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PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Chief Communications Officer is a storyteller and a strategist – responsible for furthering AFI’s national mandate – to preserve, to honor and to educate. This individual is responsible for the “look” and the “voice” of the American Film Institute – promoting a national brand that resonates to a vast and varied audience; from future Fellows at the AFI Conservatory to high level donors to individual movie enthusiasts around the world.

The ideal candidate is a talented communicator – verbal and written – a hands-on, sleeves-rolled executor that crafts impactful messaging and has the experience and contacts to have that messaging heard.

This individual is passionate about the movies, television and visual storytelling – as well as both their artists and audiences. And they can articulate the import of the art form to drive culture forward.

They are an expert on how to create, tell, contextualize and place a story, with visuals and editorial that capture and convey the AFI brand, optimize delivery impressions and ultimately increase interest in the Institute via incremental donor support, membership levels and press coverage.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, all core mar-com functions, with an emphasis on communications expertise: press and publicity; public relations, including crisis management; editorial and creative design for web, social media and print (including advertising and promotion materials); public policy; speechwriting; and more. In addition to the creation and implementation of these key mar-com activities, responsibilities also include tracking performance metrics and ROI for these activities and leveraging any segmented mar-com activities to benefit the Institute.

This position is a key member of the AFI Senior Management team. They will directly supervise the AFI Communications, Creative Services Social Media and Web Services departments, and will interface on a daily basis with all of the programs (e.g. AFI Conservatory, AFI Exhibition, etc.) and departments (e.g. Special Events, Productions, Advancement, Operations, etc.) of the American Film Institute, as well as press and publicity resources nationwide.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES:

• Work with Senior Management to craft the story of support for the American Film Institute. Harness the words that will move donors, applicants to the AFI Conservatory, Festival goers and more to clearly communicate AFI’s brand promise, elevate and protect the brand and enhance the positioning of the Institute across the nation.
• Reinforce AFI’s case for donor support and the positioning of programs such as AFI Conservatory and annual AFI events, including the AFI FEST, AFI Awards and the AFI Life Achievement Award.
• Develop a strategic plan for AFI marketing and communications – one aligned with AFI’s overall strategic plan.
• Lead the communications, web, social media and creative design teams by conceptualizing, developing and executing creative strategies and campaign tactics for AFI print and online materials. Articulate these strategies to Senior Management and Program Heads – and collaborate to finalize campaigns.
• Create/oversee the creation of effective messaging and branding, including press messaging, story pitches, public statements, public remarks, “white papers,” advertising and promotion materials, and more, across all platforms.
• Develop and maintain excellence in quality and a methodology of quality control to ensure all communications and creative design strengthen the brand, are delivered on time and within budget. This includes proofreading, copy editing and fact-checking materials for accuracy prior to their distribution.
• Identify, cultivate, maintain and track relationships with media and influencers such as publishers, editors, reporters, bloggers, PR professionals, industry leaders, etc. to ensure effective management of story creation and placement, and proactive public relations messaging/crisis communication management across all platforms.
• Manage AFI’s web and social media messaging and design to ensure the information is timely and effective, as well as search engine optimized.
• Manage AFIs public policy and public relations activities.
• Oversee AFI press accreditation, talent alerts and red carpet activities.
• Develop project budgets, monitor progress, ensure adherence to planned objectives/brand guidelines and evaluate performance against budget and plan.
• Employ a mar-com tracking system to monitor AFI press/social media coverage and advertising/promotion coverage; convey metrics/coverage highlights to Senior Management and Program Heads.
• Perform an ongoing assessment and annual review of AFI mar-com needs across the organization based on performance metrics and make reasonable recommendations for fiscal year planning.
• Remain abreast of and develop activities to maximize the latest effective mar-com techniques and tools.
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

EXPERIENCE/SKILLS REQUIRED:

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred, ideally in a Communications-related field.
• A genuine passion for American film, television and digital media and the artists whose stories enrich our national cultural heritage.
• Minimum 10 year’s experience as a senior communication’s expert for a national organization, ideally in the arts, with a solid track record of directly creating and implementing a full-range of mar-com materials through a vast array of strategies and vehicles (e.g. publicity, promotion and national advertising via print, web, social media, etc.).
• A gifted spokesperson and effective communicator – oral, written and visual– who has a command of language and the power of creative design, and who can adapt his/her mar-com style to mirror the AFI brand and its audience segments. Must be able to produce high volume, high quality, effective messaging and creative design tailored to the AFI brand and the individual programs comprising the Institute.
• Proven track record of effectively managing press, paid and social media campaigns, web services and creative designers. Self-confident and naturally persuasive, the candidate is not intimidated by the press and thrives on achieving ambitious mar-com goals through hard work, persistence and effective messaging.
• Demonstrated success in being an integral member of the Senior Management team to define organization wide strategies, and to develop and execute tactics that support those strategies.
• Exceptional management and decision-making skills, including a commitment to strategic and operational planning and execution, as well as back-end analytics using defined ROI/performance metrics.
• Highly strategic, with the ability to engage the Institute at large in the mar-com process through consensus building across a matrix organization.
• Strong leadership, time management and multi-tasking skills, coupled with the ability to work independently and with minimal supervision.
• Personal integrity and the ability to inspire confidence and trust across the organization.
• Thorough knowledge of emerging trends and current practices in the mar-com environment, including expert knowledge of paid and social media, web content, database management and metrics monitoring systems.
• Well-connected with media contacts across the county, and especially in Los Angeles, Washington, DC and New York.
• Proven project management skills with the ability to take a project from conception through completion.
• A strong team player in a results-oriented team comfortable collaborating and offering positive, helpful feedback.
• Successfully able to collaborate with all departments/levels of the organization and third parties in a highly professional manner. Strong diplomacy skills and professionalism are mandatory; this includes the ability to maintain complete confidentiality and discretion at all times, as well as the ability to work calmly under pressure.
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint as well as social media resources (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Snap Chat, Instagram, YouTube) and Canva.

The American Film Institute is a nonprofit organization with a mandate to champion the moving image as an art form. Established in 1967, AFI launched the first comprehensive history of American film and sparked the movement for film preservation in the United States. In 1969, AFI opened the doors of the AFI Conservatory, a graduate-level program to train narrative filmmakers.