Director, Marketing & Communication

Illinois Action for Children

Illinois Action for Children is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization dedicated to quality, accessible early learning and care opportunities for children. With nearly 600 employees representing more than 20 programs and service across four sites, we have championed the cause of quality child care and early education for families and children throughout Illinois for over 50 years.

Illinois Action for Children is a state and national leader in the early care and education community, distinguished by its "Strong Families, Powerful Communities"​ approach to child development, preschool education and other family and community supports.

This broad approach to supporting children by supporting families is a proven and effective means to address overarching issues of endemic poverty, which are the root cause of the educational failure of America's poorest children.

Illinois Action for Children's outreach and work with low-income, hard-to-reach families, has led us to research and implement highly effective and innovative programs and advocacy to ensure that early care and education, and other opportunities, are accessible to the children most in need. Highlights from our programs include:

  • Public Policy & Advocacy organizing to expand access to child care and early education, and other supports.
  • Early Learning Programs to make early education available to young children so they will be ready to succeed when they start school.
  • Resource and Referral Program to connect child care providers, parents, and employers with resources such as child care referrals, professional development, health services and community supports.

Our mission is to be a catalyst for organizing, developing and supporting strong families and powerful communities where children matter most.

https://www.actforchildren.org/


Position Details

Director, Marketing & Communication
Job
Full-time
Office/WFH
100% remote
4/1/2025
Chicago Illinois
Chicago, IL

Under the direction of the SVP, Organizational Advancement, the Director of Marketing & Communications is responsible for developing and guiding strategies for all external and internal branding, communications and marketing activities. 

The Director of Marketing & Communications is responsible for the day-to-day management of marketing and communication staff responsible for creative marketing brand management, digital marketing, media and social media outreach, strategic content, and leadership communications.  The Director of Marketing & Communications is responsible for setting and executing the strategy for all external communications and brand identity to enhance and strengthen IAFC’s positioning and impact. The Director works closely with a senior management group within the organization as a communications partner on program and organization-wide strategic initiatives.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: 

  1. Develop, implement and refine effective marketing communications strategies that to achieve key program and organizational objectives 
  2. Identify key opportunities to build positive brand awareness and broad recognition for IAFC.  
  3. Collaborate with IT on the implementation of communication management systems and procedures: email management, reporting and analytics, zoom, Microsoft team etc.
  4. Provide program and senior team leaders with marketing counsel, communications solutions, and seeks opportunities for partnership and cross promotion, both internally and externally.
  5. Manage and oversee planning and execution of Marketing communications budgets. This includes marketing budget development, for programs and organization-wide initiatives.
  6. Direct and oversee the design of marketing collateral to ensure consistent and effective brand identity to ensure consistency in messaging internally and externally. This includes: research reports, invitations, signage and brochure design, etc.
  7. Prepare constituent communications, key messages, and ad copy.
  8. Monitor all internal and external communication channels to ensure consistency of brand representation.
  9. Provide direction on managing intranet and website functionality, collaborating with IT and other departments.
  10. In collaboration with the SVP, identify media relations strategies to raise awareness of IAFC programs and impact. 
  11. Submit quarterly reports to as required:  Marketing Report for quarterly board meetings, BSC quarterly marketing update.
  12. Oversee external consultants for Marketing and Communications, ensuring they meet the scope of work and contract deliverables.
  13. Collaborate with the Director of Philanthropy on fundraising marketing messaging to increase both the number of individual donors and the total donations.
  14. Provide supervision and management coordination for projects, as required, in collaboration with the SVP of Organizational Advancement.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

  • Responsible for planning, assigning, directing, and coordinating the department's work. 
  • Perform employee performance evaluations.

Supervises staff: 

  • Assistant Director, Strategic Content & Communications
  • Assistant Director, Digital Marketing and Graphic Design
  • Marketing and Communications Manager
  • Communications and Media Outreach Manager

Skills/Equipment Use:

  • Knowledge and use of the following preferred: photo shop, illustrator, InDesign, 
  • Microsoft Office 365 Suite
  • Mail Chimp
  • Adobe Acrobat Professional/Creative Cloud
  • Canva
  • Smartsheet
  • Asana
  • Constituent Relationship Management Software (Salesforce)

Education and/or Experience: 

  • Bachelor’s degree OR four to ten years’ related experience and/or training. Master’s degree preferred.

Salary Range:$93,700.00 To $105,000.00 Annually.



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