Chaloner has partnered with PolicyLink on their search for a Senior Director of Campaigns to join their team.

About PolicyLink

PolicyLink is a research and action institute working to advance a nation that truly governs for all. We advance structural solutions, shape conditions, build connections, and strengthen the field infrastructure needed to deliver on the promise of a nation where all can thrive. We are relentlessly focused on delivering results at a scale that matches the challenges — and the potential — of this country.

To achieve this vision, we concentrate our efforts in five key arenas that shape how the nation governs and delivers for its people:

• The legal and regulatory systems that shape our democracy and economy, including amending and advancing the U.S. Constitution
• Federal agencies, which are the engines of public policy and implementation that must deliver results
• State and local governments that deliver the benefits of citizenship to our everyday lives in the cities and states where we live
• We the People — whose collective consciousness and action must be activated toward everyone’s thriving
• The institutional leaders, decision makers, and capital allocators who hold disproportionate influence over how the nation governs

Across these arenas, we are working to awaken a shared consciousness that embraces the humanity of every person; to shape government to deliver results for all; and to align the full force of our public, private, and civic resources to realize this future.

Position Overview 

PolicyLink is seeking a Senior Director of Campaigns to join its Communications team and lead the implementation of our omnichannel, research-driven efforts to help people imagine, believe, and make real a nation that works for all. 

Our research reveals a paradox. A majority of Americans believe this nation should care for all and ensure equal protection for everyone, and that we have a responsibility to make that real. Yet many of the strongest believers in this vision feel the most hopeless about their power to effect change. Across the entire population, people struggle to name any pathways forward.

Five years of proprietary audience research have revealed how to transform these bottlenecks into breakthroughs. We now understand the specific barriers that prevent people from imagining transformative solutions, believing in their power to advance them, and ultimately taking action to make change real. More importantly, we have identified the precise interventions—the narratives, organizing strategies, and engagement approaches—needed to address each barrier.

The potential is extraordinary. And the Senior Director of Campaigns will play a critical role in helping us realize it. 

The Senior Director of Campaigns will oversee the implementation of various communications campaigns, including our core campaign We Are The Founders, one of the vehicles by which we are addressing barriers and seizing opportunities to catalyze imagination and action. The Senior Director will also ensure the implementation of issue-focused campaigns and ensure alignment across the organization and strategies. 

Through these campaigns, we will deliver content, leverage rigorous insights around technology and mass and popular culture, and facilitate engagement. 

As an organization, we have ambitious aims to deliver results over the next five years, including:

• Reaching 10 million people through technology platforms, popular culture partnerships, and mass communications campaigns—meeting them where they consume information and form beliefs about what's possible
• Positioning a clear, actionable path forward in the national consciousness
• Increasing the number of people who strongly believe everyday people have power to drive change
• Creating real online and offline opportunities that increase the number of people who can imagine at least one convincing / hope-generating pathway forward

In this role, the Senior Director of Campaigns will oversee the implementation of strategies that include harnessing digital infrastructure, our field network, and popular and mass culture. The Senior Director of Campaigns will work closely with consultants and team members across the organization to deliver measurable progress toward the four aims listed above. This role requires an exceptional operational leader: someone who can translate bold strategy and research into disciplined execution, manage complexity across partners and platforms, and consistently deliver results at scale. The Senior Director of Campaigns reports to the Managing Director of Communications and will manage multiple team members over time. 

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Work in partnership with the Managing Director, the Vice President of Communications, team members across the organization, and partner agencies and consultants to ensure a clear strategy that leverages digital infrastructure, field activation, and popular and mass culture
• Translate long-term organizational aims and research insights into phased campaign roadmaps with clear milestones, decision points, and success metrics
• Develop campaigns that leverage emergent and innovative digital technologies
• Develop and manage campaign communications budgets, timelines, and scopes of work, ensuring accountability
• Advise leadership on risks, opportunities, and strategic pivots in response to political, cultural, zeitgeist, and technological shifts

Implementation for Results

• Serve as the operational lead for communications activities to support PolicyLink communication campaigns, ensuring priorities are clear, dependencies are managed, risks are surfaced early, and execution stays on track.
• Oversee the development and deployment of integrated campaign activity spanning digital, popular and mass culture, and owned channels, ensuring consistency of narrative and tone.
• Manage regular communications and touchpoints with partner agencies and consultants
• Cultivate and manage relationships with external partners to extend reach and impact
• Ensure the smooth and coordinated execution of supporting tactics and activities, documented in the Communication team’s project management system
• Ensure alignment with organizational positions and aims and across teams
• Provide regular status updates to internal stakeholders and partners 

Measurement, Monitoring, and Learning

• Incorporate and adapt strategies based on research insights, performance data, and emergent learning
• Support organizational storytelling by elevating lessons learned and evidence of impact for funders, partners, and stakeholders
• Ensure learning and results are accessible to internal team members
• Document and share best practices, playbooks, and case studies to strengthen internal capacity and the broader field
• Oversee establishing and ensuring the tracking of measurement for campaigns, which includes measures of success and milestones aligned with the objectives of the campaign  

Skills, Abilities, and Knowledge Required 

• Demonstrated ability to lead complex, multi-channel campaigns that integrate digital, field, and cultural strategies.
• Strong judgment in navigating complex issues and environments with confidence and agility  
• Comfortable with results-based accountability and continuous learning. 
• Passion for, and fluency with, applying rigor to campaign efforts, including harnessing the power of data and research
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex ideas for different audiences.
• High degree of emotional intelligence and the ability to hold urgency, hope, and rigor simultaneously.
• A builder’s mindset, with deep satisfaction in making ambitious campaigns work in practice—on time, on budget, and with impact.
• Tested experience managing staff and external resources.
• Ability to travel approximately up to 35% of the time. 

Experience Qualifications     

• A minimum of 10 years of experience in communications and campaigns, with a record of delivering large-scale change and measurable outcomes. 
• Experience managing integrated communications campaigns that deliver behavior change or structural change. 
• Demonstrated experience translating research and data into actionable campaign strategies and measurable outcomes.
• Experience managing significant budgets and multiple external vendors or consultants.
• Track record of working with creative agencies, digital platforms, or cultural partners to reach broad or nontraditional audiences.
• A belief in a nation that truly governs for all and a true commitment to advance the promise of a nation where all can thrive.

Compensation and Benefits

PolicyLink offers competitive salaries commensurate with the experience and skills of our employees. The salary range for this position is $170,000 to $190,000. 

Additionally, PolicyLink provides a comprehensive benefits package that includes:

• 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision plans.
• 401(k) with employer and employer-matching contributions that vest immediately. New employees are eligible to participate within one month of their date of hire.
• Flexible Spending Account.
• Short- and long-term disability insurance.
• Group term life insurance plus guaranteed-issue voluntary life insurance.
• Unlimited vacation and sick leave and other generous leave benefits.
• Three required organization reset weeks plus 13 paid holidays.

Work Environment

The position will involve leading and participating in frequent remote video and telephone conferences. It is a 100% remote position, though travel will be required.

To Apply

Interested candidates should apply by using the application form. Chaloner will review all applicants and, upon qualification, contact you to determine next steps. All applications must include: a resume, a cover letter that includes the responses to the two following prompts: 

1. What drives your belief in the possibility of a nation that governs for all?
2. Which campaign impact are you most proud of, and what role did you play in achieving it? 

Please also submit 2-3 relevant work samples. Candidates who do not provide complete responses to the prompt and who do not submit work samples will not be considered.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT

PolicyLink strongly values equity and believes in a just and fair society where all can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. We work toward a more inclusive world and as such we are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, skin color, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or parenthood. PolicyLink is committed to maintaining a diverse and multicultural working environment.

Proof of eligibility to work in the United States must be provided if selected for hire.