day)
12 paid holidays and 5 early office closures
Flexible Spending Account (FSA/DC FSA) and Commuter Benefits
Health Reimbursement Account
$50 monthly mobile phone reimbursement
Summer Fridays from Memorial Day to Labor Day
Premium subscription to the Calm App
Paid sabbatical after 7 years of service at Lambda Legal (4 weeks for non-exempt positions and 8 weeks for exempt positions)

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Read more about Lambda Legal's work on our blog and Instagram.

Lambda Legal believes in creating a more equitable playing field for applicants and values the depth of relevant skills built through successful education, work, and life experiences. If your background and skills are a close match for this position, you are strongly encouraged to apply.

Lambda Legal is committed to further building and maintaining a staff that reflects the full range of LGBTQ+, HIV-affected and allied communities, and is an equal opportunity employer. We value a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. Lambda Legal 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 or immigration status, disability, veteran status, record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Black people, Indigenous people, people of color, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender and gender-diverse people, women, people with abilities in multiple languages, immigrants, people living with disabilities, protected veterans, and formerly incarcerated individuals and individuals living with HIV are all encouraged to apply.

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Director of Strategic Communications