Communications Specialist

Our vision is simple: 100% literacy for all. Located in historic Fountain Square and serving central Indiana, Indy Reads builds the literacy, English language, and job readiness skills to empower adults and families to reach their full potential. We advance our mission through our virtual and in-person Community Classrooms and our community bookstore, which serves as a retail space, community space, and extension of educational programming. This highly regarded, well-established nonprofit organization has more than 40 years of experience in adult education and community-building through literacy.

Our adult learners are at the heart of everything we do. Dedicated staff and volunteers work with native and non-native English speakers to strengthen their literacy and English language skills, earn their High School Equivalency diplomas, and acquire workforce certifications. With literacy and language education, our adult learners redefine their potential for success. They get new and better jobs, help their children with homework, and engage with society in new and deeper ways. Indy Reads advances social equity through education.

About the role

The full-time Communications Specialist will raise awareness of and promote Indy Reads’ mission, programs, and impact through storytelling that engages prospective and current students, partners, and donors. A significant part of the position involves producing creative content, including social media, newsletters, emails, and event and community recaps, that can be leveraged across Indy Reads’ communication channels. The Specialist plays a key role in centering and uplifting stories from our students, volunteers, community bookstore, and the organization, as content that brings the organization's impact to life.

This full-time position reports to the Chief Advancement Officer (CAO) and requires weekday (M-F 9am-5pm) availability and some evening and weekend availability. Work will occur primarily on-site at Indy Reads’ location. Hybrid work options and flexibility may be available.

Indy Reads is seeking a person in this role who is detail-oriented, has a love of DEIA-centered communication and storytelling, maintains professionalism, and demonstrates a high level of passion for the mission.

Responsibilities

• Manage Indy Reads’ brand and profile across social media platforms through strategically crafted content and engagement, coordinating social media needs with other staff.
• Collaborate with other departments to define monthly content priorities and support social media requests from other teams, stakeholders, and media outlets.
• Track and report on performance analytics across all digital platforms, using insights to grow audience and engagement.
• Support media relations efforts as needed with relevant staff collaborators.
• With the support of the CAO, develop and distribute content for newsletters, emails, blog posts, features, and other organizational communications.
• Support organizational and departmental communications and collateral (copywriting, copyediting, signage, etc.).
• Manage the Constant Contact platform (i.e., consistently updating subscriber lists) and integrate with Salesforce.
• Collaborate with team members to source and create graphic assets for general and campaign use.
• Listen to stories that organically emerge from students and volunteers and collect stories from various external stakeholders to create mission-driven content.
• Gather photos, quotes, and video with appropriate permissions and sensitivity to student privacy.
• Translate stories into polished content for use across social media, newsletter, and website channels.
• Maintain an organized library of stories and media assets for organizational use.
• Attend community and internal events and activities, for the purpose of content curation.
• Write and publish recap content across social media, newsletter, and website channels following events.
• Coordinate with program and bookstore staff to stay informed about and feature upcoming events and community engagement opportunities by creating flyers and updating public event calendars.
• Assist with maintaining Indy Reads’ website to ensure it best serves the organization’s needs and is up to date.
• Work with the website development contractor to flag and address design and technical updates as needed.
• Create, manage, and optimize Google Ads for the community bookstore and classroom programming.

Qualifications

• Basic photography, graphic design, and/or videography experience
• Proficiency with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Office Suite, Office 365, Asana, Slack, and other tools
• Proficiency with Canva, Adobe InDesign, Eventbrite, and basic CMS strongly preferred
• Basic social media management experience, including analytics reporting preferred
• Proficiency in a language other than English preferred
• Strong attention to detail and excellent writing skills
• Ability to work well as part of a team within a culturally diverse environment with people from all backgrounds and with varying degrees of experience and skills
• Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing
• Curious, open, and dedicated to participating in Indy Reads’ journey to advance DEIA
• Commitment to the mission of Indy Reads
• Demonstrated time management and efficiency skills; proven dependability
• Self-motivated and eager to learn and develop skills; entrepreneurial self-starter who enjoys creating and implementing new initiatives
• Honesty and integrity; manages confidential information with discretion and confidentiality
• A sense of humor

Benefits

• Competitive base salary of $45,000 – 50,000
• Health benefits
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Generous PTO/days off benefits including 2 Weeks of Wellness, 11 Company Holidays, and 20 days PTO

Schedule

Weekday (M-F 9am-5pm) availability with some evening and weekend availability required.