Please note that we are accepting applications on a rolling basis, with preference given to applicants who apply by May 22, 2024. We kindly ask applicants not to contact Community Solutions employees for updates on this role. Additionally, we are not accepting candidate resumes from recruitment firms.

Position Overview

Homelessness can be made rare and brief. This is not an aspiration or a belief. It is a reality that communities are proving every day. Community Solutions aims to amplify this truth clearly, broadly and effectively toward a tipping point where this reality is widely understood and drives effective policy and practice nationally.

The Strategic Communications team is responsible for:

1. Harnessing the learning and stories of communities and leaders that are demonstrating the practices that reduce homelessness
2. Lifting up bright spots and broadly sharing the examples of community progress
3. Providing direct capacity and support to communities to leverage communications as a tool to create buy-in for their local efforts to reduce homelessness
4. Developing and distributing open source communications content and tools for any community to use to amplify the message that homelessness is solvable

As an organization, we support a diverse movement of more than 100 communities across the country, of all sizes and geographical and political contexts. We know that homelessness is solvable everywhere, and it is our job to 1) help communities leverage communications to reduce homelessness all the way to “functional zero,” where homelessness is measurably rare and brief, and 2) create a new set of expectations across the country that inspires measurable reductions in homelessness.

We harness communications to change expectations, behaviors, and conditions that can create a new normal where homelessness is rare and brief, everywhere. We rigorously measure success across four critical lanes of work:

• Communities can leverage communications to accelerate their own progress toward functional zero homelessness. Everything we do stems from our work with communities. We bring our knowledge as communications professionals to provide strategic capacity, support, and resources to help local leaders harness the power of communications to make homelessness rare and brief. We measure success by looking at platform-specific measures, as well as qualitative feedback from our community partners.
• Reducing homelessness — and proof that it can be made rare and brief — is well documented and reaching key audiences. We capture the compelling and complex stories of what it takes to reduce homelessness, and proof that it is possible. We develop content that is tailored to support communities and partners in effectively communicating to key audiences. The success of these efforts is tracked with platform-specific measures across our owned channels, including email, social media, paid advertising, web, video, and partner content.
• A widely observed discourse creates understanding and accountability for homelessness as a systems problem that can be resolved. By 2026, share of voice around the discourse on solving homelessness (on both social and earned media) will reflect an understanding that homelessness is a systems problem and can be made rare and brief (25%). Polling and other measures used to complement share of voice will also reflect a shift to solutions-focused action and evident progress in reducing homelessness.
• Key audiences take actions and influence peers to create accountability for population-level outcomes. Our communications efforts are intended to drive behavior change. We work to ensure that a critical mass of influential opinion leaders and priority publications create accountability for population-level outcomes and reinforce the understanding that homelessness can be made rare and brief. We develop guidance and examples of key actions different groups can take to help communities achieve that.

The Principal of Strategic Communications is a critical leader at Community Solutions, responsible for overseeing communications, which encompasses team operations, strategy development and alignment, execution on the strategic plan aims, coordination with other Community Solutions teams and critical initiatives, as well as internal communications. The Principal will work closely with the Chief of Strategic Affairs, President, communications, policy, partnerships, program, operations and finance teams to advance organizational strategic plan aims. The Principal will work with other team leaders across the organization and external collaborators to advance the movement to make homelessness rare and brief. In addition to this affirmative communications work, the Principal will lead strategies to prevent and mitigate crises and step into emerging and responsive opportunities. The Principal will also support internal communications.

The Principal will report to the Chief of Strategic Affairs, serve on the organization's Leadership Team and interact with the Community Solutions Board of Directors.

Defining Success for this Position

• Healthy team culture and environment. The Principal will foster an environment that reflects our organizational values and the non-partisan nature of homelessness. This includes a healthy, effective, results-driven, and supportive team environment with regular feedback loops.
• Strategies and accountability mechanisms that support results. The Principal will ensure that every member of the Communications team has clarity on their roles and expectations related to the organization’s strategic plan and take ownership for driving progress against it.
• Data and learning that fuels progress. Our progress is driven by how quickly we can learn. To that end, the Principal will champion a rigorous, data-driven approach across the team that is grounded in continuous improvement, which includes weekly reporting, the facilitation of after-action reviews; and constantly modeling an approach that embraces failing forward and learning.
• Strategic coordination and collaboration. Members within the team should work together seamlessly to build upon and support each other’s work and expertise. The Principal will continuously identify and facilitate opportunities for meaningful collaboration with teams across Community Solutions to advance progress toward organizational strategic aims.
• Organizational leadership. The Principal will serve as an operational and thought partner to members of the Executive and Leadership teams, responding to both internal and external needs for communications leadership and support. The Principal will have a dotted-line relationship with the President on internal communications matters.
• Effective change management and communication with staff and stakeholders. The Principal will ensure that changes are effectively communicated to internal and external stakeholders and that feedback loops are in place to identify areas of misunderstanding or improvement. The Principal will serve as a partner in leveraging communications — affirmatively and reactively, externally and internally — to anticipate, mitigate, and prevent crises.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Strategy and accountability for results

• Have a hands-on leadership approach; roll up the sleeves and help get the work done
• Be an outstanding writer and editor who can generate critical thought leadership and strategic documents, and know how ‘great’ content should be created from first-hand experience
• Ensure that the team’s efforts are aligned with the strategic plan
• Work with team to set annual and six-month aims and measures, and regular processes for ensuring progress against them
• Identify opportunities and support team members to improve execution and strategy
• Assure coordination of communications within cross-organizational efforts
• Establish and adapt core messaging in line with organizational learning
• Assure clarity and consistency of Community Solutions’ messaging and materials
• Oversee and hold accountable team members for messaging alignment and quality assurance across organizational channels (which includes, but is not limited to, earned, social, digital, and shared media)
• Encourage and facilitate continuous improvement and learning, which includes action reviews around key moments

Strengthening the movement

• Support and foster partnership and collaboration with communities in Built for Zero to 1) inform the broader communications strategy, 2) provide community-level support on communications strategy and 3) provide communications content and training resources and support for social media and other campaigns
• Produce critical content to advance Community Solutions’ work and policy goals, including an annual impact report, quarterly data reports and management of Community Solutions’ website
• Support community partners in engaging influential allies and developing messages for targeted and general audiences to build non partisan support for practice and policy changes that reduce homelessness, including creating robust open-source content and effective distribution plans
• Harness relationships across our network — which includes the organization’s funding and strategic partners and others working to end homelessness — to advance key messages and amplify our communications to strengthen collective progress toward the tipping point

Team culture and environment

• Manage regular feedback loops to maintain a positive, equitable, healthy working environment
• Model strong strategic writing and content creation, lead the team in excellence in this area
• Model organizational values and foster an environment that celebrates achievements, appreciates diversity and the embodiment of those values by team members
• Model key behaviors for learning and progress, like taking ownership, providing and receiving direct feedback, being curious, and acting in good faith

Effective change management and internal communication

• Support the communication of internal developments and changes

Organizational and operational leadership

• Serve as a member of the organization’s Leadership Team
• Provide leadership on internal and external matters requiring communications expertise and ownership
• Oversee organizational brand and reputation and prevent, anticipate, and mitigate crises
• Serve as an operational and thought partner to the Chief of Strategic Affairs and President
• Supervise managers on the communications team
• Oversee the team’s budget

Professional Experience and Qualifications

• 5-10 years of high-performance writing and editing with published proof
• 5-6 years leading communications teams with proven results - preferably in whole or in part for a network or membership organization and/or broad-based campaign with results to show for it
• Strong team and project portfolio management skills, as evidenced by leading teams and projects to successful and measurable completion
• Collaborative work ethic and a high tolerance for feedback, direct communication, and proactive conflict resolution
• Experience communicating about, or driving campaigns related to complex issues
• Marketing and research experience a plus
• Strong background in analyzing and applying data and learning
• Extremely organized and attentive to detail
• High degree of professionalism and outstanding judgment in dealing with diverse groups of people, including Board members, senior executives, staff, community leaders, donors, and people with lived experience of homelessness
• Ability to prioritize and complete a high volume of tasks with limited guidance
• Passion for supporting efforts to end homelessness or other complex social problems

Relevant work experience is required to apply for this role. A college degree may be helpful but is not required. If you think you have the right experience, but are worried we might not ‘get it,’ you could be right! Please use your resume and cover letter to help us understand your experience and why you’re qualified for this role.

Software/Apps Used

• Google Business Apps
• Microsoft Office Apps
• Zoom
• Salesforce
• Adobe
• Slack
• Asana

Salary Range

This position is grant-funded for two years with potential for renewal.
CS offers competitive salaries and benefits packages for every position. The salary range for this position is between $118,045 - $153,059. The actual salary is commensurate with the candidate's experience.

Work Environment

This position is fully remote and can be located anywhere in the continental United States. Community Solutions has office space in New York City, but the position provides for the flexibility to work from a remote location without the standard support available at an office if such an arrangement meets the needs of Community Solutions.

Up to 15% travel will be required to attend company retreats and events, essential policy meetings, media events and/or other training and convenings

Diversity and Inclusion

We strive for inclusivity and diversity by attracting extraordinary people from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences. We seek to employ an all-star team of people who vary by their race and ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, nationality, age, culture, religion, veteran status, physical and mental abilities. We promote equal opportunity in the recruitment, selection, training, compensation, promotion, and benefits of all employees.

COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate

COVID-19 vaccination is mandatory for all Community Solutions staff—full-time, part-time, and contracted. Vaccination documentation must be provided to Community Solutions. Vaccination information is completely confidential between the staff member and HR.