Job Description
We’re looking for a
Director of Public Relations & Communications!
Worth Rises seeks a dynamic Director of Public Relations & Communications (exempt) to work remotely to lead the strategy for and execution of all traditional and digital communications for the organization and its campaigns. The Director of Public Relations & Communications should be a seasoned public relations professional with deep media relationships in print, online, broadcast, and streaming, a strong track record of earned media placement, and exceptional pitching and storytelling skills. They should also have experience in digital communications and marketing. They should have a strong understanding of criminal justice issues and operate as both a high-level strategist and a hands-on doer. The Director of Public Relations & Communications will report to the Chief Narrative Officer and collaborate closely with the staff across the organization in strategy and content development.
Worth Rises is a non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to dismantling the prison industry and ending the exploitation of those it touches. Partnering with directly impacted people, we work to expose the commercialization of the criminal legal system and advocate and organize to protect the economic resources extracted from affected communities and strip the industry of its power. Through our work, we strive to pave a road toward a safe and just world free of police and prisons.
Key Results (Year One)
- Land at least 12 media pitches, including at least three opinion editorials, in major national or regional outlets.
- Land a speaking appearance on a major television network or streaming platform for the organization and its work.
- Create and implement an integrated digital strategy covering owned media that grows our email subscriber and social follower base by 25% each and small donors by 15%.
Major Responsibilities
- Strategy & Management
- Co-develop a communications strategy, including editorial direction, with the Chief Narrative Officer and Executive Director that amplifies the organization’s brand, content, work, and staff to establish the organization as an expert, promote its thought leadership, advance impact, and support fundraising.
- Collaborate with other directors and staff to ensure that all campaigns and projects have strategic public relations and communications support, considering campaign and project goals, audience, and resources and helping to develop effective messaging.
- Manage the organization’s branding guide and ensure brand consistency in our public image and across all our work, including our print and digital presence.
- Manage relationships with all marketing and communications-related contractors and vendors and oversee their contracted work product.
- Lead the communications department, managing a growing team of staff and consultants supporting traditional media, digital media, storytelling, and creative design.
- Develop and implement systems and processes to streamline marketing and communications workflow, with protocol to test new strategies and messaging.
- Set, track, and analyze clear and measurable metrics to regularly inform strategy.
- Media Relations & Public Relations
- Develop and deepen relationships with producers, editors, and journalists, especially in broadcast and streaming media, and lead on media relationships and outreach.
- Oversee traditional media functions, including drafting press releases, hosting press conferences, pitching coverage, and drafting opinion editorials.
- Monitor daily news cycle and relevant coverage to pitch follow-up pieces and ensure the organization is a part of timely public conversations.
- Prepare Executive Director for media appearances and speaking engagements.
- Digital Media & Creative Design
- Oversee the organization’s digital presence, including the website, email communications, and all social media.
- Develop and implement an effective marketing funnel to increase the subscriber base, subscriber engagement, and small donor support.
- Oversee the production of all written and digital content, including copywriting and creative design.
- Oversee the ads program, including the full spend of donated Google Ads funds.
Critical Factors for Success
This role requires a motivated self-starter who takes initiative unprompted, consistently delivers high-quality work, is an excellent project manager, is a proactive and innovative problem-solver, appreciates direct feedback, and has the following:
- At least five years of professional experience developing and executing effective public relations and communications strategies with a demonstrated track record of earned media placement across print, broadcast, and streaming, including major national outlets.
- At least two years of professional experience driving social strategies and content development for Instagram, Twitter/X, BlueSky, TikTok, and YouTube, including collecting, analyzing, and reflecting performance data.
- At least two years of professional experience directly managing full-time staff and contractors.
- Proven ability to distill dense, complicated issues into clear, specific messaging — not just accessible, but precise. Avoids clichés and generic advocacy language in favor of concrete, evidence-grounded narratives that reflect the nuance of the work.
- Strong existing relationships — and a proven ability to build new ones — with producers, editors, and journalists at both major and niche media outlets, especially those covering social and racial justice, business or economics, and politics.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex projects simultaneously, planning well ahead of deadlines, maintaining centralized tracking systems, proactively surfacing blockers with proposed solutions, and following through.
- Exceptional oral and written communication skills, including storytelling and copyediting.
- Goal-oriented creative mind.
- Ability to leverage data and analytics to assess impact and adapt strategies.
- Experience identifying and training media spokespeople.
- Understanding of the importance of brand standards and proven ability to clearly define and implement brand guidelines.
- Experience working with the email automation platform Mailchimp or similar platforms.
- Willingness to work outside normal office hours as needed in timely media cycles.
- Working understanding of criminal justice, the prison industry, and/or the finance industry, and strong interest in learning more. Experience in criminal justice is strongly preferred.
- Genuine commitment to our organizational values: act with integrity, focus on impact, deliver excellence, get it done, and operate with intellectual curiosity (visit worthrises.org/jointhefight).
Compensation and Benefits
The annual salary for the Director of Public Relations & Communications is $135,000. Worth Rises offers a generous compensation package, including comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, 20 days of vacation time, ten days of personal/sick leave, and three days of bereavement leave in addition to 11 holidays and winter break. Employees also receive a generous 401k contribution match, $75 monthly technology stipend, monthly wellness reimbursement, and dedicated budget for professional development. Finally, we offer retention benefits every five years. We currently operate in a remote-first environment with office options and an on-video culture.
Worth Rises is an equal opportunity employer, and strongly encourages formerly incarcerated individuals, directly impacted individuals, people of color, members of the disability community, gender-variant and non-binary individuals, and other members of the LGBTQIA+ community to apply.
