Senior Director, Media Relations

Senior Director, Communications 

College Board - Engagement and Reach 

This is a fully remote role. full-time position 

About the Team  

The Communications team is responsible for building and protecting the College Board reputation and overseeing organization's communications efforts, which are designed to increase educational access and opportunity for all students. We are a close knit, dedicated team with a track record of success in promoting the work of the College Board to a variety of audiences, including students, parents, educators, policymakers, the media, member organizations and staff. 

About the Opportunity   

You will serve as senior director for media relations, overseeing the organization’s engagement with external media including earned, owned, and paid opportunities. You play a key role in protecting the College Board’s reputation and telling our story through timely, proactive strategic communications.  

You will provide day-to-day leadership and manage a team of three media relations experts with a focus on coaching and skill development. You will develop and execute media strategies – at the national, state, and local levels – that highlight the value and positive impact of the SAT, Advanced Placement coursework, and BigFuture. This position is also responsible for managing media relations team’s relationship with its outside communications and media monitoring agencies.  

You will serve as deputy to the executive director of external communications and play an integral role on a team committed to broadening understanding of the College Board’s work, to highlighting its national leadership as a vibrant mission-driven non-profit, and to deepening public support for the organization’s various initiatives. This role will include a special focus on coaching the organization’s leaders on best practices for media engagement as well as participants in the College Board speakers bureau. 

Working with Communications leadership and the external communication team, you will meet ambitious goals that include securing extensive press coverage for the organization and its leadership, rapidly responding to crisis situations, and finding new ways and channels for telling our story. This position will report to the Executive Director, External Communications. 

In this role, you will: 

• Develop and execute robust, multi-faceted national and local media strategies that helps further the mission and aligns with state and national goals, including by: 

• Developing an editorial calendar that identifies inflection points and proactive outreach opportunities, including College Board announcements (such as new initiatives and partnerships), data and research reports, and the education lifecycle (such as SAT and AP Exam administrations and score reports); 

• Leading planning for certain high-profile media events and campaigns, including by identifying media to pitch, preparing leadership with talking points, and generating appropriate collateral material (press releases, media advisories, talking points, etc.) in a timely and organized manner. 

• Targeting and securing high profile media and public speaking opportunities for leadership, including newspaper and magazine profiles and Q&As, editorial board meetings, and TV and radio interviews; 

• Developing and placing opinion pieces from leadership and outside validators; 

• Leveraging relationships with journalists from media outlets that reach a variety of different key audiences – policymakers, students, parents, educators, advocates, etc. 

• Enact proactive and reactive media engagement, approving outgoing pitches, interview briefings, and strategies and language for responses to media inquiries.