Vice President External Affairs Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Common Cause is seeking a dynamic and strategic Vice President of Marketing and Communications to lead our national messaging, brand identity, and digital presence. Reporting directly to the Senior Vice President of External Affairs, you will serve as a key leader and connective tissue across departments, driving integrated campaigns—including our strategic priorities—that amplify our mission, mobilize supporters, and defend democracy.

This is a full-time role reporting to the Senior Vice President, External Affairs; this role is based in Washington, DC, with an expectation to come into our office at least 2 days per week. We hope our new Vice President will start in November.

Responsibilities

Set and drive the strategy to reach our organizational communications goals

• Define and execute a comprehensive, integrated marketing, communications, and digital strategy that expands external audience reach

• Lead Common Cause’s transition toward a fully digital-first communications model, driving measurable growth across digital platforms

• Propose and pilot innovative initiatives, testing new channels and messaging strategies to achieve core organizational goals
• Advise the Senior Vice President, External Affairs, and other senior leaders on communication opportunities, risks, and emerging developments

Manage the Marketing & Communications teams

• Manage the digital, marketing, and communication functions within the External Affairs department 

• Collaboratively set goals with direct reports, coach and develop them towards these goals and support their career progression and retention at Common Cause 
• Foster an inclusive culture of accountability across the team

Strengthen communication strategy across the organization

• Establish and refine team structures, workflows, and cross-departmental processes to ensure seamless execution

• Build and maintain robust rapid-response systems that allow the organization to mobilize quickly around breaking news and emerging policy issues

• Oversee communications strategies for both national and state-level priority campaigns, covering media relations, messaging guidance, graphic design, social media, and content creation
• Serve as the primary communications and marketing liaison to senior internal stakeholders across Policy & Litigation, Campaigns & Organizing, and State departments

• Ensure clear, proactive communication across teams so national priorities and state-specific efforts reinforce each other
• Represent Common Cause in coalition meetings to advance our communication strategy across our work

• A strong commitment to Common Cause’s nonpartisan mission and to advancing civil rights through our pro-democracy agenda     
• Ability to compel action through both written and verbal communication, including distilling complex concepts for a broad audience, and to differentiate communications as needed for various audiences, including executive leadership and board members
• Innovative and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to navigate through ambiguity to achieve goals, and a resourceful approach to solve problems
• Ability to manage and meet deadlines for multiple short- and long-term priorities at once, with high attention to detail; strong organization skills, and the ability to manage your time independently 
• A track record of working collaboratively with others, with the ability to build rapport, trust, and credibility with multiple stakeholders with diverse interests 
• Ability to navigate organizational and power dynamics, respectfully navigate conflict while maintaining your values, and influence others to adopt changes to meet common goals
• A commitment to equity in the goals of your work and in how you work with others 
• Openness to feedback and awareness of your own strengths and areas for growth    
• Familiarity with office productivity tools including Microsoft Office and Zoom

• Proven track record leading high-performing communications and/or digital teams in either the non-profit, advocacy, or private sector
• Experience leading successful marketing campaigns related to democracy and/or civil rights
• Demonstrated knowledge of key media outlets at the national and state level, and ideally you have multiple relationships at those outlets
• Demonstrated knowledge of current national democracy issues, including voting rights, redistricting, ethics, etc. 
• Demonstrated success managing and developing a multi-disciplinary team; have set strategic direction for a team, and built a unified approach to achieve goals 
• A track record of leading organization-wide change initiatives
• Ability to work in-person in the DC office at least 2 days per week, and to travel 3-4 times per year for team and/or all staff retreats
• Willing to have a social media presence on behalf of Common Cause, including being tagged on posts and creating content on behalf of the organization (as needed, Common Cause will provide accounts for staff members to use)
• Per our nonpartisan policy, Common Cause staff members may not currently be in elected office (or running for office); on the Steering Committee or Finance Committee for any political candidate; or affiliated with the leadership of a political party

• This position is classified as supervisory and therefore not included in the union-represented collective bargaining unit
• Common Cause is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time; please note that if hired, you will be asked to produce documentation for authorization to work in the US

Note that as this role is based in Washington, DC, there would be a 3% increase on the offered salary as part of our geographic adjustment.

In addition to salary, we also offer a generous benefits package, including:  

• A robust healthcare plan that covers 97% of employee’s medical care, 100% of employee’s vision and dental benefits, and 75% of family medical care and 100% of family vision and dental benefits 

• Long-term disability and life insurance 

• Generous Paid Time Off including 20 Days of Vacation and 10 observed Holidays per year, and additional days off for Thanksgiving and Winter break  

• 16 weeks of paid parental leave 

• Flexible spending accounts  

• A 401k retirement savings plan, with immediate Employer Match 

• Dependent Care and Pet Care Support when you travel for work 

• Funds for professional development  

• And more! See more details here: https://www.commoncause.org/our-benefits/   

Common Cause is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants of any race, creed, color, religion, ethnicity, national origin, income class, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran status, or marital status, as well as applicants who have been previously incarcerated.

Common Cause (501(c)(4)) and Common Cause Education Fund (501(c)(3)) are nonpartisan, nonprofit grassroots affiliate organizations dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create an open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.  

Founded in 1970 and headquartered in Washington, DC, Common Cause has members and supporters living in every congressional district in the United States, and offices in 23 states around the country.