Senior Development & Communications Manager

Summary

Description

Title: Senior Development & Communications Manager 

Reports to: Director of Development

Department: Development & Communications 

Position Type: Full-time, 40 hours/week, exempt

Location: 1292 W. 10th Ave. Denver, CO 80204 

Base Salary: $65,000 – $70,000 + Benefits

The Opportunity

This role is perfect for someone deeply committed to Colorado’s young creatives who excels at storytelling and marketing strategies for diverse audiences and is eager to take on a department leadership role. The Senior Development & Communications Manager will shape Youth on Record’s (YOR) storytelling, marketing, and communications strategy and provide critical leadership for key fundraising portfolios, campaigns, and events. The Senior Development and Communications Manager will have the opportunity to amplify YOR’s impact by managing dynamic communications campaigns, providing compelling content and messaging across donor portfolios, and spearheading storytelling that highlights Youth on Record’s impact as co-owners of the Underground Music Showcase (UMS). The Senior Development and Communications Manager is a core contributor to YOR’s Everybody Raises Money Strategic Shift (part of YOR’s 2024-25 Strategic Vision) and Impact-Driven Storytelling and Funding Resilience Through Individual Giving Strategic Focus Areas. 

This position offers room for growth within the organization and is ideal for candidates who are excited about strategic leadership. A successful candidate will be able to think strategically and develop a multi-year department plan while excelling at the day-to-day responsibilities needed to effectively implement a long-term strategy.

Primary Responsibilities

Leadership & Supervision

• Act as a key leader within the Development and Communications team, contributing to the overall strategy, vision, and integration of communications with YOR’s fundraising efforts.

• Collaborate with other departments, including Creative Youth Development and Success (CYDS) and Business & Finance, to ensure cohesive messaging and support for programmatic and organization-wide initiatives.

• Provide leadership and mentorship to the Development Associate (overseen by Director of Development), paid interns/contractors, future team members (e.g. Communications Associate), and program staff, ensuring that team members are effectively collaborating across projects.

• Work closely with the Director of Development to align team efforts with organizational goals, ensuring that all Development and Communications initiatives support YOR’s mission, impact, and reach.

Marketing & Communications

• Develop and execute innovative marketing and communications plans to expand YOR’s audience(s) and reach, leveraging media relations, newsletters, and social media.

• Oversee the creation and implementation of a robust social media strategy to increase engagement on multiple platforms and ensure cohesive storytelling across all channels.

• Manage and develop YOR’s website, ensuring it aligns with the organization’s brand and messaging while monitoring and optimizing performance through SEO and analytics and identifying opportunities for improvements.

• Design visually compelling, brand-aligned marketing materials for programmatic, development, and institutional use. 

• Steward and strengthen Youth on Record’s brand and organizational reputation, equipping staff, contractors, Board of Directors, and volunteers with the tools they need to represent the organization effectively. 

• Regularly analyze and report on key metrics, utilizing data to inform future campaigns. 

Creative Content & Storytelling

• Lead YOR’s impact-driven storytelling efforts by developing compelling narratives about the organization’s mission and programs, crafting content for impact reports, social media, video, press releases, and more.

• Actively seek out new, creative ways to tell YOR’s story and engage diverse audiences, both locally and nationally, through various media and communication platforms.

• Manage the production and distribution of newsletters, blog posts, video content, and live streams, ensuring a regular cadence of communication with stakeholders and supporters.

• In collaboration with the Director of Programs and program staff, effectively promote programming to drive awareness of program offerings and participant recruitment and retention.

• Work with Mental Health and Wellness Manager and Director of Programs to build out high-quality awareness campaigns and mental health focused content. 

Donor Engagement & Stewardship

• Support the stewardship, cultivation, solicitation, and engagement of donors across all giving tiers through targeted and compelling content and outreach, focusing on key campaigns such as Music Matters March, Colorado Gives Day, seasonal giving initiatives, and supporting the Leadership Team and Board in fundraising efforts.

• Collaborate with the Director of Development and contract grant writer to enhance grant requests with impactful narratives, stories of impact, and multimedia that demonstrate YOR’s mission and impact.

• Support corporate partnerships by creating engaging pitch decks and stewardship reports that align with partner interests and highlight YOR’s impact and ensure marketing deliverables are met. 

• Oversee the content and marketing strategy for fundraising campaigns and events, ensuring alignment with organizational branding, effective promotion, and robust engagement.

• Collaborate with the Development and Communications team, contractors, and volunteers to design and implement compelling events that engage current and prospective supporters, leading all marketing and communications components. 

The Underground Music Showcase (UMS)

• With support from the Executive Director, lead the evaluation and public impact-reporting for the Underground Music Showcase (UMS), collaborating with the programs and finance teams to collect data and analyze the event’s success.

• Develop and present impact stories and reports that clearly communicate the outcomes and social return on investment from the UMS, focusing on YOR’s reach, engagement, and contributions to the creative ecosystem.

• Work with external and internal stakeholders to ensure transparent reporting on UMS’ outcomes, preparing data-driven reports to share with sponsors, partners, and the board of directors.

• Through press engagement, events and activations, attendee-focused marketing initiatives, and other creative efforts, showcase Youth on Record’s mission and impact at the UMS in order to strengthen organizational/festival reputation and drive increased engagement and support.

Media Relations & Press

• With the Executive and Leadership Team, develop and execute a comprehensive media strategy that increases YOR’s visibility locally, regionally, and nationally.

• Cultivate relationships with media outlets and ensure regular engagement with the press, including drafting and distributing press releases to secure coverage for key events and initiatives.

Other Responsibilities

• Reflecting YOR’s dynamic communications and fundraising environment, these primary responsibilities are not exhaustive and this role will be expected to support additional duties and responsibilities as needed to further the organization’s mission.

To Apply: Please send your resume and a cover letter as a single PDF document to careers@youthonrecord.org referencing “Senior Development and Communications Manager” in the subject line.

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis with a deadline to apply through Friday, January 31. Phone Interviews will occur on a rolling basis and in-person interviews are expected to be conducted the 2nd week of February. Estimated start date is March 3.

Benefits: Youth on Record offers a robust benefits package which includes health insurance, retirement matching fund, 120 hours paid-time-off, various holiday observations, a mental wellness stipend, cell phone and coverage, professional development, fitness center membership, free access to recording studio for personal projects for a minimum of four hours per month, annual use of Youth Media Studio for two approved personal events (such as graduations, baby showers, birthday party, etc.), the opportunity to work remotely when necessary, access to arts and cultural events throughout the year.

Equitable Hiring Practices: YOR takes all measures to ensure that community members from a variety of backgrounds and lived experiences have the opportunity to work for us. 

The YOR Employment Experience

Education: Youth on Record is an education organization, so we clearly value education. We also know that access to higher education isn’t available to all people. While we do consider the advanced education backgrounds of our applicants, we do not require high school diplomas or university degrees for any of our positions.

Traditional Work Experience: The creative sector and making music profession offer many opportunities to gain skills that are applicable to our work; as does lived experience. So, while we do consider employment history, length of steady employment, and references when hiring new employees, we also consider the whole identity, life-experience, self-study, community involvement, quality and impact of artmaking, and a willingness to grow and develop in our applicants.

Criminal Records: We background check all employees at Youth on Record in an effort to ensure the safety of our students. That said, inequities in our criminal justice systems are considered when hiring employees with criminal backgrounds. Additionally, there are some past criminal offenses that do not impact the ability of our employees to perform their job duties. We speak openly and honestly with prospective and current employees about past criminal offenses and make case-by-case decisions about new and continued employment based on circumstances surrounding the offense. There are some offenses which do automatically disqualify you for working at Youth on Record, which include crimes against children.

Work Environment: YOR’s work is fast-paced, detail and deadline oriented. We are highly communicative, with a commitment to nonviolent communication practices and a trauma-informed approach to management. YOR is operating in a hybrid virtual and in-person schedule. In-person meetings and tasks will be completed based on the current needs of the organizations.

YOR’s Company Culture:

INNER-LIFE WORK: YOR is committed to the whole employee. Our commitment to "Inner-Life Work" provides our team with personal and professional workshops, activities, and opportunities for reflection that aim to support their growth, their goals, and their vision for their lives.

SUPPORT: YOR offers direct support to employees through management check-ins, mentorship and coaching, robust professional development training, professional goal setting, generous fringe benefits and competitive salaries, and opportunities to provide direct, transparent, and upward feedback about our work and work culture.

ACCOUNTABILITY: YOR is committed to ensuring that our work is excellent. To achieve this, teams are held accountable to program outcomes, project deadlines, program outputs, and financial oversight by way of peer-to-peer coaching & critical feedback, supervision, mid-year planning sessions, monthly all staff meetings, regular team meetings and annual 360 reviews.