Communications Manager
Organization: The Midtown Association (MA) is a non-profit organization that is making Midtown the center for culture, creativity, and vibrancy in Sacramento’s urban core. We were recently selected by our team and the Sacramento Business Journal as one of the Best Places to Work in Sacramento.
Our Culture & Values
Our small but mighty team is fast-paced, creative, and mission-driven. We value:
- Integrity: High standards and personal accountability
- Responsiveness: Empathetic, thorough service to all stakeholders
- Growth: Personal, team, and organizational growth celebrated often
- Collaboration: Helping others succeed as part of a collective mission
- Resiliency & Resourcefulness: Adaptability in a changing environment
- Efficiency Through Technology: Tech-driven transparency and results
Our modern, open-concept office is surrounded by more than 20 restaurants, coffee shops, and cultural amenities. Our team enjoys a smart casual/business dress code.
Position Summary and Requirements: The Communications Manager is a key leader within the Communications Department, working closely with the Associate Director of Communications, Creative Manager, and Advocacy and Stakeholder Affairs Manager. This role is responsible for developing and executing about 30 strategic communications campaigns per year to increase awareness, visitation, investment, and stakeholder support across Midtown. The Communications Manager serves as a strategist, project manager, storyteller, and stakeholder liaison, ensuring that campaign messaging is segmented for various audiences and effectively distributed across owned, earned, and paid media. This position supervises contractors and is expected to manage a Communications Coordinator in the near future.
What is a Midtown Association Manager? Qualified Managers have successful supervisory experience of staff and consultants, can act as the staff support to committees of board members and expert community members, have experience with budget development and management, have knowledge of key performance indicators and marketing techniques for event management, and can plan program performance to generate specific outcomes. Managers bring recommendations to their supervisors for greater efficiency and service delivery in the organization and create key partnerships in the community to ensure the success of the organization.
Basic Employment Qualifications:
- 3+ years of full-time professional experience in communications, marketing, or public affairs
- Associate degree in communications, marketing, or related field
- Proven experience in campaign strategy, message segmentation, and content execution
- Excellent written communication and presentation skills
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Mailchimp, Canva, and social media platforms
- Ability to lift 40 lbs and pass background, driving, and drug screenings (cannabis permissible)
Ideal candidates will also possess:
- 6+ years demonstrated experience with public affairs, fundraising campaigns, digital communications, and marketing
- Bachelor’s degree in a relevant area of study
- Skilled in digital communications techniques and software proficiency including Monday.com, SEO, Google Ads, WordPress, Adobe Creative Cloud applications, and others
- Ability to manage multiple projects with speed and precision
- Familiarity with, and curiosity for, emerging technologies including artificial intelligence tools to enhance communications strategy and workflow.
Work Environment/Hours: This is a full-time, exempt position at no less than 40 hours per week. The schedule is generally Monday through Friday, professional hours, with variations for meetings and special events such as Second Saturday. One assigned day per week is remote after 90 days. The work environment is located primarily inside and consists of completing tasks involving communications by using technology independently and collaborating digitally or in-person with others. Conditions can range to include working outside in all types of inclement weather but would be very unlikely unless an event activation was taking place in unexpected inclement weather. Must be able to work around varying degrees of noise and interruptions. Must be self-motivated, flexible, patient, and able to complete job assignments without direct supervision under sometimes dynamic conditions.
Benefits: Midtown Association has a very generous benefit package after the introductory period; 8 days of sick time, 12 days of vacation plus public holidays, 401k with 5% match, Flex-spend account, fully paid insurance (Medical, Life, Dental, Vision and Alternative Care Insurance) wellness program, sabbatical program, in office refreshments, work from anywhere hours, an assigned work from home day each week, and parking.
Salary: COE with an anticipated starting range of $78-85K per year with additional bonus potential.
Midtown Association is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE).
Essential Duties & Responsibilities: Under the direction of the Associate Director of Communications, implement about 30 ongoing communications campaigns with the intent to increase visitors and investment in Midtown. Campaigns range from increasing support of the Midtown Farmers Market, Midtown Second Saturday and Explore Midtown promotions to supporting public safety/harm reduction efforts for nighttime visitors. Implementation is as follows:
- Campaign management: Write project briefs, lead team kick-off meetings, develop and manage detailed project timelines, recommend strategies and tactics, produce and/or acquire digital content, oversee implementation, lead debrief meetings, manage paid media campaigns, track campaign results, and produce recap reports. This includes developing and implementing campaign strategies with message segmentation tailored to multiple audiences across multiple channels.
- Key messaging and content: Write key messaging for all campaigns that address target audiences and align with campaign goals/objectives. Contribute campaign content (including copywriting, photography, videography, or other assets) for implementation via social media, earned media, e-newsletters, website, blog, or other channels.
- Public relations: Interface with external consultant, providing internal traffic control for media opportunities and content for consultant to pitch.
- Stakeholder relations: Conduct small group presentations and one-on-one meetings with stakeholders to present and share information about campaigns and programs in a clear and professional manner.
- Special events: Interface with Events/Markets team to support attendance goals with communications strategy and event support as needed.
- Advocacy: Interface with Advocacy and Stakeholder Affairs Manager to advance advocacy pillars through public policy and stakeholder services.
- Brand standards: Contribute to maintaining the Explore Midtown, Midtown Love, Midtown Parks, Midtown Farmers Market and other sub-identity brands, ensuring that all items that are used internally and externally uphold these brand values and standards.
- Design: Work collaboratively with the Creative Manager to ensure creative design of assets through goal achievement, task completion, and high-quality production across all campaigns and communications.
- Management and Collaboration: Interface with other program managers to create content that tells the story of their programs to thread through communication channels. Provide daily supervision to contractors or forthcoming junior Communications staff.
- Other duties as assigned.