VP of Strategic Communications

Constructive Dialogue Institute

VP of Strategic Communications driving national dialogue in higher education at Constructive Dialogue Institute. Establishing organizational credibility and audience growth through strategic communications efforts.

Posted 6/9/2026full-timeRemote • New York • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $175,000 - $195,000 per yearWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Lead CDI's communications strategy and narrative
Set the annual communications and thought leadership strategy, defining editorial priorities and narrative direction in service of CDI's mission and earned revenue goals.
Serve as a trusted communications advisor to the Executive Director and Chief Growth Officer, helping assess trade-offs, evaluate reputational risk, and align leadership on key messaging decisions before work advances.
Own CDI's messaging guide and narrative framework, ensuring consistent, politically grounded communication across all external channels.
Monitor CDI's reputational landscape — including dynamics around partners, founders, and key stakeholders — alongside political, cultural, and higher education trends, to proactively identify risks and opportunities and advise leadership.
Lead CDI's executive visibility program, building the Executive Director and other key CDI figures' profiles through op-eds, podcast appearances, conference keynotes, and media placements, and preparing and coaching the Executive Director for public appearances and interviews.
Partner with CDI's thought-leadership bench (across the Research, Education, Culture Change teams) to translate research findings into media-ready narratives and public-facing content.
Drive proactive media outreach to national, higher education, and mission-aligned press; build and maintain relationships with journalists, editors, and influencers.
Lead rapid response and crisis communications, managing reputational risk with speed and sound judgment.
Provide editorial leadership for CDI's higher education newsletter and blog; manage the Communications & Content Manager to maintain publishing cadence and quality.
Own organic social strategy (brand, executive, and thought-leadership content), with the Communications & Content Manager executing the unified calendar.
Support CDI's broader external relationships — including with funders, board members, and senior institutional partners — by ensuring CDI's communications reflect the organization's impact, credibility, and strategic direction.
Build and lead the communications team.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Senior communications leader: 10–12 years of experience in strategic communications, or PR, with demonstrated success building organizational reputation and growing audiences in complex, politically sensitive environments.
Media relationships: Established connections across national, higher education, and mission-aligned press; track record of securing high-quality placements.
Exceptional judgment: Deep instinct for when to engage — CDI's credibility depends on nonpartisan restraint as much as visibility.
Strong writer and editor: Track record producing or overseeing high-quality long-form thought leadership and executive communications.
Hands-on operator: Comfortable executing with speed, rigor, and attention to detail while building for scale; in a small organization, VP-level execution and follow-through are as important as vision.
Builder mindset: Experience establishing or significantly evolving a communications function, including processes, standards, and team structure; experience managing people in a startup or scaling organization.
Cross-functional collaborator: Proven ability to coordinate editorial and campaign work across research, marketing, and partnerships teams, and to align leadership before advancing work.
Mission-aligned: Deeply motivated by CDI's mission, with the political awareness to communicate constructively and credibly across ideological lines. Familiarity with the higher education landscape strongly preferred.

Benefits

Comp & perks

A Mission-Driven Culture — our work culture genuinely reflects our mission, characterized by intellectual humility, continuous improvement, and open-mindedness
Remote-First — CDI was founded as a remote-first organization, and we work hard to maintain a strong team culture across vast distances
Unlimited PTO — As well as 13 company holidays
Other Benefits — Employer-supported health, vision, and dental plans, subsidized parental leave, 3% 401(k) match, short- and long-term disability insurance, life and AD&D insurance, and a $1,000 annual professional development budget.

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

strategic communicationspublic relationsmedia outreacheditorial leadershipcrisis communicationscontent managementthought leadershipwritingeditingnarrative development

Soft Skills

judgmentcollaborationleadershipattention to detailcommunicationpolitical awarenessrelationship buildingadaptabilitystrategic thinkingexecution