Director, Fellow Communications

Title: Director, Fellow Communications

Team: Program Operations
Location: In-Person in Atlanta (GA), Chicago (IL), Newark (NJ)
Employment Type: Full-time
Start Date: ASAP

About Braven

Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising young people—many of whom are people of color, from low-income backgrounds, and the first in their families to attend college—to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program.

We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students followed by support that lasts through graduation.  

Together, we are helping to open up access to the American Promise, empowering a generation of leaders who mirror the diversity of our country.

To learn more, take a look at Braven’s Impact Report and Jobs Report.

About the Role

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Director, Fellow Communications to develop and manage an integrated communication strategy that ensures every one of our students (called Fellows) receive clear, engaging, and impactful messaging across all Braven programming to drive student engagement and success in our program.  As a member of the Program Operations team within the Product team, you will be responsible for creating and executing a holistic communication system that streamlines messaging to Fellows across multiple touchpoints, including onboarding, in-course updates, post-course programming and beyond. In addition, this person will drive Braven’s social media strategy for Fellows, ensuring that we build a stronger brand presence that attracts and engages students across digital platforms.

This role reports to, Vice President of Program Operations, and works cross-functionally with the broader Program Operations team, Design, Communications & Marketing, Systems & Data, and Regional teams.

What You’ll Do

Develop and Manage a Unified Fellow Communications System (60%)

• Create and execute a centralized communications system that delivers clear, engaging, and timely messages to Fellows from pre-course (Accelerator) onboarding through post-Accelerator engagement. Eventually this will also include an alumni strategy.
• Develop and maintain a single, reliable system for Fellow communications, coordinating cross-functionally to ensure smooth execution.
• Partner with regional teams, higher education partners and employer partners to localize and customize communications while maintaining message consistency.
• Establish tracking mechanisms to measure engagement, identify gaps, and continuously refine our approach to Fellow communications.
• Audit current communication flows by reviewing Fellow and Post-Accelerator Fellow inboxes and engagement data to assess information overload and recommend a strategy for streamlining messages.
• Determine the best format for communications—our online Platform (MyBraven), newsletters, text messages, emails, or alternative channels—and align messaging with student habits and preferences.
• Develop a differentiated communication strategy to design timely, relevant, targeted communications to Fellows.

Lead Braven’s Social Media Strategy for Fellows (30%)

• Work with Manager, Communications & Marketing to design and execute a social media engagement strategy in alignment with broader social media strategy that strengthens Braven’s brand presence among prospective, current, and post-Accelerator Fellows (and eventually alumni).
• Define regional vs. central social media strategies, ensuring cohesion while allowing for necessary customization.
• Audit current regional social media practices and provide guidance on improving relevancy, engagement, and brand consistency.
• Research and implement best practices from high-engagement student-focused accounts, ensuring Braven’s messaging is attention-grabbing and aligned with how students consume content.
• Collaborate with the Communications & Marketing Team to ensure alignment between external brand messaging and Fellow-specific content.

Lateral Leadership and Collaboration (10%)

• Lead org-wide change management efforts to ensure smooth adoption of new strategies and initiatives, build alignment across teams, addressing resistance and fostering a culture of adaptability and continuous improvement 
• Prepare to take on direct management responsibilities of interns as needed, and as the organization evolves and opportunities arise 
• Other duties as assigned

Minimum Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in communication strategy, marketing, program operations, or a related field.
• 2+ years of experience managing email marketing platforms (e.g. Campaign Monitor, Mailchimp or similar)
• Demonstrated ability to develop and manage multi-channel communication strategies with a student or customer-centered focus.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with higher education partners, student programs, or workforce development initiatives.
• Strong understanding of communication and social media engagement trends among college students and young professionals (Gen Z and Gen Alpha).
• Experience leveraging Salesforce or other CRM/email automation systems to streamline messaging and communications.
• Ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive alignment across national and regional stakeholders.
• Experience in project management, stakeholder coordination, and systems-building in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to track engagement and iterate based on data insights.
• A problem solver at the systems level, who is comfortable with ambiguity. You are able to thrive in the gray, while being excited about and able to convert that gray into black and white.
• You are ready to roll up your sleeves to get the work done that will propel Braven through the growth phase we are in. 
• You have a demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion. 
• You exemplify Braven’s core values. 
• Your experiences have informed your belief in Braven’s mission and have prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population. 

Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply. 

Work Demands 

• Ability to work in-person in Atlanta (GA), Chicago (IL), Newark (NJ), or New York City (NYC)
• Will be expected to travel approximately four weeks in the year 

Additional Requirements 

• Authorized to work in the U.S. 
• Must be fully vaccinated and have received the Booster vaccination against COVID-19 and provide proof of such by the date of hire. Individuals may claim exemption from the vaccine requirement for medical or religious reasons. Exempted individuals will be subject to weekly testing if they engage in any in-person work activities.

Application & Interview Process 

While the interview process may vary slightly, the general process will be: 

• Phone screen with Talent Team member 
• Performance Task 
• Interview with Hiring Manager 
• Panel Interview with Key Partners 
• Reference Checks 

Compensation and Benefits 

The salary for this position, which depends on prior work experience and our assessment of your demonstrated fit for the role, will likely be between $78,900-$98,600  in Atlanta, $83,000-$103,700  in Chicago, and $91,300-$114,100 in Newark . Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization, and take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking. You will have an opportunity to discuss salary in more detail after you begin the application process. 

Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include: 

• Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 19 days per year) 
• Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month 
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents 
• A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff 

Location 

We gather in the office 3 days per week (on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) and work remotely 2 days per week (although certain commitments might adjust that from time to time). Therefore, this role requires teammates to live within commuting distance of one of our hubs: Chicago, IL, or Atlanta, GA, Washington (DC), or Newark, NJ. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.

Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor. We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.