Senior Director of Communications

The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) is seeking to add an experienced Senior Director of Communications to its team.

The Senior Director of Communications provides strategic leadership direction for ADEA’s communications efforts, including the development of the organization’s library of online and digital publications and the creation and execution of proactive public relations strategy and media outreach across all platforms. This position will ensure activities are mission-driven and scalable and provide rapid and effective communication with key stakeholders, leveraging existing tools, methods and best practices. This role is also responsible for managing outreach in forming and maintaining strategic partnerships with communications professionals at like-minded organizations, member institutions and media in the oral health, healthcare and higher education communities. The position collaborates with ADEA spokespersons to draft messaging, speeches and presentations for both internal and external needs. The role leverages content, data and messaging to position ADEA as The Voice of Dental Education to existing and new audiences.   

The Senior Director collaborates with the Chief Communications and Marketing Officer and Vice President of Marketing and Branding to develop and execute the organizational marketing and communications strategy and planning. This position manages and supports the development of a team of five full-time and one part-time employee.

Primary Responsibilities

Publications

• Performs environmental scan of publications by other associations and nonprofits and applies that knowledge to decisions that are in ADEA’s best interests.
• Maintains a master production schedule for all of the organization’s publications and enforces timelines and deliverables.
• Writes text and copy as needed.

Media Communications

• Leads and coordinates all activities of communications, PR and media consultants.
• Designs a proactive press and media strategy and cultivates and sustains effective working relations with news executives, editors, and journalists to create opportunities to position ADEA as the thought leader in oral health education.
• Acts as primary lead for the association’s media service, Cision.
• Oversees the creation and maintenance of the ADEA communications and media contact database.
• Leads the public relations production and distribution of press releases and communications with local, regional and national media outlets.
• Monitors effective benchmarks for measuring the impact of all communication platforms and report on results and their contribution to the overall strategic framework for the organization.
• Collaborates with other staff to provide content for social media channels, blogs, podcasts and other communications platforms as necessary.
• Provides media training for ADEA spokespersons, Board of Directors and other stakeholders as necessary.

Budgets, Advertising and Finance

• Oversees and develops the budget for the Communications area, including budgets for publications, media resources and related subscriptions and/or software. Meets the expenses and revenue budgeted for each.
• Advises the Chief Communications and Marketing Officer about advertising possibilities and ways to generate additional revenue.
• Oversees the work of ADEA’s online advertising agency to ensure maximum return on advertising on all platforms.
• Reconciles expenses, consultant invoices, and other Communications-related bills and processes them in Anybill.

Supervision

• Manages and develops a team to support departmental goals, which includes five full-time employees (Director of Publications, Senior Communications Manager, Senior Editor, Copyeditor and Proofreader, and Publications and Membership Manager) and one part-time employee.

• Baccalaureate degree in English, Communications, Journalism or a related degree.
• A minimum of ten years managing media, public relations, communications and publications, with at least five years in a leadership or supervisory role.
• Proven experience developing and implementing strategic communications and public relations plans.
• Strong background in publications management, including editorial processes, production scheduling, and content development.
• Experience working in an association and/or nonprofit environment a plus.
• Excellent writing, editing, presentation and verbal communication skills; ability to craft high-quality messaging for various audiences and platforms.
• Advanced knowledge and understanding of online media platforms (i.e. Cision), social media tools, and blogging platforms.
• Strong interpersonal and influencing skills, with the ability to build trust, collaborate across teams, and engage effectively with internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to develop strong, positive and constructive relationships with reporters, editors and all media representatives.
• Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills, with the ability to assess complex situations, interpret data, and inform strategic decision-making.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects while effectively supervising and developing staff.
• Proficiency in projecting and monitoring budgets.
• Ability to travel to support ADEA member-related meetings as needed.
• Ability to work at ADEA’s DC office on a hybrid basis. The current schedule is work at ADEA's office 3 days per week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and can work from home on Mondays and Fridays.

This position's salary range is $141,000 to $158,000. In addition to a rewarding and purposeful mission, ADEA offers you a collaborative team environment with competitive salary and excellent benefits, including health, vision, dental and life insurance, wellness benefits, a 35-hour work week, generous paid leave and a 403(b) retirement plan with 10% employer contribution. Our office is conveniently located across from the Washington Convention Center, near shopping, restaurants and the Red and Green Line Metro Stations. 

For more information and to apply online, visit www.adea.org.

The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) is The Voice of Dental Education. Its members include all 78 U.S. and Canadian dental schools, over 800 allied and advanced dental education programs, 66 corporations and more than 20,000 individuals. 

The mission of ADEA is to develop an inclusive, future-ready oral health workforce prepared to improve the health of all people and communities through leadership, education , and collaboration.  

ADEA's activities encompass a wide range of research, advocacy, faculty development, meetings and communications, including the esteemed Journal of Dental Education, as well as the dental school admissions services ADEA AADSAS, ADEA PASS, ADEA DHCAS and ADEA CAAPID. 

ADEA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The Associations EEO policy prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin or ancestry, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, child birth or related medical conditions, family responsibilities, genetic information, political affiliation, matriculation, veteran status, union affiliation, disability, credit information, status as a victim or family member of a victim of domestic violence, a sexual offense, or stalking, or any other legally- protected characteristic in accordance with federal or local law (the Protected Categories). EEO applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, training and development, promotion, termination, compensation, and benefits.