Job Description

Job Description

Job Description

Salary:

Organization Overview

Nourishing Hope, formerly known as Lakeview Pantry, is a dynamic Chicago nonprofit providing food and social services for anyone in need. Founded in 1970, we’re one of the largest and longest operating hunger relief organizations in Chicago. We also provide free, trauma-informed mental health counseling and other social services, such as job and housing assistance. We strive to serve the needs of the whole person — with respect and dignity, always.

Nourishing Hope offers our neighbors nutritious food using a choice-based distribution model and access to life-changing social services including:

• Monthly food distribution and additional produce pickup through five different food access programs;
• Home delivery services for older adults, homebound neighbors and neighbors living with disabilities;
• Social services including case management, mental health counseling, job search support, domestic violence intervention, referrals and public benefits assistance (SNAP, healthcare, government forms) for anyone in need.

Nourishing Hope serves tens of thousands of people each year, providing more than 4 million meals through our programs, in addition to partnerships with other community organizations. This year, Nourishing Hope will provide about 200,000 food and social services to our Chicago neighbors.

Position Summary

The Director of Marketing & Communications is responsible for telling the powerful story of Nourishing Hope’s work and impact, across a wide variety of mediums and platforms, to an array of audiences, including clients, volunteers, donors, partners and staff. The Director of Marketing & Communications leads all external and internal communications, and strives to elevate the Nourishing Hope brand in a crowded market. Ultimately, the objectives of this position are to help raise funds and awareness for Nourishing Hope to help more people in need. 

Locations

This position reports out of Nourishing Hope Headquarters, 1716 W. Hubbard Street, Chicago and works across all sites.

Essential Job Functions

• Oversee, articulate and promote the Nourishing Hope brand. 
• Serve as the organization’s chief storyteller through gathering true stories of impact and rendering them in a compelling way to inspire action.
• Deliver a comprehensive marketing, communications and public relations strategy to enhance Nourishing Hope’s brand awareness and amplify its presence within the human service space and the city of Chicago.
• Design and lead the communications calendar for internal/external audiences, including online, social media and print communications. 
• Lead and execute the development of compelling organization communications/marketing materials to engage stakeholders.
• Oversee the evolution of Nourishing Hope blog, newsletters, website and social media accounts. Understand analytics and make recommendations to maximize user interaction and volunteer/donor conversion.
• Supervise the Marketing & Communications Manager.
• Provide design and content strategy for event marketing, including online fundraising campaigns.
• Develop and execute comprehensive media strategies to enhance Nourishing Hope's visibility. This includes sourcing stories, identifying media targets, developing press materials (press releases, media kits), and pitching to secure local and national media coverage.
• Lead external media relations efforts. This means both proactively pitching stories and responding nimbly to media requests. The director of marketing & communications will identify stories, build and maintain rapport with local journalists, and pitch to secure local and national media coverage. Track Nourishing Hope’s media coverage.
• Coordinate press events (press conferences, media tours, interviews), and create engaging content (press releases, op-eds, articles) to align with Nourishing Hope's mission and goals
• Serve as the organization’s lead writer for a vast array of communications, including op-eds, speeches, important announcements about programmatic changes, messaging for leadership team members, and more. 
• Produce and manage internal employee communications including CEO communications, HR messaging, various all staff communications including materials for all staff meetings. 
• Oversee the maintenance and updates of template materials (slide presentations, print materials, etc.) for the organization including meetings, board meetings, events and volunteer training. 
• Manage budget and RFP process for Marketing & Communications.
• Serve as a spokesperson and ambassador of the work of Nourishing Hope to the larger community; and lead efforts to build a strong bench of Nourishing Hope spokespeople throughout the organization, including the Leadership Team. 

Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s Degree. 
• A minimum of 7-10 years of work experience in one or more of the following areas: marketing, public relations, communications or journalism, with a range of online and written communications, including website maintenance, SEO, and social media.
• 5+ years of media relations experience
• A minimum of 3 years of management or leadership experience, including guiding and developing team members.
• Excellent writing, storytelling, and copyediting skills for a wide variety of audiences.
• Proficiency in AP Style.
• Strong interpersonal skills. 
• Ability to multitask and/or delegate.
• Ability to speak Spanish is preferred.
• Proficient in Google Workspace, Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Experience with Salesforce or similar CRM/donor software, Canva, Adobe Suite, and graphic design is a plus.
• High emotional intelligence with strong organizational and project management skills.
• Experience in building networks amongst stakeholders and supporters of a nonprofit or organization. 
• An understanding of, and belief in, the importance of food security and mental health access for everyone.

Background Check

Because we are a Medicaid provider all applicants who are offered employment with Nourishing Hope will be subject to a background screening. Offers of employment are contingent on the successful completion of a background screening conducted in accordance with Nourishing Hope policy and federal, state and local law.

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