Job Class: 0998 Senior Executive Director of Communications
Salary Range: $181,221.80 - $235,994.40/annually
Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt (what does this mean?)
Length of Appointment: Permanent Exempt, Full Time not to exceed three (3) years. This position is excluded by the Charter from competitive Civil Service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the appointing officer.
Calendar: Full Time / Full Year
Who We Are
The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is the seventh largest school district in California, serving more than 50,000 students who speak more than 44 documented languages across 121 schools in the city of San Francisco every year. We aim for every student who attends SFUSD schools to discover his or her spark, along with a strong sense of self and purpose, and that all students graduate from high school ready for college and career, and equipped with the skills, capacities and dispositions outlined in SFUSD’s Graduate Profile. Every day in our quest to achieve this mission we provide each and every student the quality instruction and equitable support required to thrive in the 21st century.
What It Means to Work Here
The SFUSD community is unified by our Core Values:
- Student-centered: We put students’ needs first
- Fearless: We persist through challenges
- United: We celebrate and build on each other’s strengths
- Social Justice: We stand with those most vulnerable in our community
- Diversity-driven: We respect and seek to understand each person
We are also inspired by Vision, Values and Guardrails which captures our aspirations and vision for the future of public education in San Francisco. Alongside the District’s strategic plan. SFUSD is reimagining how public education will change over the next decade to meet the dynamic future of San Francisco. As a CORE district, SFUSD is also a leader in critical systems change for more comprehensive school accountability and innovations that help strengthen the instructional core, which is the foundation of our strategic plan and goals.
Who We Want
We want talented people from diverse backgrounds and experiences, who are inspired by our mission, steeped in equity, and who are motivated to unleash our children’s potential. We want people who are strong collaborators, skilled communicators, and problem solvers who are comfortable in a community of continuous learning.
The Senior Executive Director of Communications plays a critical leadership role within SFUSD, building public confidence and leveraging public relations to further the mission of the District. Reporting directly to the Head of Staff, the Senior Executive Director of Communications leads communications, including media relations, crisis communications and oversight of the district’s public radio license, and coordinates marketing and public information efforts.
Essential Duties
The duties specified below are representative of the range of duties assigned to the job code/class and are not intended to be an inclusive or exhaustive list.
As the 0998 Senior Executive Director of Communications, you will:
Oversee and provide strategic direction to the Communications Department, ensuring coherent alignment in service of the District’s priorities and goals across all platforms- Advocate for the interests of SFUSD in public relations.
- Champion a “one-team” culture across the district, promoting connections across divisions and between central office and schools
- Proactively plan, develop, organize, and administer all aspects of the school District’s communications strategy, priorities, and day-to-day communications issues
- Ensure essential communications align with the District’s priorities and bring the District closer to its vision, including correspondence to SFUSD staff and families, proactive media placement, internal communications, websites, and support for the executive messaging
- Establish performance measures, monitor results, and partner with the Superintendent, Executive Leadership Team, and the SFUSD Board of Education to evaluate the effectiveness of SFUSD’s communications
- Partner across the District to lead the district-wide, strategic alignment of internal and external communications, exercising influence and positional authority to create coherence
- Build effective relationships with media representatives, serving as the District’s primary liaison to local, state and national media
- Exemplify and model the District’s core values, serving as an effective ambassador of the District to stakeholders and the public at large
- Supervise, evaluate and guide staff across divisions, building capacity and creating accountability towards meeting short and long-term goals
The strongest candidates will have:
Experience leading communications and/or external affairs divisions of a public school district or other public entity- The ability to create and drive organizational change that produces results
- Familiarity with San Francisco’s media landscape
- Knowledge and relationships with San Francisco’s educational, political, and school communities
- Personal and professional alignment with the mission and core values of SFUSD
- The ability to manage and synthesize information systems in large, complex, urban institutions for a diverse public audience
- Extraordinary commitment to measurable results and continuous improvement
- Exceptional communication skills, both written and oral (with individuals and groups, including large, high-stakes presentations)
- The ability to work effectively with racially and ethnically diverse staff, students, and communities, bringing groups together across differences towards common goals
Minimum Qualifications
Education & Experience
- Bachelor's degree in mass communications, education, public administration, business administration or related field; AND/OR
- Five (5) years of successful experience in public affairs, government relations, media relations, development or similar work involving community relations; OR
- An equivalent combination of education and experience providing the required skill and knowledge for successful performance.
What We Offer
SFUSD offers a competitive salary of $181,221.80 - $235,994.40/annually commensurate with experience in a similar position. We offer a comprehensive benefits plan including dental and vision plans, a defined benefit pension plan, disability, life insurance, flexible spending account options and vacation time. We also offer an inclusive and equity-centered environment where we encourage staff to bring their whole selves to work.
How to Apply
- Visit https://jobs.sfusd.edu/ and create a new account to begin your application.
- You will be prompted to electronically attach a letter of interest, resume, list of professional references
and any applicable credentials or licenses
- Our Human Resources team will then review your entire application to determine your eligibility status
and contact you directly should you move forward in the process
- Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from SFUSD and CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept SFUSD and CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfusd.edu, @sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).
Verification
Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at http://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements.
Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification from this and future job opportunities with the San Francisco Unified School District.
Nondiscrimination Statement and Grievance Procedures:
San Francisco Unified School District prohibits discrimination, harassment, intimidation, sexual harassment and bullying based on actual or perceived race, color, ancestry, nationality, national origin, immigration status, ethnic group identification, ethnicity, age, religion, pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy or lactation, including medical conditions or recovery, parental, marital, and family status, reproductive health decision making, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sex, sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military or veteran status, or genetic information, or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics, or any other basis protected by law or regulation, in its educational program(s) or employment.
Any person may report discrimination, including sex discrimination, sexual harassment, or discrimination on the basis of a physical or mental disability (whether or not the reporting person is alleged to be the victim of the discriminatory conduct) in person, by mail, by telephone, or by email, using the contact information for the District's Title IX Coordinator.
District Title IX Coordinator:
Eva Kellogg
Office of Equity
555 Franklin Street, 3rd Floor
San Francisco, CA, 94102
415-355-7334 or [email protected]
For more information and the District's nondiscrimination policy, please review Board Policy 4030. For more information about the District's Sexual Harassment policy, please review Board Policy 4034.
