STEM Opportunities in Prison Settings Communications Manager (Part-Time)

Company Description

EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER (EDC)

EDC is one of the world’s leading nonprofit research and development firms.  EDC designs, implements, and evaluates programs to improve education, health, and economic opportunity worldwide. Collaborating with both public and private partners, we strive for a world where all people are empowered to live healthy, productive lives.

EDC’s approach to equity, diversity, and inclusion is grounded in EDC’s commitment to respect the dignity of each individual. EDC has a commitment to promoting equity and access to high quality education and health services that contribute to thriving communities where people from diverse backgrounds learn, live, and work together. EDC expresses its commitment to increasing equity through its strategies, services and products, which contribute to building capacity and transforming lives.

Job Description

The STEM Opportunities in Prison Settings (STEM-OPS) project is seeking a candidate to fill the part-time position of the STEM-OPS Communications Manager. STEM-OPS is beginning the fifth year of a five-year (with two potential renewal years) cooperative agreement funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The vision of STEM-OPS is that all persons impacted by the carceral system are able, and encouraged, to pursue a culturally responsive and equitable high-quality STEM education and career. STEM-OPS is an NSF INCLUDES Alliance collaboratively led by Education Development Center (EDC), Operation Restoration, Prison to Professionals, the Princeton University Prison Teaching Initiative, and the Initiative for Race Research and Justice at Vanderbilt University. STEM-OPS is engaged in multiple strategies to accomplish its mission, including the development of tools and resources that will be broadly shared, research activities to understand barriers and inform strategy, and publications to create counter-narratives to promote the possibility of STEM success for people who have been directly impacted.

As the head of our backbone communications team and the STEM-OPS Communications Subcommittee, the STEM-OPS Communications Manager is responsible for managing STEM-OPS communications to external audiences through our website and social media, including coordinating the publishing of blog posts and podcast episodes and uploading new website content on a regular basis.

This is a part-time, remote position working an anticipated 10 hours per week. The ideal candidate has a strong interest in the vision of the project, brings deep knowledge of the carceral system and has been impacted themselves.

Working with communications and program staff, you will:

• Collaborate closely with various STEM-OPS partners and backbone team members, and with the director of the Executive Committee, in the creation and execution of external (including social media) and internal communications strategies
• Create engaging and relevant content for social media platforms (such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Glue Up—the project’s community discussion board) to attract and retain followers
• Collect from STEM-OPS colleagues, obtain from partners, or independently create new content for the website, including new podcast episodes, blog posts, events and opportunities, updated partner bios, and member spotlights; upload new content to the website
• Monitor and analyze social media and website metrics to track performance and make data-driven strategy improvements in collaboration with the Communications subcommittee, and share these, along with proposed implications, to the backbone team and the STEM-OPS Executive Committee
• Coordinate with the Glue Up app manager to receive regular data updates to contribute to communications strategy development and implementation, and for purposeful requests for Glue Up enhancements
• Schedule, coordinate, and run monthly Communications Subcommittee meetings

Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent related experience

Skills & Experience:

• 5 years of experience working in a communications and social media environment 
• Proven experience as a social media manager and SEO specialist
• Proficiency in social media management platforms, such as Hootsuite, and SEO tools, such as Yoast
• Solid understanding of social media trends, algorithms, and analytics
• Knowledge of on-page and off-page SEO optimization techniques
• Proven website management experience
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, and ability to create engaging content

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Prior experience in website design and/or graphic design 
• WordPress experience 
• Experience supervisin