Lead Communications Strategist

Overview:

At ACT Your Work Makes a Difference

Education has power – a power that changes lives forever. It creates opportunities that lift up individuals, their families, and sparks societal change that echoes through generations to come. From our grassroots we have fought the good fight for equity in education, and we remain devoted to helping anyone who struggles to access that power. This is what matters to us and we must do better -- we’ve never been more sure of our purpose.

ACT Education Corp. team members are part of an organization dedicated to an important mission: Helping people achieve education and workplace success.  Advancing the mission internally, by helping team members achieve education and workplace success of their own, is core to our values. ACT values a diverse workplace and is committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable environment in which every team member has an opportunity to grow.

We want our team members to have the well-being and confidence they need to do their best work, in an environment where both they and the company thrive. To support this, our total rewards include company paid life insurance, medical, dental, vision, flexible spending accounts, 401(k) with company contributions, paid holidays, paid time off, and so much more. You can find a comprehensive list of our benefits here.  

We are seeking a Lead Communications Strategist to help us fulfill that mission.

The Lead Communications Strategist is an innovative content professional who sees the importance of consistent and impactful storytelling that leverages data and positions ACT and its people as leaders in our field. The Lead Communications Strategist will serve a key role within the Public Relations department, planning and facilitating the annual flow of external communications related to research releases, in-person events, and other announcements that enhance and promote the ACT brand. This role will ensure that all planned communications align to and connect with ACT’s strategic communications plan, with the needs and demands of external and internal stakeholders, and with ACT’s commitment to serving all learners. This role will entail critical strategic thinking, collaboration with leaders across Public Affairs and other ACT departments, and excellent written and oral communication and organizational skills.

The finalist will be hired at the salary and level commensurate with their qualifications. We anticipate offering a market competitive annual salary in the range of $115,000 to $125,000. ACT manages salaries within the range based on relevant factors including, skills, experience, and internal equity. The position is not incentive eligible.

Location: This is a remote position (can also be onsite or hybrid if in Iowa City, Iowa area)

A Day in the Life:

• You'll create and maintain the annual cadence of communications activities, in alignment with internal events, relevant external events, strategic communications plans, and organizational goals.
• Use internal and external resources – and collaborate with internal teams – to generate and leverage opportunities for ACT blog posts, Op-Eds, and other external content that position members of the ACT Enterprise and Senior Leadership teams and subject matter experts as industry thought leaders.
• Collaborate with internal and external partners to monitor external engagement metrics and identify tactics and strategies to increase meaningful engagement year over year.
• Prepare executive summaries to senior leadership after completion of initiatives and releases.
• Lead management of ACT News & Thought Leadership blog (50%) - Lead idea generation, manage scheduling, and write/edit content. - Collaborate with internal teams to facilitate contributions from SMEs.
• Lead on the development of communication policies and practices (20%) - Create, socialize, and maintain communication playbooks, artifact management and sharing standards, internal communications consulting and editing standards, and internal resources and guidelines for content generation.
• Lead development of overarching blog strategy and processes (20%) - Track blog post engagement analytics – Identify tactics and strategies to increase impressions year over year. - Draft executive summaries to senior leadership after completion of initiatives and releases.
• Contribute to overall communications initiatives (10%) - Write and edit content, as needed. - Serve as secondary support for social media channel management.

Role Progression:

• Within 1 month you will have a high-level understanding of ACT's products and customers and will be getting to know the team and the work they do. You also will have started to develop relationships with individuals across the organization.
• Within 3 months you will be leading discussions about external communication cadences, blog production, and content management. You also will contribute to writing and editing for key initiative, participate in a national testing day Command Center, and have attended at least one state regional conference.
• Within 6 months you will have influenced key internal partners to consistently and effectively use a new or revised intake process for communication initiatives. You also will be positioned to consult with senior leaders on strategic communications across audiences and be able to serve effectively as a thought-partner across strategic communications.  

About You (minimum qualifications):

• A minimum of 7 years of communications experience developing and executing measurably effective initiatives that capture diverse voices and increase organizational standing as an industry leader.
• Experience working with senior executives, socializing strategies, and gaining buy-in.
• Demonstrated experience with communications planning, objective setting and key message development based on analysis of business challenges and opportunities.
• Adept at collaborating with cross functional teams, aligning strategy and objectives, and getting measurable results.
• Deep knowledge of developing communications policies and practices, and implementation.
• Deep understanding of messaging and communications best practices, including SEO and other discovery tactics.
• Innovative approach to communications that embrace and promote diverse perspectives.
• Remains current in area of expertise, seeks opportunities to expand and grow skills.
• Includes and actively seeks and engages with diverse stakeholders and invites a sense of belonging.
• Acts decisively with sound judgement; uses data to analyze options and form opinions.
• Collaborates and works effectively with individuals inside and outside the organization.
• Ability to manage change and navigate positively in an environment experiencing change at a fast pace.
• Takes initiative and uses self-starter approach, strategically organizes work to efficiently complete tasks at high-quality levels, anticipates and acts on informational needs, willingness and ability to learn.
• Ability to apply continuous improvement to existing processes and programs.
• Skills and knowledge required for success in this position attained through experience and education (Bachelor’s Degree in Communications or related field of study), or a combination of both.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in communications related to education policy.
• Experience working with government relations executives.
• Experienced in crisis communication.

When ACT was founded in 1959, it disrupted the assessment industry with a new approach to helping students better understand their readiness so they could take steps to improve it.  By leveraging our expertise and authority in assessment and research, we will again disrupt the industry—helping more people learn, better measure their progress, and improve their navigation through life’s transitions. 

More than ever before, ACT is fulfilling its mission of helping people achieve education and workplace success. We’re doing it by pushing the boundaries of learning innovation through the work of our people, who we call team members because we’re all in this together.

We know transformation does not come without challenge. That’s why ACT invests in a variety of experiences for team members to strengthen their connections, explore ideas, learn from customers, and celebrate success.

Learn more about working at ACT at act.org!