Start Date: July 1, 2023

Reports to Head of School

Expected Salary Range: $120,000 to 175,000 (commensurate with experience)

Summary

Grace Church School seeks to hire an experienced, collaborative, creative, and wise Director of Strategic Communications, for a position starting July 2023.

About the School

Grace Church School is a JK–12, co-ed independent school located on two campuses in downtown New York City.  An Episcopal school, welcoming children of all faiths and of none, Grace believes in the inherent, precious dignity of every individual and seeks to provide an outstanding education worthy of our common humanity. 

Grace is a school of big ideas.  Our structured curriculum promotes academic excellence through a pedagogy of joy:  an approach that reflects our belief that stress isn’t the fuel of academic achievement but that joy is, and that students learn best when motivated by delight, wonder, curiosity, and purpose.  We work hard to nurture a culture of dignity and belonging, believing that the strength and diversity of the school enhances every aspect of our program, and we seek to foster in each student an active ethical consciousness.  Grounded in tradition, the school remains ever open to innovation, looking to the best research on the science of learning and the craft of teaching to advance the timeless values and aspirations of our mission. 

Grace Church School by the numbers

Founded:  1894

Enrollment: 796

Students of Color:  33%

Students who receive financial aid:  26%

Total Faculty:  142

Faculty of Color:  39%

Faculty with advanced degrees:  75%

About the Position

Reporting to the Head of School and serving as a member of the Senior Administrative Team, the Director of Strategic Communications will be responsible for the stories Grace tells about its values and the way they are made real in the school experiences of our students.  They will work closely with the Head of School, members of the administration, and many others across the Grace community, including the faculty and the school’s offices for advancement, community engagement, admissions, and college counseling.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

• Create and implement an integrated communications plan for internal and external constituencies;
• Working collaboratively with the Head of School and Senior Administration, determine communications priorities and take the lead on executing them;
• Work closely with division heads and department heads to help their communications align with and advance the larger strategic priorities of the school;
• Manage the work of the Communications Office and supervise its members;
• Serve as the school’s designated point of contact for media inquiries, and advise and assist the Head of School on public relations and crisis communications;
• Oversee all facets of external and internal communications, print materials, media relations, advertising, digital communications, social media, from conception to execution, working with internal staff and vendors; 
• With the Head of School and members of the Long-Range Planning Committee of the Board of Trustees, develop, communicate, and help to implement the next strategic plan for Grace Church School;
• Work closely with members of the admissions and advancement teams to support the school’s recruitment and fundraising efforts;
• Ensure that all digital and print materials (such as the website, magazine, annual report and weekly newsletter) representing the school are reviewed regularly to improve their efficacy and alignment with the values and mission of the school;
• Determine key metrics for determining the efficacy of communications efforts and use that data to direct future efforts;
• Provide communications support to the members of the Senior Administration including brainstorming and ghostwriting through proofreading;
•  Collaborate with leaders of Parents’ Association and other stakeholders to ensure that communications to families, faculty, and staff are accurate and informative;
• Provide strategic counsel to the Head of School and members of the Senior Administration in regards to communicating the school’s mission and values to the wider community.
• Other duties assigned by the Head of School

How to Apply

Applicants should submit a résumé and a letter of interest via the employment page of the school’s website.

Grace Church School is an equal opportunity employer.

Expected Timeline

We hope to interview first-round candidates in February and finalists in March.

Candidates should possess the following:

• A bachelor’s degree
• Impeccable writing and editing skills
• At least five years of communications experience, including crisis communications and marketing
• An understanding of best practices in digital marketing, video production, and website design
• A record of excellence as a leader, teammate, and communicator
• Strong project-management skills, including the ability to plan and oversee initiatives from their conception through to their implementation and the ability to prioritize and delegate when tasks and projects compete for limited time
• The cultural competence and self-awareness to communicate effectively among diverse constituencies of the school and external audiences, and the knowledge necessary to review communications to ensure alignment with the school’s efforts to promote dignity and belonging
• A demonstrated record of professionalism, including: maintaining confidentiality, judgment, discretion, and integrity

Experience in independent schools is not a requirement but would be beneficial