Manager, Partner Communications

Overall Description:  We are currently seeking an outgoing, strategic communications professional to help us expand and strengthen visibility of World Food Program USA’s corporate and institutional partnerships. The Manager, Partner Communications, reports to the Deputy Director, Communications and is responsible for liaising with the Corporate, Institutional and MarComms teams and external donor organizations to build and implement strategic communications plans that amplify awareness and drive engagement. They must be an exceptionally strong project manager and have experience managing grant announcements, cause marketing and ESG communication campaigns for the mutual benefit of the nonprofit entity and their corporate and institutional partners.  

Highlighted Responsibilities:

• Serve as a lead communications point of contact for World Food Program USA’s Corporate Partnerships and Institutional Partnerships team, working with them to build a cadence of upcoming partnership activations from corporate and institutional donors and corresponding external and internal communications opportunities that elevate awareness, highlight partnership impact and drive action. (Key communication opportunities can include new business pitches and/or value add opportunities, major milestone announcements, thought leadership moments, events, etc.)
• Work with Director, Communications and Deputy Director, Communications to build strategic communications plans for partnership announcements and milestones, extending the lifetime of these announcements in external and internal communications via multiple channels. Steward these plans through a process of collaborative reviews within internal marketing team, Corporate and Institutional teams (other internal departments as appropriate), United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) communications and development divisions, as appropriate, and ultimately organizational partners.
• Serve as project manager for these communication plans, holding cross-departmental meetings, maintaining action plans and routinely tracking KPIs (developing pivot plans if needed) to ensure they’re successfully executed on time and within scope. Build corresponding processes and templated materials that can support this project management for other partnerships.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with WFP USA Corporate team and communication channel leads, communication leads at partner organizations and WFP Communications and Development divisions to foster trust, collaboration and ultimately successful execution of communications plans.   
• Identify opportunities for promotion outside of major partner milestones, through thought leadership, events, media and social media integration, etc.
• Work with Corporate and Institutional Partnerships teams to build marketing components and campaigns into partner pitches, leveraging knowledge of cause marketing and ESG.
• Support Corporate and Institutional Partnerships teams in event development and execution.
• Support content development and review process for partner communications including materials such as key messages, press releases, briefing documents, speaking remarks/talking points, etc. Coordinate with digital channel leads to ensure dissemination of timely and accurate information on partnership announcements/milestones.
• Track campaign performance and report back.
• Other duties as assigned.

a well-qualified candidate will possess the following:

• 4+ years of relevant work experience in all or most of the functional areas (e.g. grant announcements and communications, cause marketing, ESG communications, project management).  
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (i.e. public relations/communications, marketing, journalism, or related field)
• Must live in the greater Washington, DC area and able to commute to our DC office as needed.
• May require occasional U.S. travel for partner meetings and events.
• Nonprofit and agency experience strongly preferred.
• Experience developing and project managing the execution of strategic communications plans that have multiple internal and external parties engaged.
• Working knowledge of public relations, media relations, events management, digital communications and stakeholder communications.
• Strong interest in humanitarian assistance, international development or global hunger.
• Self-starter with the ability to manage multiple tasks and projects at the same time with minimal oversight. Ability to operate, thrive, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced and entrepreneurial organizational environment.
• Extremely organized and detail-oriented; flawless writing and proofreading skills.
• A professional demeanor and interpersonal style that elicits trust from leadership, funders, staff, and partners.
• Strong team player with a collaborative work ethic and ability to work well within the Marketing and Communications team and across multiple stakeholders.
• Must be a proficient and polished communicator.