Director of Communications

The Jewish Museum of Maryland is America’s leading museum of regional Jewish history, culture and community. The Museum tells the story of the American Jewish experience in the city of Baltimore and throughout Maryland. Our Museum offers visitors fascinating and diverse exhibitions, as well as, two landmark historic sites – the Lloyd Street Synagogue, built in 1845 and B’nai Israel Synagogue, built in 1876.

The Jewish Museum of Maryland (JMM) seeks a Director of Communications to support the organization as it prepares to launch new visual branding, a redesigned website, and a modernized front-of-house. The Director of Communications will be pivotal in shaping and implementing the organization's communications and marketing strategies at this significant time in the Museum’s history. Reporting to the Culture & Change Director, they will oversee JMM’s Communications Department and collaborate with senior leadership to enhance the organization's visibility, storytelling, and brand.

In this role, with the support of the Executive Director and the Culture & Change Director, you will be responsible for:

• Developing and implementing comprehensive communications and marketing strategies to promote the Museum's mission and programmatic offerings.
• Overseeing strategic visioning and creation of the Museum’s core communications channels, including its annual report, weekly newsletter, and social media content.
• Providing leadership and support to the communications team.
• Assisting with the later stages of developing and launching a new website, working with external vendors and internal stakeholders to ensure timely and successful implementation.
• Assisting with implementing new branding guidelines and visual strategy emerging from a current organizational rebranding campaign.
• Collaborating with internal teams to create engaging content that resonates with the organization's audiences.
• Provide feedback and editing support to team members as needed.
• Developing a strategic communications calendar with support from the Marketing Coordinator, ensuring timely and consistent messaging across channels.
• Cultivating media relationship opportunities to increase the organization's visibility and represent the museum to external stakeholders.
• Overseeing the Communications Department budget and tracking expenses.
• Staying up to date with trends and best practices, continually seeking opportunities for improvement and innovation.

What you will Possess to be Successful  

 

• You will exemplify our core value of continuous learning. 
• You will partner with team members to develop agreed expectations about the work we need to accomplish to support and fulfill our mission as well as how the team will accomplish the work.
• You will take an entrepreneurial and creative approach to developing new, innovative ideas that will evolve the organization and push the boundaries of the field.
• You will care and attend to the relational dynamics of process while caring for the quality of the product. 

Qualifications and Skills

The position requires a combination of strong professional credentials and demonstrated skills and success in communications. The successful candidate should present most of the following: 

• Bachelor's degree preferred; Minimum of three years of experience in communications, marketing, journalism, or related field required.
• Experience in creating and implementing communications and marketing strategies.
• Excellent writing and editing skills.
• People leadership and managerial experience
• Knowledge of and experience within the Jewish communal sector is a plus.
• Experience with storytelling and content creation.
• Experience with light graphic design and working with branding guidelines.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and deadline-driven
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator), and Canva
• Experience with social media management, e-newsletters, and group emails (MailChimp)
• Experience working with and editing video and audio is a plus.
• Experience managing budgets.
• Experience in cultural heritage organization is a plus.

Note on qualifications

No one candidate will be perfect for this job. The skills and experience needed to be successful in this job exist on a spectrum. Frequently cited statistics show that candidates with disabilities, BIPOC candidates, women, and members of marginalized and/or systematically excluded groups apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. The Jewish Museum of Maryland is eager to leave that statistic in the past. If you are interested in this position, please apply.

 

What we offer

 

• Jewish Museum of Maryland full-time employees work a 30-hour week. Work schedules are developed in collaboration with supervisors within the Museum’s business hours.
• We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, life insurance, Long Term Disability (LTD), Flexible Spending Plan, and a complimentary membership to the Jewish Community Center. 
• We make work/life balance a priority offering three weeks of vacation and 6 days of sick time per year. 
• We close the Museum for the following Jewish holidays when they fall within JMM business hours: Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, the first two days of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah, Shavuot, and the first and last two days of Passover.
• We close the Museum for New Years Day, MLK Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and the day following Thanksgiving.
• We offer a work environment that supports professional development and collaboration.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Compensation & Benefits:

 

The salary for this full-time position is $63,000 and is commensurate with qualifications, skills, and experience.

 

Application Process - Electronic submissions are preferred. Please attach a resume/CV when applying. Cover letters are required. Applications received by 11:59 EST on November 24, 2024, will receive priority consideration.

What to expect 

• Step one: All submissions will be reviewed, and the initial candidate pool will be formed. Not all submissions will make it into the candidate pool. Once the pool of candidates is established, a brief phone interview will be set up with a member of the Associated’s Human Resources department.
• Step two: The remaining candidates will take part in no more than two interviews with members of the Jewish Museum of Maryland team via Zoom or in person. References will be called for candidate(s) under consideration following the second interview. The final candidate will be selected after these steps are complete.
• Step Three: Selection and placement of the final candidate. Placement for this position is anticipated to occur in July/August 2024. Once the final candidate has accepted their offer of employment, all other applicants will be notified of their status.

  

The Jewish Museum of Maryland is an equal opportunity employer that values a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. The JMM is dedicated to advancing racial and social justice and holds a deep sense of care and commitment to the communities within which we live and work. Accordingly, all terms and conditions of employment will be carried out without regard to race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, marital status, age, or disability. The Jewish Museum of Maryland will not tolerate acts deemed to constitute discrimination or harassment based on gender, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, religion, national origin, marital status, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law.

 

This job ad is not intended to be all-inclusive, but to describe the general nature and level of work to be performed.