Director of Communications

Leads the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona's external communications, media relations, public messaging, and organizational storytelling across its five-county service area. This role strengthens how the Food Bank communicates its mission, impact, strategic direction, advocacy priorities, fundraising case, and role in building a stronger and more resilient regional food system.

Responsibilities

• External Communications Strategy and Organizational Alignment
  • Develop and implement an integrated external communications strategy aligned with CFB's strategic plan to strengthen public understanding of CFB's mission, impact, programs, advocacy work, fundraising priorities, and food systems role.
  • Evolve CFB's public narrative to communicate the broader story of food access, community resilience, health, equity, and the root causes of hunger.
  • Partner with executive leadership and department leaders to establish organizational messaging priorities, annual communications plans, editorial calendars, and clear approval processes.
  • Translate strategic initiatives, program outcomes, evaluation findings, and operational changes into plain-language communications for donors, partners, neighbors, policymakers, volunteers, media, and the general public.
  • Develop and maintain organizational messaging, talking points, and tools to support consistent communications across departments and counties.
  • Establish and monitor key performance indicators related to media coverage, message reach, audience engagement, storytelling, public awareness, and communications effectiveness.
• Media Relations
  • Lead proactive and responsive media relations across national, regional, and local levels in CFB’s five-county service area (Pima, Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, and Santa Cruz), cultivating relationships with reporters, editors, producers, and community media partners.
  • Identify media opportunities to elevate CFB's programs, community needs, advocacy priorities, donor investments, partnerships, and measurable impact.
  • Coordinate media inquiries, interviews, press releases, media advisories, background materials, crisis statements, and follow-up; maintain a timely and accurate response process.
  • Serve as an organizational spokesperson and prepare, coach, and support leaders and subject matter experts for interviews and public appearances.
  • Monitor media coverage, public discourse, emerging issues, and misinformation related to hunger, food insecurity, public benefits, nonprofit services, and food systems; recommend timely responses.
• Storytelling and Community Voice
  • Lead CFB's storytelling strategy and build a sustainable story-gathering process reflecting the experiences of neighbors, partners, volunteers, donors, staff, and communities throughout the service area.
  • Develop, facilitate, and train a cross-functional staff storytelling committee to identify story opportunities, strengthen interviewing and writing practices, and maintain an accessible story bank.
  • Establish ethical standards and procedures for informed consent, privacy, dignity, compensation, or recognition when appropriate for people sharing lived experiences.
  • Produce or oversee high-quality written, digital, visual, and multimedia content for media, web, social channels, reports, presentations, donor communications, campaigns, and community education.
• Advocacy, Food Systems, and Public Education
  • Partner with Policy, Community Impact, and Program teams to communicate how public policy, public benefits, local food systems, health, and community investment affect food insecurity in Southern Arizona.
  • Translate advocacy priorities into accessible, accurate, and nonpartisan language to support public understanding and appropriate action.
  • Develop communications for advocacy campaigns, community education, partner briefings, calls to action, and policy-related events.
  • Prepare talking points, fact sheets, public statements, op-eds, presentations, social media content, and other materials explaining the local impact of policy decisions and systems-level solutions.
• Leadership, Training, and Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Train staff and leadership on media protocols, storytelling practices, message discipline, public speaking, crisis communications, and appropriate external communications.
  • Build strong working relationships across CFB departments and locations to ensure communications reflect program expertise, operational realities, community needs, and organizational priorities.
  • Lead or support crisis and emergency communications, including rapid coordination, message development, approval, and dissemination across appropriate channels.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Minimum Qualifications
  • Eight or more years of progressively responsible experience in communications, public relations, journalism, marketing, community relations, nonprofit communications, or a related field.
  • Bachelor's degree in communications, public relations, journalism, marketing, public affairs, or a related field.
  • Demonstrated experience managing media relations and producing high-quality communications for varied public audiences.
  • Intermediate proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, SharePoint) and Adobe Suite. Familiarity with digital communications and content-management tools.
  • Valid Arizona Driver's License with a clean driving record; ability to travel to CFB locations in the five-county service area, regionally, and nationally.
• Preferred Qualifications
  • Master's degree in communications, public relations, public health, public administration, journalism, marketing, or a related field.
  • Experience working in or with a nonprofit, food bank, public health organization, community-based organization, or mission-driven institution.
  • Familiarity with food systems, hunger relief, public benefits, health equity, or public health communications.
  • Experience communicating policy or advocacy issues in a nonpartisan environment.
  • Experience with crisis communications and organizational reputation management.
  • Bilingual English/Spanish.

Skills & Knowledge

• Exceptional writing, editing, verbal communication, and public-speaking skills, with the ability to adapt voice, tone, and format for diverse audiences.
• Ability to translate complex data, research, evaluation findings, policy information, and organizational strategy into accurate, accessible, and compelling public narratives.
• Strong knowledge of media relations, public messaging, reputation management, and communications planning.
• Familiarity with food systems or public health communications and the social, economic, and policy factors influencing food insecurity.
• Experience working respectfully with community members who have lived experience of food insecurity.
• Ability to develop talking points, press materials, presentations, public statements, op-eds, advocacy communications, executive messaging, and digital content.
• Strong editorial judgment, discretion, and ability to manage confidential, sensitive, or rapidly evolving information.
• Ability to coach and train staff, leaders, and subject matter experts in storytelling, media engagement, and public communications.
• Ability to build collaborative relationships with community organizations, media, funders, policymakers, partners, and stakeholders from diverse economic, social, cultural, and political backgrounds.
• Knowledge of accessibility, inclusive language, cultural humility, informed consent, privacy, and dignity-centered communications practices.
• Available for after-hours or weekend work as needed to support media response, events, emergency communications, and organizational priorities.

Core Competencies

• Strategic Communications Leadership
• Media Relations & Reputation Management
• Organizational Storytelling & Community Voice
• Data Translation & Public Narrative
• Advocacy & Food Systems Communication
• Leadership, Coaching & Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Equity-Centered, Ethical & Accessible Communication

Physical Requirements

Light Work - ability to exert 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects.