Communications and Community Manager

At the Institutional Data Initiative (IDI) we’re working to expand access to, and our collective understanding of, the data that underpins AI. By collaborating with library, government, and academic institutions to publish their knowledge collections as AI training sets, IDI seeks to 1) empower those institutions and the cultures they represent, 2) build a foundational pipeline for academic inquiry of AI, and 3) advance the state of the art for all builders of AI systems. At launch, we released Institutional Books—a dataset of nearly 1M public domain books, scanned through Harvard Library. 

The Communications and Community Manager will be IDI’s primary convener, connecter, and storyteller, with ownership over a communications and events strategy that encompasses IDI’s website, social media, press coverage, community channels, in person and virtual events, et al. The person in this role is charged with growing IDI’s profile and network in three main areas: the knowledge institutions with which we partner; the researchers and developers who work with our data and/or on similar data projects; and the funders who support our sustainable operations. Each of these audiences feeds into an IDI colleague’s portfolio, making collaboration crucial to success in this role. The Communications and Community Manager will seek to grow this multi-faceted community by taking the lead in forming and tracking a diaspora of technologists, academics, students, cultural stakeholders, and more who expand IDI’s capabilities, capacity, and perspectives. Developing a deep understanding of IDI’s work and the needs of its various stakeholder communities, and drawing from previous experience representing organizations at a high level, will be crucial to success.  

IDI’s impact is often tied to the unique overlap between our partner knowledge institutions, data users and researchers, and funding communities. IDI operates within Harvard and alongside the Library Innovation Lab, the Berkman Klein Center, and the Applied Social Media Lab; engaging these communities, among others, is critical to delivering on our mission. As IDI’s first point of engagement in many of our channels, the person in this role must have a keen understanding of AI technologies and IDI’s workflows in order to route interactions from community members to their most appropriate destinations.  

As Communications and Community Manager, you will: 

• Own, from development to execution, IDI’s communications and community strategy. Create a multifaceted, multichannel approach to raising IDI’s profile and amplifying our impact among key audiences.  
• Develop and execute successful outreach strategies to press and target audiences. 
• Create and communicate a coherent set of narratives to bring our projects to internal and external audiences. 
• Represent IDI at external conferences and workshops. 
• Build connections among communities that could benefit from or amplify IDI’s work.  
• Manage the production of news stories, blog posts, reports, website content, social media content, print materials, newsletters, and other forms of digital and multimedia content. 
• Maintain IDI’s brand and design guidelines. 
• Develop and execute workshops, conferences, and other convenings where IDI may gather our stakeholder community and advance specific targets. Examples include onsite council meetings, collaborative workshops with the Berkman Klein Center that consider related policy questions, and partner symposia.  
• Create and manage accounts on platforms (Slack, X, HuggingFace, et al) where IDI may gather and engage with the community. 
• Foster collaboration with and amplify communications through sibling organizations including the Library Innovation Lab, Berkman Klein Center, Applied Social Media Lab, and Harvard at large. 
• Formally and informally advise IDI staff on communications best practices both within the IDI ecosystem and in general. 
• Other duties as assigned.