Director of Marketing & Public Affairs

About Prosperity Now

Since 1979, Prosperity Now has been a trusted leader in strengthening financial security, expanding access to capital and supporting economic stability for businesses, families and communities. We work across sectors to develop practical, scalable solutions that respond to how people experience the economy in real life. Through research, policy, programs, partnerships and innovation, Prosperity Now helps build stronger pathways to financial stability and economic security.

Position Summary

The Director of Marketing & Public Affairs leads Prosperity Now's integrated marketing, media relations, digital communications, and public affairs function.

Reporting to the Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer, the Director is responsible for increasing Prosperity Now's visibility, strengthening its public voice, growing its audiences, and ensuring the organization's expertise reaches the people who can act on it.

This is both a strategic and management role. The Director is expected to anticipate communications needs, develop clear recommendations, plan ahead across organizational priorities, manage staff and consultants, and ensure major campaigns, media opportunities, executive engagements, and digital content are prepared and delivered on time.

The Director works closely with Public Policy & Applied Research to ensure accuracy and substance, Programs to identify practitioner insight and stories, Business Development to support fundraising and partnership opportunities, and senior leadership to strengthen executive visibility.

The Director manages internal staff and outside consultants and is accountable for using those resources effectively.

Core Responsibilities

Integrated Marketing & Public Affairs Strategy

• Lead an integrated marketing and public affairs strategy aligned with Prosperity Now's organizational, programmatic, policy and revenue priorities.
• Maintain a 30-, 60- and 90-day view of major communications needs, opportunities, deadlines, and resource requirements.
• Translate organizational priorities into clear communications plans that identify audience, message, channel, timing, assets, approvals and owners.
• Bring clear recommendations to senior leadership, including rationale, tradeoffs, and proposed next steps.
• Identify timely opportunities to connect Prosperity Now's expertise to developments in the economy, policy, research, and public conversation.
• Protect and strengthen Prosperity Now's reputation through issues management, rapid response, and crisis communications.

Media Relations & Executive Visibility

• Build and maintain strong relationships with national, trade, policy and regional reporters covering household finance, housing, small business, taxes, economic policy, and the nonprofit sector.
• Develop proactive media strategies that position Prosperity Now leaders, research, and practitioners as useful sources for timely stories.
• Oversee press releases, media advisories, statements, op-eds, commentary, pitches, and other public-facing materials.
• Build and manage a speaker and expert strategy that expands opportunities for Prosperity Now leaders and subject-matter experts.
• Lead preparation for CEO and executive media appearances, panels, speeches, and external engagements.
• Work backward from scheduled executive opportunities to ensure briefing materials, data, practitioner examples, likely questions, and other preparation are ready with sufficient lead time.
• Identify and secure practitioner and community stories needed to support executive communications, working with Programs and other teams as appropriate.

Digital Audience Growth & Content Strategy

• Lead a platform-specific digital strategy across Prosperity Now's priority social channels, email, and web presence.
• Establish clear goals for audience growth, engagement, and reach, and develop strategies to achieve them.
• Oversee an editorial calendar that integrates organizational priorities, research, policy, programs, campaigns, events, and relevant external moments.
• Ensure content is developed for the platform and audience rather than simply replicated across channels.
• Expand the use of short-form video, executive content, and other high-performing formats.
• Work with external digital and creative advisors to strengthen channel strategy, content development, and audience growth.
• Ensure Prosperity Now's institutional channels and executive channels are distinct but mutually reinforcing.
• Maintain consistent brand voice, message standards, and visual identity.

Campaign & Creative Planning

• Lead early planning for major campaigns, announcements, events, reports, and organizational initiatives.
• Identify in advance the mix of copy, video, design, paid media, executive participation, and other assets required for successful delivery.
• Translate campaign priorities into clear creative and production briefs for staff and contractors.
• Ensure leadership recording, review, and approval time is identified and scheduled early.
• Make thoughtful choices about what requires outside design or production support and what can be handled internally.
• Ensure campaigns continue beyond publication or launch through distribution, amplification, follow-up, and reuse of content.

Team, Consultant & Resource Management

• Manage and develop Marketing & Public Affairs staff through clear goals, regular coaching, delegation, and performance feedback.
• Assign work at the appropriate level so the Director remains focused on planning, judgment, management, and strategy rather than routine execution.
• Manage outside consultants and vendors, including digital strategy, creative, graphic design, video, and other communications support.
• Conduct regular build-versus-buy assessments before adding outside resources.
• Develop clear scopes of work, deliverables, deadlines, and budgets for consultants and vendors.
• Monitor consultant capacity and spending and make proactive recommendations when priorities or resources need to shift.
• Foster a culture in which staff and advisors are expected to raise concerns, challenge assumptions, and bring solutions.

Cross-Functional Planning & Scope Management

• Serve as the lead Marketing & Public Affairs partner to Programs, Public Policy & Applied Research, Business Development, Finance, and other teams.
• Clarify ownership when work crosses functions and ensure substantive program, research, or policy content remains with the appropriate subject-matter team.
• Review grant-funded communications requirements against actual agreements and deliverables before committing PAM resources.
• Identify communications needs associated with funded projects early enough to budget, staff, and schedule them appropriately.
• Push back constructively when requests fall outside agreed scope, available resources, or PAM resources.
• Identify communications needs associated with funded projects early enough to budget, staff, and schedule them appropriately.
• Push back constructively when requests fall outside agreed scope, available resources, or PAM's appropriate role.
• Escalate capacity constraints early and propose alternatives rather than allowing deadlines to become last-minute emergencies.

Revenue & Partnership Support

• Partner with Business Development to ensure communications assets support fundraising, sponsorship, and partnership opportunities.
• Identify opportunities to extend and monetize appropriate owned media and content, including podcasts, documentaries, events, reports, and other platforms.
• Ensure Business Development has the audience information, promotional assets, case examples, and other materials needed to sell sponsorship and partnership opportunities.
• Help demonstrate the organizational value of Marketing & Public Affairs through audience growth, registrations, earned media, funder visibility, lead generation, sponsorship support, and other measurable outcomes.
• Support donor stewardship and partner visibility in coordination with Business Development.

Measurement, Testing & Optimization

• Establish clear marketing and public affairs performance measures tied to organizational goals.
• Use data to answer what is working, what is not, and what should change.
• Regularly evaluate audience growth, engagement, earned media, paid performance, campaign results, and channel effectiveness.
• Recommend experiments and adjustments based on results rather than reporting data without action.
• Manage paid media strategically, shifting or stopping spending when performance does not justify continued investment.
• Develop reporting that helps senior leadership and the Board understand the value and performance of the function.

Organizational Leadership

• Model clear, direct, and timely communication in a remote and cross-functional environment.
• Operate with a high degree of ownership and follow-through.
• Anticipate needs and close loops without requiring senior leadership to repeatedly surface outstanding work.
• Bring problems forward early, along with a recommended solution.
• Communicate disagreement directly and constructively, using evidence and professional judgment.
• Manage multiple priorities while maintaining high standards for accuracy, preparation, and timeliness.
• Participate in organizational planning, goal setting, feedback, and performance processes.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in communications, marketing, public affairs, journalism or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Approximately 7 or more years of progressive experience in marketing, public affairs, media relations, strategic communications, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience managing staff, consultants, vendors, or complex cross-functional work.
• Strong record of developing and executing communications or marketing strategies that increased visibility, audience engagement, or participation.
• Demonstrated media relations experience, including reporter outreach, pitching, executive preparation, and development of public-facing materials.
• Strong understanding of digital marketing, social media strategy, audience growth, and performance analytics.
• Experience developing editorial and campaign plans and managing multiple deadlines and production needs.
• Strong writing, editing, and presentation skills across audiences and platforms.
• Sound judgment and the ability to translate complex information into clear, accessible communications.
• Ability to make recommendations, explain tradeoffs, and respectfully challenge decisions when professional judgment supports a different approach.
• Demonstrated ability to manage budgets and outside resources thoughtfully.
• Experience working effectively across departments and with senior executives.
• Familiarity with CRM, digital engagement, and analytics tools. Salesforce experience is helpful.
• Experience in nonprofit, government, financial services, economic policy, or another mission-driven environment is helpful but not required.

Reports To: Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer

Supervisory Responsibility: Required. This role manages staff and outside consultants.

Work Environment: This is a remote position operating in a professional office environment. The role requires regular collaboration during Eastern Time core hours and coordination with colleagues, partners and vendors across time zones.

Expected Travel: Approximately 20% to 25%. Travel includes Prosperity Now convenings, organizational meetings, media and partner engagements, and other events as needed.

FLSA Classification: Exempt

Salary Grade: Grade 3

Prosperity Now is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe a range of backgrounds and perspectives strengthens our work and seek highly committed, skilled, nda collaborative colleagues from a wide variety of experiences.