Chaloner has partnered with ConwayStrategic on their search for a Vice President, Workforce Development.

Vice President, Workforce Development

Reports to: Co-CEO, COMS Project

Location: Remote, U.S.-based (movement is national in scope)

The Opportunity

The COMS Project has built deep expertise, relationships, and communications capacity for the Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice (RHRJ) movement for over a decade, providing trusted messaging expertise, research, resources, and connections across the field. Now, as the communications ecosystem is being reshaped by platforms, algorithms, creators, and rapidly shifting audience behaviors, COMS Project is building on that foundation and bringing new expertise and capabilities to the field, meeting this moment with greater ambition, creativity, and scale.

The COMS Project is expanding into new areas through two new initiatives: one focused on shared audience insights, digital strategy, content creation, and distribution, and another on workforce development. Together, these efforts will connect insight to action in new ways, creating a dynamic cycle of learning, creating, testing, and deploying that can help the field communicate with greater relevance, reach, and impact.

The COMS Project is currently an initiative of ConwayStrategic, a boutique communications firm. This new VP role is a rare opportunity to get in on the ground floor of this initiative and build a next-generation team and fellowship program that meet the realities of the current communications ecosystem and the current political and policy landscape impacting RHRJ organizations and people in communities across the U.S.

Role Summary

The VP of Workforce Development plays a central role in helping build the movement's communications capacity, equipping today's communicators with the skills, community, and support they need to thrive while developing the next generation of communications leaders.

Building on the COMS Project's existing portfolio of trusted resources and training, this role will bring those efforts together under a unified workforce development strategy, which will include the launch of new bootcamp intensives, a community of practice, and a fellowship program. The VP turns learning into lasting field capacity, helping organizations recruit, develop, and retain talented communicators over the long term. The role also leads the design, launch, and growth of these initiatives, including building and managing the team responsible for delivering them as the program scales.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Design and Management

• Provide strategic leadership for the COMS Project's workforce development programming, overseeing and evolving the organization's existing training, professional development, and capacity-building offerings while integrating new initiatives into a cohesive program, including bootcamp intensives, a community of practice, and a fellowship program.
• Represent and steward the COMS Project's workforce development program with movement partners, communications leaders and staff, and host organizations, building trusted relationships that inform program strategy and long-term success.
• Working with consultants experienced in curriculum development, oversee the design and execution of in-person bootcamp trainings for existing RHRJ communications practitioners and teams.
• Oversee, refresh, and optimize the training curriculum based on participant feedback, evaluation findings, and shifts in platforms and algorithms.
• Ensure the curriculum incorporates and adapts to the insights being developed by the shared intelligence platform and includes training on the skills required to leverage that knowledge. Partner closely with the COMS Project staff to continuously refresh the curriculum and resources.
• Provide guidance and direction on the design and launch of an ongoing community of practice, engaging movement partners to foster peer learning and ensure the program evolves with the field's needs.
• Oversee the building of the fellowship infrastructure, including but not limited to: negotiating host-organization agreements, identifying the HR and employment infrastructure a distributed fellowship requires, and designing the first-cohort recruitment and matching process.
• Launch and support the first fellowship cohort: recruit and place a small initial cohort of communicators new to the movement at right-sized host organizations, with structured programming and mentorship built in from day one.

Learning + Evaluation

• Build and own a shared measurement framework and KPI guidance with COMS Project leadership 
• Partner with the COMS Project team to integrate insights, best practices, and emerging learnings into training, the community of practice, and fellowship programming.
• Own reporting and accountability, including contributing Workforce Development's lessons learned to a measurement framework shared across both pilots, and representing the program’s progress to funders and grantee partners.

Team Leadership

• Make the case, alongside leadership, for the multiyear investment required to take the pilot from proof of concept to field-wide scale.
• Build out the team, overseeing the recruitment, hiring, and management of additional team members as the program scales.
• Hold budget and contracting authority for training, fellowship, and mentorship partners.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in workforce development, training and learning design, or fellowship/leadership-pipeline program management, ideally within nonprofit, advocacy, or movement-building organizations.
• Proficiency in strategic communications and the evolving media landscape, with the ability to translate the needs of movement communicators into practical learning and professional development opportunities.
• A track record of designing and launching cohort-based training programs and/or fellowship placements, including the operational infrastructure (host agreements, HR, matching) they require.
• Deep commitment to reproductive health, rights, and justice and the movement’s underlying values of bodily autonomy, health equity, and intersectionality.
• Direct familiarity with the reproductive health, rights, and justice field, or a comparable social justice or advocacy ecosystem.
• Demonstrated ability to sequence a multiyear program build — knowing what can move fast and what requires groundwork first.
• Strong relationship-builder, comfortable serving as the connective tissue between host organizations and program participants.
• Comfortable operating in an early-stage environment and working closely with colleagues across teams and hierarchy.

You will thrive in this role if you are someone who:

• Excels in a fast-paced, collaborative environment and can balance multiple priorities while maintaining a high standard of strategic thinking and execution.
• Can work autonomously, manage competing priorities, and adapt quickly as needs and external circumstances evolve.
• Is comfortable working in a virtual environment and using online collaboration and project management tools.
• Is committed to advancing equity, inclusion, and justice in both project work and workplace culture.
• Values creativity, innovation, and continuous learning, while remaining focused on delivering measurable results.
• Enjoys collaborating with colleagues and contributing to a culture of accountability, trust, and shared success.
• Thrives in a low-ego, low-drama environment where people bring both excellence and generosity to their work.

Details:

• FLSA Status — Exempt.
• Location — Remote. 
• Salary — Salary range is $155,000 to $175,000 and is commensurate with experience.
• Benefits — Health, vision, and dental insurance, paid vacation, 12 weeks paid family leave, 401(k) with 4% match after one year, professional development and work-from-home benefits, and a family-friendly workplace.

To apply: 

Interested candidates should apply by using the application form. Please submit a resume and cover letter. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered. Chaloner will review all applicants and, upon qualification, contact you to determine next steps.

About ConwayStrategic

ConwayStrategic is a boutique communications firm that combines research, creativity, and strategy to help organizations and companies navigate complex issues, shape conversations, and connect with the people who matter most.

Our team consists of talented, driven, curious people who have can-do attitudes, approach work with vigor and determination, learn quickly, and enjoy working in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment. We’ve led organizations and multimillion-dollar campaigns, so we know industry best practices, and we bring our experience in grassroots organizing, politics, policy, advertising, marketing, coalition management, and more to all our client work. ConwayStrategic has a collaborative, no-drama work setting, in which we respect each other’s work-life balance while doing what it takes to get the job done.