Manager, Communications

Overview:

Gift of Hope is proud to serve as the federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organization (OPO) that coordinates organ and tissue donation and provides compassionate service to families of donors in the northern three-quarters of Illinois and northwest Indiana.

Since our inception in 1986, we have coordinated donations that have saved the lives of more than 23,000 organ transplant recipients, and improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of tissue transplant recipients. As one of 58 organ procurement organizations that make up the nation’s organ donation system, we work with 183 hospitals in our donation service area.

Summary

Directly manages media relations and the planning, development, implementation and measurement of strategic media, public relations, social media and internal communications. Collaborates with leadership, internal stakeholders and external partners including hospital and industry leaders on communications strategies and projects, and provides hands-on development and execution ensuring activities are effective, integrated and aligned; advance Gift of Hope’s reputation and brand; and achieve strategic and business goals.

Compensation Range: $104,000 - $118,000 annually

Our Benefits

In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a comprehensive benefits package:

• Medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance options for full-time employees
• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO) plan
• 403(b) retirement plan with company match
• Tuition Reimbursement up to the IRS-allowed maximum
• Personalized learning and educational development opportunities
• Monthly cell phone and internet stipends
• Paid Parental Leave
• Annual Employer-funded Lifestyle Spending Accounts to support wellness needs
• Support and counseling for personal, work financial or family needs through our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and our partnership with Critical Incident Stress Consultants (CISC)

Responsibilities:

Essential Functions

• Advance Gift of Hope's mission, vision and core values: providing compassionate service, contributing to outstanding teams and engaging as one of our passionate people committed to a positive culture that embraces diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Adhere to all policies and procedures in carrying out the responsibilities of this position.
• Provide leadership and operational support to assigned staff; manage assigned staff including staff selection, training and development, scheduling, counseling, performance evaluation, recognition, promotion, disciplinary action, and termination.
• Manage day-to-day communications operations including workflow, documentation, and departmental deadlines and objectives; ensure consistency, reliability, accuracy, cost efficiency and timeliness of all plans, communications and projects, as well as adherence to organizational standards, brand and quality.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with senior management and teams across the organization to develop and implement timely, sustainable and effective messaging, internal communications, public relations and storytelling on an ongoing basis.
• Identify and analyze needs and opportunities to plan, develop and implement strategic communications that drive and support strategic and business goals and positively influence donation among diverse target audiences including donor hospitals, transplant programs, coroners, medical examiners, state’s attorneys, funeral homes, donor families, partner organizations, volunteers, community organizations and the public.
• Manage the organization’s media relations function as primary media contact, and serve as an organizational spokesperson.
• Plan, develop, implement, track and analyze proactive targeted outreach that drives visibility and business objectives.
• Serve as Gift of Hope’s first and primary contact for all media needs and requests, coordinating appropriate response and necessary data, information and resources.
• Maintain positive working relationships with target media and manage information flow including dissemination of news, statements and story pitches.
• Develop and maintain relationships with transplant center and hospital communications/media contacts and healthcare trade media to place articles that position Gift of Hope and its staff, promote support of organ/tissue donation and educate key professional audiences about their roles in the donation process.
• As appropriate, coordinate and collaborate with external partners including hospitals and local or national partner organizations and agencies in media outreach, activities and events.
• Provide training, coaching, preparation and follow-up for leadership and staff taking part in media, podcast, video, print and other interviews as well as presentations for internal and external dissemination.
• Independently conceptualize, research, synthesize, write, edit and produce accurate and compelling communications and news content on an ongoing basis including placed articles, releases, op-eds, letters, pitches, fact sheets, feature stories, blog posts, talking points/messaging and scripts, leadership bios and communications as well as associated content for web, social media and Gift of Hope internal communications. Develop, coordinate or assign effective photography and video/multimedia with staff or external vendors as necessary and appropriate to needs and objectives.
• Develop and manage public relations, media and social media analytics, software, reporting and processes. Monitor and analyze all activities, and provide regular reporting and communicate placements, successes and needs as warranted with leadership and staff.
• Manage media relations and social media in crisis communications situations, coordinating with CMO/CCO, Vice President for Marketing & Communications, the Marketing & Communications team, Gift of Hope’s crisis communications team and external vendors/partners as needed.
• Maintain current knowledge of industry trends and stay up to date with professional and technical knowledge in public relations, communications, media and social media technologies and practice.
• Independently manage special projects as assigned
• Assist other members of the Marketing & Communications team on communications initiatives as needed
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

Education and Training Required

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, public relations, journalism, marketing or a related field, or equivalent work experience

Experience and Skills Required

• 5-10 years’ experience in media, communications, public relations or related disciplines, including strong experience in media relations, crisis communications, internal communications and social media management; healthcare experience preferred
• Exceptional writing and proofreading skills, including news and copywriting for multiple platforms and audiences, and demonstrated ability to efficiently create high-impact content
• Strong experience and applied knowledge of organizational voice and editorial style
• Adept with multiple communications, media and social media software, platform and analytics, as well as asset and content management; familiar with Wordpress or other content management systems (CMS)
• Knowledge and extensive experience working with interviews, presentations and multimedia scripting
• Strong critical thinking and ability to analyze information and data as well as situations, resolve problems and develop solutions
• Ability to think and operate strategically in program planning, development and implementation
• Ability to build strong, collaborative relationships and effectively engage peers, teams, other departments, leadership and external partners to achieve organizational goals
• Ability to communicate succinctly and persuasively in oral and written communications, including the ability to speak publicly and with authority before a wide variety of audiences to inform and motivate.
• Ability to represent Gift of Hope in a professional manner
• Basic design/layout, video and photo editing skills; familiarity with Adobe Creative Suite strongly preferred

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

• Ability to function in a normal office environment
• Ability to function in a remote office environment
• Ability to work outside of business hours, as needed
• Access to reliable transportation to travel to offsite locations

Work Environment

• Normal office environment
• Remote office environment

The policy of Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network is to promote equal employment opportunity through a positive and continuous program of specific practices designed to ensure the full realization of equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or status as a disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, other protected veteran, or Armed Forces service medal veteran designated under the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act, as amended (VEVRAA).