Position Title: Communications Manager Date: December 2023

Reports To: Director of Communications FLSA Classification: Exempt

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BACKGROUND

2Life Communities provides superior housing to older adults of all backgrounds who can thrive independently within a supportive environment. We are a mission-driven organization with a vision whereby all older adults have the opportunity to age in community – to live a full life of connection and purpose in a dynamic and supportive environment. We are continually evolving support services to meet the needs of our diverse residents as they age. We offer case management, service coordination, and a wide array of wellness, cultural, and other activities. We partner with health care providers to identify innovative ways to support residents’ health and well-being, and we engage with the broader community through our Village Center program.

2Life owns and operates over 1,300 units of affordable rental housing located within six campuses in metropolitan Boston. With another 210 apartments under construction and more in planning, we expect to add another 600-700 units within the next several years as we complete projects in active planning and construction phases. We continue to pursue other development opportunities. We anticipate continued growth in the size of our portfolio, the geography in which we operate, and the diversity of our residents in terms of race, ethnicity, income levels, and need for supportive services.

GENERAL SUMMARY

The Communications Manager plays a critical role on the Marketing and Communications team in three key areas: 1) serving as the primary project manager and strategist for a wide variety of marketing and communications initiatives across the organization, 2) articulating the 2Life brand and primary campaign messages in a wide variety of formats in partnership with departmental subject matter experts, and 3) collaborating with the Digital Marketing Manager to design effective content distribution strategies. The Communications Manager is a subject matter expert in assessing organizational brand awareness, fundraising, advocacy, property marketing, and other needs, providing strategic counsel in how best to meet those needs, and creating powerful communications assets and multipronged marketing campaigns to achieve the organization’s goal of expanding access to affordable supportive housing to Boston-area seniors.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

• Serve as the primary project manager for assigned topic areas and/or departments, building strong working relationships and subject-matter knowledge along with strong campaigns and communications assets.
• Schedule, prep for, and run project kickoff meetings, standing project meetings, and project wrap-up meetings, as well as produce after-meeting notes and action items.
• Effectively capture the voice of organizational subject matter experts, blending it with a solid understanding of brand guidelines and key audiences to create content that compels a desired action.
• Write copy for social media, website / blog, collateral, internal communications, events, media relations, and more.
• Select stock or house photography and generate simple, on-brand graphics to accompany social media posts.
• Work with agencies and freelancers to produce high-quality, on-brand written materials and design work.
• Work with print vendors and mail houses to ensure on time, high-quality delivery of printed materials.
• Develop ideas for thought leadership in support of marketing campaigns, and bring those ideas to fruition through partnership with the Director of Brand Communications and external resources.
• Partner with the Director of Brand Communications to ensure the effective deployment of public relations strategies where relevant, increasing visibility for 2Life events and initiatives.
• Deploy the Marketing and Communications tech stack to support content distribution and delivery, working with the Digital Marketing Manager to ensure appropriate strategy and calendaring.
• Collaborate with the Digital Marketing Manager in setting and analyzing campaign-related metrics, take the lead in presenting results to other departments, and ensure that lessons learned from the analysis / discussion are implemented, tested, and continuously refined.
• Diligently work to both meet the communications goals of internal departments and build an external audience of followers of the 2Life brand.

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Understand and embrace 2Life’s mission, values, and strategic plan, as well as the organization’s properties, services, and audiences.
• Manage both internal and external communications initiatives.
• Ensure consistent branding and messaging across all communications assets.
• Contribute to the Marketing and Communications team’s overall project tracking tool, ensuring that team members can always determine project status.
• Contribute to the logically organized storage of all communications assets, including designer source files and photo assets.
• Serve as a trainer to others on the team and across the organization as appropriate.
• Adhere to all department and organizational goals, objectives, and outcomes.
• Other duties as assigned.

PREPARATION, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES

• 5 years of marketing and communications experience, preferably in a nonprofit environment.
• Expertise in storytelling and key message development.
• Knowledge of the affordable housing market, particularly in Massachusetts, and the challenges facing adults as they age.
• Ability to articulate the organization’s mission, vision, and impact to external stakeholders, including donors, volunteers, families, and government and community agencies.
• Excellent interpersonal skills to contribute effectively to the team’s existing collaborative and supportive culture, and to build highly productive relationships with other departments.
• Excellent organizational and multitasking skills, including the ability to lead cross-departmental teams to on-time delivery of a wide range of campaign assets.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a proven track record of creating materials ranging from talking points and press releases to blog articles, emails, and web and social media copy.
• Excellent attention to detail when editing and proofreading communications assets.
• Experience working with the media to develop news coverage.
• Experience working with print and mailing vendors.
• Knowledge of design best practices for the development of web-deployed graphics, including experience with Adobe Creative Suite and Canva.
• Experience with the following digital marketing tools: Drupal, Agorapulse, Semrush, Act-On, Google Workspace, Google Analytics 4 / Google Search Console, and Salesforce.
• Happiness and high energy in a fast-paced environment.
• Desire to contribute meaningfully to helping older adults thrive.

WORKING CONDITIONS/PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• This is a hybrid role, with part of the week spent at 2Life’s Brighton, MA, headquarters, and part of the week spent in at-home work setting.
• Working conditions are those to be expected of a standard computer-heavy office environment.
• Occasional off-hours work may be required (e.g., fundraising events, campus events).
• Occasional local and national travel may be required (e.g., conferences, advocacy events).

The above statements intend to describe the general nature and level of work performed by people assigned to do this job. The above does not intend to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties required.

We desire to build and cultivate an inclusive environment that brings together a diverse workforce with unique experiences, backgrounds, talents, and perspectives.

External and internal applicants, as well as position incumbents who become disabled as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act must be able to perform the essential job functions (as listed) either unaided or with the assistance of a reasonable accommodation to be determined by management on a case by case basis.