Princeton, New Jersey
New York, New York
Posted: 23-Jan-23
Location: New York, New York
Type: Full Time
Salary: 65,000-75,000
Who we are
Ethical Culture Fieldston School is a progressive Pre-K–12 independent school that has been serving students from throughout New York City and the surrounding suburbs since 1878. ECFS offers a rich curriculum in the arts, sciences, and humanities. A co-ed, nonsectarian school, it serves a diverse community of about 1,700 students on two campuses — one in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, and the other in Manhattan.
What is essential about working at our school?
The Ethical Culture Fieldston School has a long history of equity and inclusion deeply rooted in our mission and the educational philosophy of our founder, Felix Adler. We embrace diversity of ancestry, family, identity, culture, and belief and seek a student body and faculty that reflect the pluralism and socioeconomic diversity of metropolitan New York. We affirm both our differences and commonalities and strive to balance individuality and community. In keeping with our progressive tradition, we are dedicated to increasing our students’ cultural literacy to help them understand multiple perspectives and see the world beyond the self.
We expect members of our community to engage in open dialogue about living and learning in a diverse environment inside and outside the classroom. We see this work, with its creative tensions, as a catalyst for individual and collective growth. On a daily basis, we are committed to making this vision of a democratic, pluralistic, and progressive school a reality.
Scope of Work
The Ethical Culture Fieldston School (ECFS) is a vibrant and exciting educational community and one of the nation’s leading progressive schools. We are looking for a Communications Manager as part of a next-generation communications office.
Our work in the Communications Office makes an ECFS experience more enriching for current students and families, more accessible for prospective students, and more inspiring for alumni. We also care for the School’s reputation and brand. By telling the stories of our community in modern, fun, and engaging ways, we connect our families more strongly to our mission and to each other.
As Communications Manager, you’ll be a member of a five-person Communications Office. This means that you will communicate often with parents/guardians, faculty/staff, board members, and alumni. Communications work is inherently collaborative, so while we each have clearly delineated responsibilities, our team will work closely together both on the strategic level and the day-to-day.
The hiring range for his position is $65,000-$75,000. The successful incumbent will be offered a competitive salary within this hiring range based upon their experience, education, and skillset.
Specific Responsibilities
The Communications Manager is an exciting opportunity to collaborate with the high-functioning ECFS Communications Office. Here are the key projects that will help you become immersed in the School:
Editorial content: Pitch, write, and edit both short- and long-form stories about the ECFS community that are shared on all channels (website, print, social media). When we aren’t writing editorial content, we’re editing school-wide communications, so editorial experience and expertise is required.
Ongoing communications and community engagement: Partner with Fieldston Middle and Upper administrators to share stories from these divisions (website, social media, print magazine) that keep the community engaged and informed. Keep a pulse on the goings on across divisions (including events, curricular projects, visiting speakers, etc.) in order to create editorial content that is both exciting and informative. Set strategy and provide support for all Fieldston Middle and Upper divisional communications. Develop and implement communications best practices and standards across divisions to improve open- and click-rate metrics on all communications.
Enrollment management communications: Partner with the Admissions Office to promote the School to new families through the website, videos, collateral, ads, etc. with the goal of increasing enrollment. Provide ongoing updates to existing admissions materials to keep content current and engaging.
Athletic communication support: Partner with the Athletics Department to share stories (website, social media, print magazine) celebrating Fieldston Middle and Upper athletics. Provide support for all communications regarding policies, logistics, schedules, and announcements.
Operation communication support: Support our School’s Operations team with the goal of creating a healthy school environment for our community. Set strategy and provide support for all communications regarding school policies, logistics, and safety protocols.
You will also be an involved member of our school community. You will work closely with faculty/staff, parents/guardians, students, and alumni, helping to balance their needs and expectations and teaching them about best practices for communications. Your work will fall somewhere in the region of partner-promoter-mentor-service provider. As a member of the school community, occasional evenings and weekend event work is required.
This role is flexible, and we will fit some of the responsibilities to you and your talents. But these are the main components of the job as we see it:
- Experience working at a school is a plus.
- Writing/editing: You will need to express yourself in words at all times. You can craft a sensitive email with as much panache as a celebratory feature. You read critically and are a keen editor, as we are the final eye on things before they see the outside world. You will edit for clarity, style (must be accustomed to learning a style guide), and copy edits.
- Project management: We act as relationship managers, and you’ll need to be detail-oriented in order to shepherd the various moving parts of a project.
- People skills: We work with a wide cross-section of our community every day, so having a positive, customer-service-oriented attitude is essential.
- Technology: This role, alongside other members of the communications team, will be responsible for sharing content through our various digital channels, so you’ll need to be fluent with various social platforms, email, and website technologies.
- Photo/video/audio: While not a requirement, if you have skills producing more advanced forms of media, there’s always room for creativity and magic.
- Other duties and projects as assigned.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree
- 3–5 years of marketing, communications, media, or journalism experience
- Ability to write quickly and in a range of styles for different audiences
- Excellent editing and proofreading skills
- Creative thinking and problem-solving skills
- Familiarity with web content management systems and web/design technologies (e.g. Mailchimp, WordPress, Google Analytics)
- Strong project management skills with the ability to plan and oversee various projects from the initial ideation through to completion
- Demonstrated interest in youth education a plus
- Ability to work efficiently and independently, and with a broad range of constituencies
How to Apply
To be considered for the position, please send a letter of interest, a resume, and contact information for three references. A sample of your writing must also be included. Applications will be reviewed as they are received, and the position will remain open until filled. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.
EEO
ECFS is an equal opportunity employer. Our goal is to be a diverse community of professionals that broadly reflects the people of the metropolitan New York City area, our students, and families. We aim to align our hiring process with our mission and institutional goals. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion or religious practices, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, citizenship status, national origin, age, ability status, military status, unemployment status or any other category protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws. ECFS takes affirmative action in support of its policy to employ and advance all qualified candidates.