Job Description

About KIPP Texas

KIPP Texas Public Schools is a network of 57 public charter, open-enrollment, pre-k-12 schools educating nearly 34,000 students across Austin, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. Together with families and communities, our mission is to create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose - college, career, and beyond - so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.

Founded in Houston in 1994, and operating as KIPP Texas since 2018, our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism in our classrooms, in our offices, and in the communities we serve is unwavering. We are looking to hire a diverse team of dynamic, collaborative, and dedicated individuals with an unyielding belief that every child will succeed. Join our Team and Family and champion equity, chase excellence, persist with purpose, bring joy, and help us rise together.

KIPP Public Schools is a national network of public charter schools that prepares students with the skills and confidence to create the future they want for themselves, their communities, and us all. We are a network of 280 schools, nearly 15,000 educators, and 175,000 students and alumni.

Job Description

Opportunity:

Division Purpose: Chief of Staff Division exists to ensure the strategic clarity, stakeholder engagement, and external visibility of KIPP Texas in service of our 54 schools, 31,000 students, and over 5,000 employees.   Together, we serve as the connective tissue of the organization—aligning vision with execution, community with mission, and leadership with action—to advance and ensure educational excellence across the state of Texas.

Role Overview:

The Director of Communications will be a strategic leader responsible for developing, implementing, and overseeing all internal and external communication strategies for KIPP Texas. This role is critical in shaping and maintaining the organization's public image, managing media relations, building brand awareness, and ensuring consistent and effective messaging across all platforms for diverse internal and external audiences. The ideal candidate will be a seasoned communications professional with a strong track record of success in both external brand stewardship and internal stakeholder engagement within a growing organization. The Director of Communications will report to the Managing Director of Communications and Community Partnerships. 

This position may be based out of the Austin, Dallas, Houston, or San Antonio offices. Some travel may be required.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Communications Leadership & Planning:

  • Develop and execute comprehensive internal and external communication strategies aligned with KIPP Texas' yearly goals and milestones, organizational goals, and brand identity. 

  • Identify key messages and communication priorities for various internal and external stakeholders, including staff, parents, and students. 

  • Advise on internal communications to ensure timeliness, consistency, and scalability as KIPP’s employee population grows. 

  • Contribute to elevating and increasing brand awareness of KIPP Texas' high-performing public charter schools, student success, and commitment to its mission. 

• External Communications & Brand Management:

  • Steward KIPP’s brand locally, regionally, and nationally. 

  • Lead and manage the KIPP Texas external blog, including creating a yearly editorial calendar with a goal of publishing four blogs per month, managing editorial content for brand storytelling, and aiming for 1,000 monthly blog views. 

  • Drive KIPP Texas' social media efforts, including campaign creation and execution, setting yearly social media goals for channel growth (e.g., followership, engagement), and driving traffic and engagement to KIPP Texas pages. 

  • Lead social media reputation management, including daily monitoring of comments and messages, and proposing strategies to build and protect the brand. 

  • Provide guidance and resources to social media administrators across the network, including monthly newsletters and bi-weekly calls, to ensure content is optimized for communications objectives. 

• Media Relations & Public Relations:

  • Manage media relation efforts. 

  • Develop written materials such as press releases, media alerts, op-eds, and media pitches. 

  • Build relationships with key media contacts in assigned regions (Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio) and identify opportunities to proactively pitch brand, staff, and student stories. 

  • Provide media prep documents and meetings for KIPP team members prior to interviews. 

  • Monitor media calls, requests, and inquiries for all regions. 

  • Research media contacts for top-tier publications. 

  • Assist with crisis communications support and develop strategies and messages to build and protect the brand during crises. 

  • Distribute KIPP Texas Public Schools’ daily media report. 

  • Provide media recaps including the number, reach, and value of negative stories when needed. 

  • Answer emails sent to [email protected]. 

• Internal Communications:

  • Manage and distribute routine and critical information with key internal stakeholders, including staff, parents, and students. 

  • Serve as editor and content advisor for internal communications, ensuring communications are timely, consistent, and strategically framed. 

  • Support the development, implementation, and management of KIPP’s intranet site as the primary source for all internal communications. 

  • Develop and distribute all-staff emails from the CEO's voice and help lead two annual all-staff calls. 

  • Develop a robust internal communications strategy to build affiliation and pride among staff while consistently informing them. 

  • Manage and oversee national, regional, and campus-based family communications, providing resources, guidance, and training. 

  • Advise and train campuses on best practices and communications norms for tools like School Messenger, including sending centralized district-wide messages to families. 

• Team Leadership & Management:

  • Provide guidance to direct reports and manage team members to develop best-in-class programming.

  • Oversee external communications team members and provide guidance to social media administrators. 

  • Manage and coordinate multiple projects and tasks simultaneously. 

• Measurement & Reporting:

  • Track analytics to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of content across all KIPP Texas Social Media Channels. 

  • Provide digital reputation management guidance and reporting, along with frequent monitoring of messages and comments across channels.

In addition, other projects, workstreams, and priorities as assigned. 

Qualifications

Required

Qualifications

:

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree required, preferably with a Marketing, Communications, or Journalism emphasis. Master’s degree in an applicable field preferred. 

• Experience: 5+ years of full-time professional experience in a related communications role required. 2+ years of full-time people management experience preferred. 

• Communication Skills: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills in English, with a keen eye for detail and the ability to craft compelling narratives for internal and external audiences. Skilled in writing internal and external communications, messaging, and leveraging communications to build organizational culture. High level of interpersonal skills to handle sensitive and confidential situations and information.

• Technical Acumen: Competency and familiarity with various current and new technologies (e.g., collaboration platforms, video platforms) to support and enhance communication across dispersed teams and deliver key messages creatively. Social media fluency is essential. 

• Organizational Skills: High-level organizational and analytical skills. 

Desired Attributes:

• Strategic & Proactive: A self-starter and problem-solver who takes the lead, navigates challenges deftly, and adjusts approaches based on cultural environment and results to make a lasting impact. 

• Adaptable: Comfort level with uncertainty and enjoyment in continuous learning, experimentation, iteration, and improvement. A philosophy of best practices combined with adaptability to an ever-changing environment and diverse audiences. 

• Collaborative & Independent: Ability to work independently, including in a remote environment where co-workers are spread across Texas. 

• Communication Variety: Ability to communicate effectively with a wide variety of audiences. 

• Entrepreneurial Spirit: Commitment to finding new voices and stories. 

• Work Ethic: Strong work ethic coupled with critical thinking skills and an enthusiastic and passionate approach to the work. 

• Bilingual (Preferred): Spanish speaking/writing is preferred, but not required. 

Additional Information

Compensation & Benefits

As a full time KIPP Texas employee you are eligible to participate in all KIPP Texas’ benefit plans. KIPP Texas offers a robust variety of benefits choices with competitive rates, including medical, dental, and vision options, as well as life insurance and disability plans.

KIPP provides equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees. As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or disability.

Job Tags

Full time, Remote work,

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