Austin Achieve Public Schools is a tuition-free, open-enrollment public charter school district preparing Austin & Pflugerville youth to attend and excel at the nation’s top colleges and universities. The Communications Specialist works in close coordination with the Senior Director of Development to bridge the gap between our fundraising goals and our community impact. You will be responsible for crafting the visual identity of our campaigns, managing our digital presence, and capturing the human stories that make our mission possible.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Strategic Communications for Fund Development (40%)
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Communications Strategy: Create and execute an annual communications campaign for the Development Team—includes public-facing communications and direct-to-donor outreach. Build and manage an annual communications calendar.
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Visual Identity and Asset Design: Design high-quality logos, pitch decks, and digital assets for fundraising campaigns as needed.
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Deliverable Design: Produce print and digital deliverables (one-pagers, annual Impact Report, brochures) for the Development Team.
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Print Liaison: Serve as the Development Team’s primary point of contact for our printers. All Development print requests will pass through the Communications Specialist.
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Regular LinkedIn Management: Curate the AAPS LinkedIn page to engage corporate partners, community stakeholders, and high-net-worth donors.
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Social Media Expertise and Engagement: Be highly proficient in social media platforms, with a proven ability to create content that garners attention, builds interest, and drives engagement among diverse audiences, including donors, community members, and stakeholders.
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Passion for Mission and Effective Outreach: Demonstrate a genuine passion for Austin Achieve's mission, and authentically spread the word through compelling storytelling.
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Relationship Building and Community Insight: Actively build relationships with staff, families, scholars, and the broader community to deeply understand their needs, perspectives, and stories.
District-Based Support for Fact & Impact Communications (30%)
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Regular Website Management: Serve as the primary administrator for the AAPS website, ensuring content is fresh, SEO-optimized, and donor-friendly. (Upon starting in this role, a total website refresh will be needed, and from there regular maintenance will be needed.)
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Annual Impact Reporting: Lead the design and copywriting for the annual Impact Report, translating data into compelling narratives for stakeholders.
School-Based Support for Storytelling & Engagement (30%)
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Campus Engagement: Attend school-based events, activities, and celebrations to capture stories and high-quality photography of our programs in action.
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Athletics Coverage: Attend at least one game per sport per year to take high-quality photos to use throughout the year.
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Story Banking: Conduct interviews with students, teachers, and partners to build a "story bank" for use in newsletters and social media.
Skills & Qualifications
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Experience designing high-quality digital and print assets—such as logos, pitch decks, one-pagers, and annual reports—using design tools, and acting as a primary liaison with print vendors.
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Ability to attend campus events and athletic games to capture high-quality photography, conduct interviews with students and staff, and translate these elements into a "story bank" for donor and community engagement.
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Experience serving as a primary social media manager for a multi-faceted organization.
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Experience serving as a primary web administrator, with the technical ability to execute a total website refresh and manage ongoing maintenance to ensure the site is donor-friendly and optimized for search engines.
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Expert project manager with the ability to manage and prioritize multiple high-priority projects at one time and meet deadlines
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Passionate about education reform and the belief that every child can be successful
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Financial savvy and experience creating, managing, and staying within a budget
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Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills; ability to interface effectively with a variety of people
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Demonstrated strong attention to detail
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Excellent organizational skills
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A high degree of proficiency in computer applications, including Google Suite, Microsoft Suite, Adobe, Canva, fundraising/donation management software, and social media
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Ability to participate in occasional evening and weekend events
Required/Preferred Experience
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Bachelor’s degree required
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2+ years marketing/communications experience preferred
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Bilingual (English/Spanish) proficiency preferred
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Web development experience preferred
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Graphic design experience preferred
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Photography experience preferred
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This job can is in-person and is not eligible for remote or off-site work.
Statement of Non-Discrimination: In keeping with our beliefs and goals, no employee or applicant will face discrimination/harassment based on race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, age, gender, marital/domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, or veteran status. People of diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.
