Senior Associate, Press & Social Media
ABOUT SIGHTLINE INSTITUTE
Founded in 1993, Sightline Institute is committed to making Cascadia—the region stretching from Alaska to northern California and from the Pacific to the Rocky Mountain states—a global model of sustainability, with strong communities, a just, green economy, and a healthy environment. In our programs on housing and urbanism, democracy and elections, climate and energy, and farms and forests, we identify and promote policy solutions that yield outsized improvements for the region’s people and places.
A nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research center, Sightline provides research and analysis, reports, articles, policy briefs, and commentary; books, maps, graphics, and tools; communications, framing, and messaging guidance; and news and research via targeted email newsletters. We advise, inform, and advocate to public officials, change makers, and the press, and we collaborate with diverse allies and (often) unconventional coalitions in pursuit of our mission. Sightline is among the largest and best-known public policy think tanks in the region, and we have an organization-wide commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Learn more at sightline.org.
Opportunity for Impact: Strategically expand Sightline’s reach
Sightline Institute’s Communications team supports all organizational policy and influence goals by packaging and delivering Sightline analysis and ideas in persuasive ways to target audiences via the right channels—and activating the most productive responses. Our priority audiences are policy champions, emerging leaders, journalists, and civically engaged Cascadians. Our communications strategies advance the priorities of each program area at their respective stages of agenda-setting, case-making, and direct policy influence.
As Sightline Institute grows and as 2024 approaches with major policy opportunities across all program areas, the Communications team seeks to elevate our press relationships and sharpen our social media channels. We are opening a permanent, full-time position to focus on these areas, with the guidance of fellow team members and with opportunities to grow in responsibilities and skills over time.
ABOUT THE POSITION
The Senior Associate, Press and Social Media, will collaborate with Sightline’s communications, campaigns, and research staff to connect our work to target audiences of regional and national press outlets, decision makers, and engaged Cascadians. With team coordination, they will monitor coverage of our topic areas for opportunities to pitch Sightline content, foster and support researchers’ relationships with relevant journalists, manage the organization’s press software (currently Cision), and track and report back on press placements and opportunities. On the social media front, they will craft and publish social media content, monitor trends and opportunities for Sightline expertise in social conversations, leverage connections to support press relationships, and track and report on key metrics, adjusting tactics accordingly.
The Senior Associate, Press and Social Media, will develop and follow routines and systems that contribute to a well-oiled communications machine, including prompt communication with colleagues across virtual platforms to ease coordination and inform strategies. In all external communications, they will maintain the quality and consistency of Sightline’s brand, credibility, and voice.
The Senior Associate, Press and Social Media, will report to a senior member of the Communications team, collaborating closely with the team and often with other staff as well. They will participate fully in the life of the organization, serving on committees and supporting projects as needed; participating in Sightline’s diversity, equity, and inclusion work; and contributing to the collaborative, virtual-first working environment. They will benefit from being part of a high-functioning cadre of other researchers, communicators, and advocates, supported by a well-run administrative and fundraising operation.
Ideal Candidate Skills/Experience
Sightline Institute is a think tank, and our influence depends on the depth and breadth of our researchers’ expertise, our credibility and accuracy, and our persuasiveness in presenting analysis and arguments. We aim to draw attention to and build support for data-backed solutions to specific public challenges through close engagement in policy debates.
For press, then, the work often consists not in serving as a spokesperson for the organization but in facilitating relationships between our researchers and journalists. On social media, it often means elevating researcher voices and paying close attention to detail in the language and figures we share in any given post. The successful candidate will be a strategic critical thinker who can systematically identify and proactively pursue timely opportunities to feature Sightline expertise. We are specifically interested in candidates who have:
2–4 years of experience in a communications-based or digital marketing role, including press and/or social media
Excellent writing skills, including a sharp eye for typos and a commitment to double-checking facts and figures
Initiative and motivation to execute work independently, in line with team plans and with continual, clear communication that eases coordination
Curiosity to follow and build on industry trends and best practices in press and social media strategy
Experience building diversity, equity, and inclusion priorities into communication strategies
Impeccable attention to detail
The ability and interest to learn complex new material quickly
Commitment to Sightline’s mission and values
Public policy, social justice, or climate sector familiarity a plus
At Sightline, we believe in mentoring talent and providing opportunities for growth. We look for the overall promise of the candidate to contribute to our mission over the long term. Therefore, if you feel you are under- or overqualified for the position as described or if you have relevant experience and transferrable skills different from those listed here and still feel you could be well suited to this role and a great addition to our team, please apply.
Location
This position is based in Cascadia (Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, or Washington), and we prefer candidates with existing experience and professional connections in the region. Candidates willing to relocate from elsewhere are welcome to apply, but we will not supply relocation expenses. Sightline is a virtual-first organization. We retain a small office in Seattle, but all staff members, including those who live in the Seattle area, work remotely across and beyond Cascadia.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
The salary range for the senior associate level is $58–67,000 (plus 10 percent retirement, as noted below). Sightline is committed to supporting team members along their career pathways by encouraging learning and professional development and providing mentoring and training. Employees can earn annual merit raises and periodic promotions.
We offer a robust package of benefits including a 401(k) plan with employer contribution of 10 percent of salary (added to—not subtracted from—pay so, for example, a $60,000 salary at Sightline is equivalent to a $66,000 salary at an organization that makes no employer contribution to retirement). Benefits also include full medical, dental, and vision insurance for the employee and partial coverage for dependents; a monthly remote-work stipend; regular staff gatherings for in-person connection; four weeks of paid vacation, ten paid holidays, and two weeks of paid sick leave per year; and a three-month paid sabbatical every seven years. Sightline’s staff members work hard but enjoy balanced lives and a collegial organizational culture.
HOW TO APPLY
Please send us a resume and cover letter detailing your interest in the role and how your skills and experience qualify you for it, including succinctly summarizing your experience advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in past roles. Please also include a short writing sample of which you are the sole author.
We request that you assemble all application materials in a single PDF, labeled with your name. Send everything to jobs@sightline.org. Please put “Sightline Senior Associate, Press and Social Media” as the subject line of the email. Please also tell us in your email where you learned about this position, as this information helps us streamline our recruiting processes. Applications that do not include at least a cover letter, resume, and writing sample will not be considered.
THE APPLICATION DEADLINE IS DECEMBER 18, 2023, and applications received by that date will be given priority, but we will accept applications until the position is filled. Interviews will take place in early January. We will likely invite finalists to complete a work assignment that is designed to test their skills in the specific functions required for the position. We anticipate extending an offer by late January.