Vice President, “The Lab,” a health equity initiative

Vice President, “The Lab,” a health equity initiative
The Opportunity Agenda

Status:     Full-time, exempt employee
Reports to:    VP of Program Strategy and Impact
Location:     Remote, residency in the Mid-Atlantic region preferred
Deadline:     Resume reviews begin immediately. Best considered by mid-March.

About The Opportunity Agenda
Founded in 2006, The Opportunity Agenda (TOA) is a community dedicated to building narrative and cultural power to move our nation toward a vision of justice, equity, and opportunity for all. TOA provides expertise, knowledge, resources, and collaborative spaces for strategists, communicators, creators, and allies throughout the social justice sector to create and propagate narratives that support equity, justice, opportunity, inclusion, and belonging.

Through experiential learning, trainings, fellowships, communities of practice and more, TOA builds the public imagination and cultural will to challenge white supremacy and its pervasive impact, works in community to overcome opposition narratives that exclude and divide us, and advances narratives that support opportunity for all. Visit the website to learn more about TOA.

Position Summary
TOA seeks an experienced senior communications professional to lead the initiation of a new communications campaign operation that will elevate the work of nonprofits and advocacy organizations to advance a positive national narrative around health equity. TOA is hosting the initiative in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The purpose of the initiative is to:

1. Educate key audiences about the meaning and benefits of racial health equity; and
2. Aggressively fight misconceptions and disinformation related to health equity.

With responsibility for building the campaign operation from the ground up, the VP will be an innovative and visionary change-maker. They should demonstrate a capability of leading within a start-up and/or campaign-style environment, where ideas are executed thoughtfully yet quickly and coalition-building and calculated action are prioritized. They will be an effective advocate about the importance of health equity, and build new campaigns and thought leadership to advance the visibility of health equity nationally.

This role values intentionally listening to learn while engaging and supporting partners and communities of color. The VP will bring experience working on, or a strong understanding of, issues affecting Black and brown people. They will be familiar with systems of racial bias and discrimination, and strongly committed to building positive narratives that advance equity.

The ideal candidate will be a recognized leader within communications, campaigns, and/or advocacy. They will possess a highly sophisticated understanding of the communications landscape and narrative-shifting strategies and practices, specifically the way the current media ecosystem operates and shapes attitudes, along with the way research feeds into public discourse. The role requires outstanding and creative written, oral, and presentation skills.

As a leader in a start-up environment, this person will have experience achieving impact by setting measurable goals, assessing progress to those goals, and pivoting tactics as needed. Thus, strategy development and execution are crucial skills. Professional experience in the health equity field is a bonus but is not required.

The VP will build and lead a diverse team of expert staff and consultants to advance the work of the initiative, including identifying, recruiting, and supervising full-time staff positions, such as a lead for partnership collaboration and a lead for training and technical assistance. Collaborating with their team, the VP will create programs and work closely with health-, race-, and equity- focused organizations, in order to provide partners with effective communications support.

The VP’s duties will develop as the initiative forms. Broadly speaking, responsibilities fall into the categories of:

• Strategy Development & Execution
• Program Building
• Partner Organization Support
• Team Development and Project Leadership

Additional key responsibilities of the position include:

Strategy, Vision, and Leadership

• Establish and expand the initiative’s influence and reach as a leader in health equity communications in collaboration with partner organizations.
• Drive the initiative’s operations by setting annual goals, budgets, and metrics.
• Provide visionary leadership for the initiative’s diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies.
• Establish collaborations and working relationships with a range of key field partners, funders, and other stakeholders.
• Serve as principal spokesperson, representing the initiative and its interests to field partners, funders, and various publics.

Organizational Management 

• Oversee operations including finance, research, fundraising, and partner engagement.
• Ensure structures, policies, and programs advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Direct an effective team that consistently delivers high-quality communications impact.
• In partnership with the senior management team, set annual financial goals; diversify and grow revenue via charitable contributions, events, and services.

Revenue Development

• Direct strategies that cultivate additional support through campaigns, proposals, events, and sponsorships, including by soliciting long-term corporate partnerships.
• In partnership with TOA staff, work with funders to ensure grant proposals and reports reflect the initiative’s unique value and vision.

The VP will supervise a team of 2 staff directly and various consultants and contractors. The position reports to TOA’s Vice President of Program Strategy and Impact, receives administrative support from the TOA staff, and will work closely with major funders.

Expected Competencies

• Outstanding understanding of communications, writ large. Sophisticated expertise in creating the kind of stories reporters, editors and producers need, the role social media plays in promoting an issue or story, the way D.C. insiders talk, and the symbiosis of it all.
• Strategy development. Demonstrated ability to build comprehensive strategies, set measurable goals, map tactics to those goals and analyze data in order to measure progress and shift tactics when necessary.
• Creativity in harnessing the power of compelling research. Designs research and polling projects with an eye toward the effect it will have on key audiences, including media, influencers and partners.
• Impeccable communication skills. Ability and openness to effectively communicate with demographically diverse audiences across the ideological spectrum.
• Message development and storytelling. Must understand the power of strong, effective narrative and the ways to convey it in words, images and video.
• Collaboration. Political sophistication and social sensitivity in building successful partnerships and collaborations.
• Creativity. Displays and encourages creativity and innovation to drive progress; is comfortable taking calculated risks.
• Decision Making. Takes a reasoned, logical approach to make sound judgments and decisions; carefully reviews facts, input, and information before reaching any conclusion.
• Humility. A willingness to work behind the scenes and put other groups and individuals in the spotlight in order to have a meaningful impact.

Desired Knowledge, Qualifications & Skills

• Understanding of methods of policy, political, and power landscape.
• Fluency in messaging that moves diverse audiences and shifts the national narrative around race and equity.
• Expert and strategic problem-solving skills; demonstrated conflict resolution experience.
• Knowledge of, and experience developing partnerships within, advocacy and nonprofit sectors. Existing relationships with health and racial equity organizations is a plus.
• Superior supervisory and talent development skills, including demonstrated ability to hire, motivate, manage, and develop staff to establish and achieve goals.
• Capable of working within collaborative cross-organizational structures.
• Demonstrated written and verbal ability to communicate effectively to diverse audiences, including community partners, policymakers, advocates, and public media; ability to make clear and impactful presentations to a range of key audiences and stakeholders.
• Record of overseeing, planning and executing finances and budgets.

Minimum Education & Experience 

• An undergraduate degree or equivalent practical experience.
• Demonstrated personal and professional commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• A minimum of seven years as a senior communications professional, campaign manager or equivalent position.
• A commitment to and experience with working with advocacy leaders on national, state and local levels.
• Proven track record of achieving results in a fast-moving environment.
• A documented history of leading program design, planning and implementation.
• A minimum of three years supervising people and/or teams.

Location & Travel
TOA is headquartered in New York City. While most staff work remotely, occasional travel to the office and in-person staff retreats makes residency in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions preferred. The VP should plan to allocate approximately 20 percent of their time to travel for conferences, events, and donor meetings.

Compensation
Starting salary of $200,000, plus benefits such as performance-based bonuses, health, dental, and vision insurance, a retirement plan, paid time off, and paid parental leave.

Application Process
TOA is conducting this search in partnership with Good Insight, a national executive search firm serving the nonprofit sector. Interested applicants should upload a resume and a detailed cover letter to www.good-insight.org/careers.

Resume reviews begin immediately. For best consideration, please apply by March 15, 2024. Early applications are encouraged due to the pace of the search. Please direct confidential inquiries to Carlyn Madden at TOA@good-insight.org.

Equal Opportunity Employer
TOA is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.