Job description
Company Description
About the Organization
KIPP Public Schools is a national network of tuition-free public charter schools that prepares students with the skills and confidence to create the future they want for themselves, their communities, and us all. We are a network of 278 schools, nearly 16,500 educators, and nearly 190,000 students and alumni.
Our mission: Together with families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.
Our vision: Every child grows up free to create the future they want for themselves and their communities.
The KIPP Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports KIPP public charter schools across the country. The KIPP Foundation helps to develop outstanding educators to lead KIPP schools; provides tools and resources for excellent teaching and learning; promotes innovation; and facilitates the exchange of insights and ideas across KIPP and other public schools and organizations.
About Our Values:
Excellent Results for Students: We value results over effort and know that our work is not finished until all students thrive. We maintain high expectations for self, team, and students. We drive outcomes by operating with agility, removing barriers, differentiating support, and prioritizing student-centered solutions—especially for those at the margins.
Collective Impact: We are one team. We win together. We embody a one-team mindset by working collaboratively across teams, aligning goals, and leveraging the strengths of all teammates. We build trust-based relationships and ensure inclusive decision-making by engaging those closest to the work. We provide clarity through simple, repeatable systems and goals that enable transformational outcomes.
Courageous Action: Our belief in what we can achieve is unwavering, fueling our optimism and commitment to overcome any challenge. We demonstrate an unwavering belief in students’ potential and a commitment to addressing systemic inequities. We approach challenges with resilience, a solutions-focused mindset, and adaptability. We foster a psychologically safe environment centered on trust and accountability where feedback is encouraged. We leverage data to reflect on progress, own setbacks, celebrate successes, and continuously improve to maximize impact.
Job Description
About The Position
The Director of Executive Communications is responsible for compelling, coherent, and proactive communications that will rally KIPP teammates, families, and external stakeholders (including funders, political leaders, and influential advocates) in support of KIPP and its mission to transform the lives of young people. You will also be responsible for recommending key conferences and media platforms where the CEO can speak, crafting high-quality speeches and talking points that will inspire action and drive impact, and coordinating with key stakeholders (e.g., development team, internal comms personnel, media relations personnel) to ensure all communications coming out of the Office of the CEO are aligned and inspiring. This role reports directly to the Chief of Staff to the CEO but will work closely with the CEO and the VP, Marketing & Communications.
Responsibilities
1. Strategy & Implementation
Centralize CEO Engagements: Serve as the CEO’s one-stop hub for all internal and external engagement planning, ensuring clear goals, strong alignment, and logistical readiness.
Cross-Org Communications Integration: Coordinate with Development, Media Relations, and Internal Comms to align messaging, eliminate silos, and ensure message coherence across functions.
Establish Infrastructure: Build sustainable systems and routines to support executive communications operations, content sharing, and narrative alignment across the organization.
Conduct Across Functions: Coordinate with Regions, Program teams, Development, Media Relations, and Marcomms to ensure message communications consistency and to effectively execute the CEO’s vision.
Plan and Prioritize Engagements: Identify high impact speaking opportunities and conferences, tracking past effectiveness (e.g., donor engagement, media reach) to inform future priorities; in coordination with the Manager of Executive Administration, ensure seamless arrangements for specific travel needs for conferences and development pitches.
️2. Crafting Communications
Proactive Story Finder: Take an entrepreneurial approach to source, validate, and synthesize compelling stories from network data and through working with regions, program teams, and our data & analytic teams. Operate with an owner’s mindset to effectively execute the CEO’s communications vision.
Network-wide CEO Communications: Write and edit monthly network-wide communications that are clear, compelling, and concise to show progress on priorities and build momentum around an aligned 2030 strategy. Ensure communications are written appropriately for critical stakeholders, such as university presidents, congressional leaders, and other key partners.
High Stakes Content Creation: Crafting speeches, talking points, public statements, and brand-aligned decks that reflect the CEO’s voice and advance strategic goals. Prepare high quality note cards and coach CEO for speaking engagements (e.g., panels, ED convenings, donor briefings).
Thought Leadership Writing: Write and edit CEO social media and opinion content, coordinating with Senior Director of Media and External relations to shape narrative and secure placements.
Maintain a Content Library: Partner with Marcomms to curate a centralized library of talking points, bios, and strategic materials to support rapid deployment and consistency.
Point of Contact for CEO Comms: Serve as point of contact for all communications from the Office of the CEO—responding to internal inquiries, external requests, and partnering with Marcomms on media outreach; triage critical communication needs and recommendations to Chief of Staff of the CEO.
3 . Maximize the CEO’s Efficacy in Communicating Key Messages
Lead Prep and Support: Own the CEO’s readiness for all key appearances—providing strategic briefings, speech materials, and delivery support.
Executive Presence Support: Advise the CEO on tone, pacing, storytelling, and audience connection to strengthen delivery and impact.
Mock Interviews and Message Delivery: Prepare the CEO for tough questions and help him stay aligned with message priorities during public or political conversations.
Post-Engagement Debriefs: Evaluate speech or media performance and refine approach for future engagements.
Qualifications
Skills and Mindsets
Achievement & Outcomes Orientation: Determine what quantitative and qualitative data are most relevant to deliver compelling communications and supports the team in creating and monitoring systems for collecting, reviewing, and acting upon data to drive outcomes. Demonstrate ability to monitor progress, communicate status to the right stakeholders, and adjust plans and use of time to ensure systems are yielding desired outcomes.
Communications: Demonstrate excellent capacity to write, prioritizing concision, clarity, data synthesis, and storytelling. Able to review complex data sets (quantitative and quality) and create a compelling narrative that synthesizes that data and highlights illustrative anecdotes to drive organization-wide priorities.
Partnership and Alliance-Building: Lead successful collaboration across functions and evolves/adapts plans to get strong results. Has the interpersonal, diplomatic, relationships building and communication skills to connect and compel teammates across different functions to collaborate effectively toward shared goals.
Change Management & Communications: Effectively articulate case for change through clear and compelling presentations and translates this into actional plans. Effectively tailor communications and engagement approach for different audiences to deepen investment and drive actions and behavior change that would lead to organization-wide goals. Acts as a champion for change with cross-team stakeholders.
Executive Level Support: Demonstrate ability to advise CEO, offering guidance on tone, presence, delivery, and message discipline. Demonstrate skills in preparing executives for media interviews, public speaking, and high-visibility engagements. Show ability to deliver feedback with clarity and discretion to enhance performance and alignment. Bring a strategic lens to CEO preparation, ensuring leaders are equipped to communicate with influence, authenticity, and impact.
Experience and Qualifications
7-8 years of progressive experience in strategic communications, media relations, and executive communications.
At least 5 years in a similar role.
Experience working directly with or advising C-suite executives.
Demonstrated record of setting ambitious goals and achieving them with consistency.
Proven track record of navigating high-stakes communications, including crisis management and public positioning.
Additional Information
Work Conditions
Travel requirements: [20-30%]
Full Time, Exempt
Location
It is preferred, but not mandatory for this role to be based outside of the KIPP Foundation office in NYC. This role has the option of working full-time from a remote office.
Compensation and Benefits
In compliance with local law, we are disclosing the compensation, or a range thereof, for roles in locations where legally required. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, and relevant experience. The salary range for this position is $120,000-$145,000. In addition, KIPP Foundation provides a variety of benefits to employees, including:
25 holidays for + 18 days additional flexible PTO days (flexible PTO increases to 23 days for years 3 and 4 and to 28 days for years 5+).
100% paid parental leave
100% coverage of the premium for employee and 75% for employee + family medical/dental/vision plans.
Wellness benefits such as fitness reimbursements, discounted tickets to theme parks/attractions, backup care support for children and adults/elders, and our employee assistance program
Finance Security benefits include such as a 401K retirement plan with 4% match, employer-sponsored legal plans, life/disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts
KIPP Foundation embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of the students and communities with whom we work and the world around them. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, protected veteran status or any other category protected by law.
