Director of Marketing & Digital Communications

ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN FINANCE BOARD

The Campaign Finance Board is a nonpartisan, independent city agency that empowers New Yorkers to have a greater impact on their elections. Our mission is to make local democracy more open, transparent, and equitable by removing barriers to participation.

We make it easier for New Yorkers to vote, meaningfully support candidates for city office, and run for office themselves. NYC Votes, our voter engagement initiative, meets people where they are to share trustworthy election information and help New Yorkers make a plan to vote. We publish the citywide Voter Guide, which delivers information about candidates directly to voters’ doors. Our public matching funds program ensures small contributions can make a big difference, allowing regular people to run for office by relying on the support of other regular people, not just wealthy donors and special interests. And we lift the veil on how candidates raise and spend money, increasing transparency and accountability in local government.

We believe that when every New Yorker is empowered to participate meaningfully in elections, candidates will better reflect the communities they serve, elected leaders will be more accountable to the public, and New Yorkers will have a democracy they can truly trust.

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

The CFB Public Affairs Division (PA) promotes the agency’s key role in equipping all candidates and voters to power a fairer and more open democracy in New York City. We engage New Yorkers, inform them about elections, and boost their civic participation in the democratic process.

The Marketing & Digital Communications Unit, one of four units in PA, is responsible for managing the agency’s branding and our direct-to-voter communications, including multi-channel advertising campaigns, social media, website content, email and text-message outreach, and the city Voter Guide that we distribute to over 5 million registered voters.

JOB DESCRIPTION

The NYC Campaign Finance Board seeks a Director of Marketing & Digital Communications. The Director will create and lead an overall marketing and digital communications strategy for the agency, including both paid campaigns and organic content, that advances the agency’s mission, builds public awareness of the agency’s work, and encourages New Yorkers to participate in elections.

The person in this role will play a key role in advancing the CFB’s strategic goals to increase New Yorkers’ participation in the city’s public matching funds program, and provide information to New Yorkers that is accessible, relevant, and helpful. We’re seeking a candidate with experience driving engagement in hard-to-reach audiences in creative and innovative ways. We believe it’s possible to build a stronger, more responsive democracy when more New Yorkers can access trusted information about elections and civic engagement that meets them where they are; the ideal candidate will be someone able to build cohesive, accessible multi-channel campaigns that expertly and strategically utilize traditional media as well as emerging digital platforms.

The Director will also supervise and lead the staff of the Marketing & Digital Communications Unit, with a current headcount of eight, two of which are direct reports: the Associate Director of Digital Communications, and the Senior Art Director.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

- Determine high-level goals and identify key benchmarks for awareness of agency programs, lead generation, acquisition, and increased engagement for our website, social media, email, and SMS.

- Lead market research projects as needed to create communication strategies for priority audiences or evaluate the effectiveness of agency marketing campaigns.

- Support the constituent teams within the unit Content, Design, Editorial to ensure their workflow, processes, and goals are consistent with division and agency priorities, and with the unit’s overall strategy and goals.

- Manage media planning and buying for paid media campaigns; approve determinations about advertising budget allocation for various platforms based on key metrics, efficiency, and strategic objectives.

- Provide strategic direction for marketing and ad campaigns to ensure cohesive implementation among creative vendors, including our ad creative and media buying firms.

- Spearhead key strategic partnerships with social media, communications companies, and other civic institutions with an interest in civic engagement and participation in elections.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES & OTHER BEHAVIORS (KSAOs)

We're seeking individuals eager to make an impact, even if they don't tick every box on our job description. We believe in the power of diverse perspectives and the unique blend of lived experiences, non-traditional education pathways, practical know-how, and a variety of skills and abilities that each candidate brings to the table. If you're ready to learn and grow with us, we encourage you to apply and be part of our dynamic team.

Knowledge

- Knowledge refers to the body of factual or procedural information that can be applied like knowledge and understanding of federal, state, and city campaign finance laws and compliance.

- Knowledge of best practices for consumer marketing

- Knowledge of branding, including brand personality and visual identity

- Knowledge of traditional advertising, including print, digital, and out-of-home

- Knowledge of digital communication platforms and effective organic content

- Knowledge of accessibility best practices for digital and print materials

- Knowledge of New York City government

- Knowledge of politics at the national, state, and local level

- Knowledge of campaign finance and voting rights

- Knowledge of NYC’s demographic makeup and consumer trends

Skills

- Skills are the capabilities required to perform tasks accurately and efficiently like effective communication skills to interact with internal partners, external partners, and the public.

- Skill of compelling storytelling

- Skill of effective oral communication

- Skill of effective writing

- Skill of working with data to drive strategic decision-making

- Skill of creating marketing plans targeted at specific audiences, including youth and New Yorkers who speak languages other than English

- Skill of staff supervision, delivering feedback and managing staff performance

- Skill of effective vendor management

- Skill of communicating technical issues in plain language

- Skill of constructing workflows and processes that guarantee accuracy and consistency of content

Abilities

- Ability is the capacity one needs to perform a job like the ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a team on agency projects.

- Ability to lead and motivate staff

- Ability to think strategically, both internally and externally

- Ability to plan and execute a multi-channel marketing campaign with well-defined goals

- Ability to identify appropriate metrics relevant to organizational goals and design systems to measure and evaluate the success of marketing campaigns

- Ability to communicate organizational goals and priorities to staff

- Ability to build positive relationships with vendors and partner organizations

- Ability to collaborate effectively and mobilize staff across functions at all levels within the agency

- Ability to mentor staff

- Ability to understand complex legal, administrative, and technical issues

Other

- Other characteristics are traits that do not fit into the other categories, including values, work style, and personality like accountability and being able to adapt to change and easily consider new approaches.

- High level of emotional intelligence

- Demonstrates a creative approach to achieving goals and problem-solving

- Demonstrates empathy for people across lines of difference

- Demonstrates accountability in achieving results

- Works well with different skill sets and styles

- Works independently with minimal oversight

- Capacity to respond well to unexpected events

- Demonstrates curiosity in their work

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

- Eight years of experience in a marketing or communications role, with at least half of those in a leadership role supervising a team or mentoring staff.

- Experience managing large campaigns of $1 million or more, as well as nontraditional experience at the hyperlocal level.

- Experience working in the elections, democracy, or civic engagement space.

- Experience leading multi-lingual campaigns.

EXECUTIVE PROGRAM MANAGER (CFB - 06894