Director of External Affairs

The Society of Family Planning advances a vision of just and equitable abortion and contraception, informed by science. By leveraging the powerful tools of science and medicine, we aim to ensure that abortion and contraception practices and policies are grounded in science and center people whose access to care is constrained by systems of oppression, and that all people have access to evidence-informed and person-centered abortion and contraception. To achieve our vision and desired impacts, we focus on the following strategies, as described in our 2023-2028 strategic plan:

• Convening a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and multidisciplinary community of all engaged in the science and medicine of abortion and contraception
• Supporting the production and resourcing of research primed for impact
• Organizing and leveraging research primed for impact
• Ensuring clinical care is evidence-informed and person-centered through guidance, medical education, and other activities
• Developing and supporting leaders in abortion and contraception to transform healthcare systems, and
• Aligning the organization’s governance, operations, and overall resources to be in service of the strategies designed to bring our collective vision to life.

Role description

We seek a service-oriented, adaptive leader to advance our organizational capacity to transform healthcare systems through public affairs and communications activities; as well as our members’ capacity to transform healthcare systems through public affairs and communications activities. This position is open to candidates living in the US. It is anticipated that the person in this position will travel approximately 20% of the time for meetings with staff, meetings with partners, and to support our Annual Meeting. This position reports to the Executive Director.

Specific responsibilities

Activities include, but are not limited to, those described below.

Direct the Society’s public affairs programming — 50%

• Proactively assess, maintain, and communicate an acute understanding of public affairs challenges and opportunities within the family planning and academic medicine landscape.
• Develop forward-thinking and adaptive solutions to leverage the Society platform to support institutions of science and medicine to take a person-centered and evidence-informed approach to abortion and contraception.
• Provide expert counsel on the Society’s stance and advocacy priorities, crafting persuasive content for internal and external audiences that resonates with our strategic plan and DEI Vision.
• Develop and oversee activities for engaging members to collectively transform healthcare systems.
• Develop and oversee program plans, budgets, and timelines that align with the Society’s strategic plan and DEI vision.
• Cultivate and nurture relationships with partners throughout the family planning field, advocating for policies and initiatives that advance the Society’s strategic plan and DEI Vision.
• Participate in coalitions, advocating for policies and initiatives that advance the Society’s strategic plan and DEI Vision.
• Lead the identification, prioritization, development, and review of Position Statements, effectively coordinating them with supporting activities across the organization to maximize collective impact.
• Lead all aspects of a to-be-developed Public Affairs Committee.
• Serve as an ambassador for the Society at meetings and events, representing our strategic plan, DEI Vision, and public affairs priorities.
• Lead fundraising efforts to support this work, in partnership with the Executive Director.

Direct the Society’s communications programming — 40%

• Direct a communications program plan that advances the organization's and our members’ capacity to collectively advance our vision.
• Establish the Society as both the source and voice for abortion and contraception science.
• Direct and oversee vendors, consultants, and staff related focused on communications.
• Coordinate the creation and distribution of regular newsletters and social media posts, highlighting key activities and positions, upcoming events, and relevant Society news.
• Oversee and manage all aspects of the organization’s website, partnering with consultants and staff, to oversee regular updates, content creation, and maintenance to ensure accuracy and relevance.
• Enhance and internally promote key organizational communications supports such as style guidelines, when to use organizational templates, and the communications calendar.
• Ensure all communication materials are accurate, consistent, and aligned with the organization’s branding and messaging guidelines.
• Develop and oversee organizational communications such as annual reports.
• Develop and maintain crisis communication plans to address potential challenges or crises related to the organization’s work, including media inquiries and public statements.
• Respond to, or coordinate responses to media inquiries on behalf of the organization, staff, board members, and Society members.
• Provide guidance on communications supports for fundraising.

Serve as an internal leader and shaper of culture — 10%

• Contribute to a culture of accountability, learning, transparency, engagement, and camaraderie, within a remote environment.
• Supervise staff through one-to-ones, stretch assignments, and effective and ongoing feedback.
• Facilitate cross-team and cross-staff collaboration within the Society.
• Contribute to implementing our Annual Meeting.
• Bring a learner’s mindset to all work, and look for opportunities to identify which activities were most impactful and most used, and what strategies would improve impact and use.

Qualifications

Highly-qualified applicants will meet many of the qualifications below, and have clarity on areas where growth and support would be helpful to fulfilling the essential functions of the role.

• Proven experience in abortion and contraception-related public affairs, advocacy, and/or communications, with at least three years working independently at a director-level role, preferably at a membership organization
• Palpable enthusiasm for leveraging the tools of science and medicine, and insight into the role clinicians, scholars, subspecialities, and scientific societies play in shaping science and medicine
• Three or more years of experience inspiring and motivating teams to set and be accountable to goals
• Ingrained practice of seeking and recognizing the wisdom of divergent perspectives
• Adept at making and communicating difficult decisions with empathy and clarity
• Track record of taking a concept from ideation to implementation, all while anticipating likely challenges, mitigating unanticipated challenges, and building community will
• Self-aware and responsiveness to one’s own learning edges; able to acknowledge and learn from mistakes
• Exemplary interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills
• Experience as a skilled communicator and spokesperson
• High level of computer literacy, including confidence using (or learning to use) Microsoft and Google suite, Asana, Box, Slack, and other digital tools
• Willingness to pitch in as needed as we are a small nonprofit and everyone contributes to necessary administrative work
• Commitment to the Society’s vision, mission, and programs
• Experience with fundraising through the development of partnerships with philanthropy, industry, individual donors, or other sources of revenue generation helpful, but not required

Salary and benefits

The salary range for this position is $120,000-150,000. The benefits package is:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance (100% individual premium covered)
• Short and long-term disability
• Life insurance
• 24 days a year of paid time off, which increase with tenure
• 13 paid holidays
• Abbreviated Friday schedule in July
• At least four weeks of fully paid family leave and six weeks of partially paid family leave
• 401K plan with up to 3.5% employer matching contribution
• $1,500/year professional development funds
• $300 remote work stipend at hire
• $150 remote work stipend after the first year
• $100/year for expedited travel clearance programs
• Up to $50 monthly internet reimbursement
• Medical FSA and dependent care FSA

Application process

Interested candidates should upload a resume or CV and statement of interest here. In the statement of interest, we ask candidates to eschew the traditional cover letter format and instead answer the following in one page:

• A proposal has been put in place to reform the NIH. What recommendations do you have for how, if at all, the Society should respond to this proposal?
• Imagine you represent the advocacy arm of the Complex Family Planning subspeciality, and only have capacity to develop partnerships with one organization in the field of medicine. Which partner do you prioritize, and why?
• Please name one of your pet peeves in organizational communications, and the approach you take instead.

Application materials should be submitted in one PDF here by August 23, 2024. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications as early as possible and will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Informational interviews or advance discussion via email are not offered to ensure equity in the application process.