Chief Communications Officer

United States of Care (USofCare) is seeking a Chief Communications Officer to join and help lead our growing team.

Organization Description:

USofCare is on a mission to ensure that everyone has access to quality, affordable health care regardless of health status, social need, or income. A non-partisan non-profit, we drive a unique, cross-sector, people-centered approach to prioritizing, creating, and advancing state and federal policies that meet people’s needs.

To achieve our people-centered mission, USofCare values and prioritizes inclusion and diverse perspectives on our staff. Seeking unity over uniformity, we pay attention to the unique interests, abilities, needs, and backgrounds of every employee.

Applicants from diverse backgrounds and communities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Position Overview:

The newly created Chief Communications Officer (CCO) role will set and drive the organization’s branding, positioning, narrative change, and impact messaging at a time of unique growth and opportunity for equitable health care change. In this dynamic role, a strategic leader and innovative storyteller will be responsible for building upon a strong foundation of early wins to propel the organization – and its vision for health care change – into the future. In 2022 alone, United States of Care has received its largest gift from a well known philanthropic leader, will imminently be rolling out the nation’s first shared agenda for health care reform, and is launching a new programmatic effort focused on cross-sector narrative change. The CCO will bring the expertise and passion to establish, execute, and effectively staff strategies for these bodies of work while simultaneously innovating new campaigns to elevate the organization’s impact.

While the CCO will be primarily focused on communication about and building public awareness and support for all aspects of United States of Care’s programmatic and narrative change work, they will also serve as a key member of the Executive Leadership team. The CCO will act as a trusted leader across the entire organization and will work closely with the Chief Executive Officer and the rest of the executive team to align communications strategies with programmatic campaigns, fundraising goals, and organizational priorities. The Executive Team will look to the CCO for best practices and recommendations for the organization’s communications and branding, and will expect the CCO to provide both aspirational strategies and actionable solutions.

With a focused eye towards maximizing opportunities to elevate United States of Care’s reputation and impact, the CCO will be expected to create innovative and comprehensive communications strategies while overseeing a talented team that will own projects from incubation through implementation. An effective CCO will bring an engaged and empowering management style to this hands-on position and will proactively seek opportunities to educate, motivate, and guide a team to apply best practices, execute aligned decisions, and evolve the brand strategy. The CCO will lead a skilled team, currently consisting of 4 staff, and will likely have the opportunity to identify needs for additional resources as the organization continues to grow. With a highly collaborative and team oriented approach, the CCO will seamlessly integrate into a highly functioning team to work side-by-side with staff, highlight individual’s strengths, delegate clear responsibilities, and carve out channels of communication and feedback.

Through these efforts – and more – the CCO will play an integral role in translating the organization’s mission into impactful messaging that will change the national narrative on health care reform and advance our shared agenda for the future of health.

Primary Responsibilities: 

Strategy & Brand Building (30%)

• In collaboration with the CEO and Executive Leadership team, set and oversee the execution of the communications and branding vision for United States of Care’s next chapter;
• Take the lead on capturing the organization’s story and impact narrative, then seamlessly translate that across departments into fund development, programs, and executive efforts;
• Specifically, create an annual strategic communications plan that is both aspirational and actionable, and that aligns with and advances the organization’s 3-year objectives and fundraising plan;
• Balance a visionary mindset with an hands-on approach to design comprehensive and integrated communications strategies across various channels, including but not limited to: digital and social media platforms, the organization’s website, messaging for external affairs campaigns such as public option work, fundraising materials, and collateral such as an annual report and impact report;
• Take ownership of and ensure alignment across the organization’s overall design, language, and aesthetic in all internal and external materials;
• Take responsibility for collaborating with other teams organization wide to ensure that their work is incorporated in communications collateral and seek to proactively identify and understand other departments communications needs;
• Draw on a nuanced understanding of the health care landscape to identify where and how to elevate the organization’s brand to maximize exposure to it’s impact to desired target audiences;
• Maintain a strong understanding of sector trends and proactively anticipate how they may affect the organization’s messaging, agile course correcting as needed; and
• Embed the organization’s values of diversity, equity, and inclusion into all aspects of external communications and brand positioning.

Executive Leadership (20%)

• Collaborate with the entire Executive Team to set (through strategic thought leadership) and sustain (through team management and hands-on oversight) a clear communications vision that aligns with programmatic objectives;
• Build and manage the Communications department budget in collaboration with the COO;
• Provide the CEO, Executive Team, Board of Directors, and entire staff with thought leadership and guidance for messaging, brand awareness, narrative change, and organizational positioning – empowering them to serve as storytellers for the USofCare’s impact;
• Along with the rest of the Executive Team, take ownership of fostering an inclusive organizational culture across all teams and embody the organization’s core values as an example for the staff;
• Consistently and proactively seek opportunities to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion priorities organization wide; and
• Bring ideas, solutions, and actionable feedback to the Executive Team for how to improve the organization’s effectiveness and culture – both in times of problem solving, and also in times of stasis.

Team Management (20%)

• Lead a talented and rapidly growing virtual team with a collaborative, communicative, and empowering management style;
• Provide direct reports with clear guidance, structure, and expectations while simultaneously working alongside them to foster a positive, ‘all hands on deck’ culture of inclusivity;
• Serve as a sounding board and trusted partner for direct reports, empowering them to execute through clear delegation and feedback;
• Consistently identify and elevate opportunities for the team’s professional development to ensure that they are satisfied and have a growth trajectory at United States of Care;
• Maintain oversight of a portfolio of external communications vendors and consultants, and work with the team to determine who manages which relationships with clear metrics for what a successful partnership looks like; and
• Proactively identify the need for additional staff resources and oversee all hiring processes for the communications team.

Narrative Change Strategy (15%)

• Draw on the organization’s data, research, and unique insights into people’s health care needs and experiences to build up and out a new communications program dedicated to changing the conversation and public narrative about health care;
• Serve as the architect for the structure of this program and ensure that the communications team – and entire staff – is brought along in the process;
• Take a hands-on role in the early stages of launching this program, then effectively delegate clear roles and responsibilities to an engaged communications team;
• Set the strategy for and manage the execution of messaging resources and collateral for the program;
• Identify and translate insights and messaging materials to target audiences, and cultivate a network of external spokespeople and ambassadors; and
• Create and share out metrics for the program’s growth and success, with changing the public conversation around health care serving as the north star.

External Engagement (15%)

• Oversee  the execution of external facing communications support for organizational initiatives in collaboration with the Program team to help ensure that campaigns reach key audiences and are aligned with organizational policy priorities; and
• Ensure that the Communications team provides strategic and tactical communications support to internal colleagues and external partners to advance the organization’s federal and state legislative priorities;
• Serve as a key external ambassador for the organization, demonstrating a sophisticated level of issue fluency and the ability to connect with diverse audiences of varying backgrounds;
• Bring an approachable and inclusive style to building relationships with external parties –  such as stakeholders, media contacts, and partner organizations – to advance the organization’s programmatic priorities and narrative change agenda; and
• Identify media moments and external opportunities to elevate the organization’s brand awareness and expose new audiences to our unique approach.

Qualifications and Core Competencies:

• A minimum of 12-15 years of relevant experience building, implementing, and overseeing an organization’s strategic communications and branding efforts;
• Proven success serving in a senior leadership/c-suite role, preferably at a new and/or rapidly scaling organization;
• Experience effectively managing a communications team at varying levels of seniority, with a strong preference for previous management experience supervising a virtual or hybrid team;
• A demonstrated passion for United States of Care’s mission to build a better, more equitable health care system;
• Previous experience in the health care, policy/legislative, and/or political advocacy space;
• High fluency in a diverse range of communications tactics, including but not limited to digital and advocacy campaigns, traditional media, strategic events, fundraising, and more;
• The keen ability to balance innovative curiosity and creative savvy with a strong strategic focus to deliver actionable solutions;
• Previous experience serving in roles at every rung of the communications ladder, and the ability to translate that learned experience into exceptional leadership and management functions;
• A no problem too big, no question too small attitude with a genuine desire to work in the weeds even while setting the strategy above the treetops;
• Openness to defining a new role and a high comfort level refining tactics to drive results even in ambiguity;
• An entrepreneurial mindset and preference for operating in fast-paced, results-oriented, hands-on and constantly changing environments; and
• An unwavering commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the skillset to elevate these values into external communications strategies;

Work at United States of Care:

United States of Care offers a generous benefits package including mental, dental, and vision insurance; 403b with match and flexible paid time off. A full summary of benefits is available upon request. This position is full-time and fully remote. Candidates may be located anywhere in the United States. The salary range for this position is $190,000-$210,000 depending on experience and location.

The Importance of Diversity

In order to achieve our mission to ensure that everyone has access to quality, affordable health care, United States of Care is committed to building and maintaining a diverse team at all levels of our organizations, cultivating an inclusive culture, engaging with people who bring different perspectives and lived experiences to our efforts.

Our success will depend on input from all stakeholders, including patients and their families from across the health spectrum, as well as providers and experts. We will proactively welcome and involve people with a broad spectrum of social identifiers, including those of varying races, ethnicities, abilities, gender identities, socioeconomic statuses, ages, sexual orientations, and religious and political affiliations.

Application

Please apply at www.chaloner.com.  Amy Segelin at Chaloner is managing the search.