Vice President, Brand & Storytelling

VP, Brand &
Storytelling

Position Type: Full-time, Salaried, Exempt 

Location: Flexible (Remote); Must be eligible to work in the
U.S. 

Salary:  Starting at $203,500 – $242,000 

Closing Date: May 31, 2024

Candidates will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The position
will remain open until we have a sufficient pool of diverse
candidates who meet the job requirements, at which point we may
pause the review of new applications before the stated deadline.
Please understand you may not be contacted for several weeks after
you apply.

Ideal Start Date: 4-6 weeks after offer 

About the Center for Disaster Philanthropy

CDP began in 2010 with the goal of pioneering the practice of
strategic disaster philanthropy. Since then, it has grown in its
ambition, envisioning a world where the impact of disasters is
minimized through thoughtful, equitable and responsive recovery for
all. CDP has a $33 million budget and a team of more than 20 staff
members working remotely across the U.S.
 

CDP is a trusted partner, expert and authoritative resource
helping hundreds of individuals, foundations and corporations boost
the impact of philanthropic giving in response to disaster and
humanitarian crises by supporting equitable recovery and addressing
root causes of vulnerabilities worldwide.

In 2022, CDP awarded $28.2 million through 117 grants to 99
grantee partners worldwide; demonstrated thought leadership through
15 webinars, 21 external commentaries, 113 blog posts, 43 featured
speaking engagements and other events; and served 40 philanthropic
partners through consulting efforts. 

• In 2020, CDP was a featured nonprofit for the
  14th Annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute.
• CDP has earned Charity Navigator’s Four-Star Charity rating,
  Candid’s Platinum Transparency seal and is fully accredited by the
  Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance

 As an organization grounded in racial and intersectional
equity, our team members are deeply committed to strengthening
communities most vulnerable to disasters because of systemic
inequities. We are guided by our values of integrity, boldness and
innovation, humility, and empathy in pursuit of our
mission. 

Bottom line: We aspire to walk the talk of anti-racism and to
treat each other and our partners in ways that inspire trust,
creativity, learning and care. 

Be a part of our fast-growing team that offers countless ways to
help communities thrive. Join us!  

Responsibilities & Duties

Over the last few years of CDP’s 13-year history, growth has
been exponential. CDP has granted over $123 million to more than
676 nonprofits. CDP’s positioning and increased visibility bring a
need for an enterprise leader to further amplify CDP’s impact by
increasing our visibility, reputation and excellence as a trusted
expert in philanthropy. 

The VP of brand & storytelling (VP) will lead a team
responsible for developing and executing CDP’s marketing, brand
positioning and impact storytelling strategies, which are pivotal
components of CDP’s goals and growth, as outlined in its current
five-year strategic
plan.  

Reporting to the CEO and serving as an integral member of the
executive team, the new VP will play a critical role in positioning
CDP as an authoritative expert among individual, institutional and
corporate donors, philanthropy-serving organizations, and those
working within the disaster response and humanitarian sectors.

The successful candidate will display the following
traits:

You will thrive in a creative environment, providing vision and
thinking strategically to achieve the overarching organizational
goals around brand and storytelling. You can make sense of complex
issues, synthesize material and focus on the story behind our
efforts to advance CDP’s mission and strategic goals.

You are a servant leader who fosters an open, collaborative and
highly equitable environment for team leadership and
decision-making. You allow diverse opinions and staff from diverse
backgrounds and roles to be heard and included. 

As an executive team member, you communicate effectively with
other team members and stakeholders, conveying your ideas and
proposals in a way that is easy to understand and inspires action.
You also need to be able to listen to others and respond to their
questions and concerns.

 Primary responsibilities
include:

The VP will lead CDP’s efforts to craft and deliver a narrative
that promotes our values, mission and vision and is harmonized
internally and externally across stakeholders and partners. You
will be key in building CDP’s brand and increasing our visibility,
influence and recognition as best in class. 

Working closely with the CEO, the VP will engage with the other
teams to ensure alignment of efforts across all aspects of the
organization, nimbly meeting stakeholder/client needs and
maximizing CDP’s positioning and impact. 

Influence amplification

• Elevate CDP’s influence, brand positioning and thought
  leadership among existing and new target audiences on issues that
  advance our mission through well-developed and executed marketing
  and communications efforts grounded in CDP and our partners’
  expertise, experiences and impact.
• Explore external engagement efforts across the organization,
  including new opportunities and leading strategies to maximize the
  visibility of CDP’s messaging in our key influence areas across
  mediums and fora.
• Further leverage CDP leadership’s voice and expertise to
  amplify the organization, positioning it as a thought leader in the
  industry that serves a niche need for philanthropy.
• Work collaboratively with the executive team to build and
  execute a medium-term strategy to advance key areas of influence
  and positioning in the sector.
• Recognize opportunities and oversee resource allocation.
• Identify challenges, risks, and emerging issues the
  organization faces in advancing the narrative of our mission and
  proposing mitigation measures.
• Use data-driven insights to identify untapped markets and
  opportunities and tailor marketing campaigns and messaging to
  attract and engage new supporters, clients and partners.

Storytelling and brand enhancement

• Strengthen brand awareness and ensure targeted, consistent
  messaging and voice across internal and external communications
  channels regarding CDP’s mission, values, positioning, services and
  related work.
• Lead the development and implementation of a brand engagement
  strategy that guides CDP leadership and staff in cultivating
  meaningful relationships with external audiences, including media
  and other key influencers.
• Lead top-of-funnel brand raising for funding opportunities in
  collaboration with other teams, specifically development.
• Elevate CDP impact storytelling in creative, engaging and
  compelling ways across all content and communications platforms in
  ways that respect the communities and organizations that we
  support.
• Train leadership and staff on the essential narratives and
  stories of CDP.
• Ensure effective messaging and narratives tailored to target
  audiences to achieve strategic goals and boost engagement.
• Develop crisis communication strategies and protocols to
  protect and enhance the CDP’s reputation in times of crisis or
  controversy.
• Monitor key metrics to measure brand perception and adjust
  strategies accordingly.

Marketing & communications

• Provide high-level strategic support, thought partnership and
  counsel to team members on marketing and communications
  strategies
• Represent CDP with key influencers and stakeholders in pursuit
  of its mission and positioning.
• Leverage in-depth subject matter expertise, professional
  networks, data and thoughtful analyses to support the marketing and
  communications team in delivering a cohesive brand strategy.
• Guide the team and other stakeholders in promising marketing,
  communication, and branding practices.
• Support – from a MarComm perspective – all of CDP’s events
  portfolio, including webinars, convenings, speaking engagements and
  conference participation.

Revenue growth

• Optimize fundraising efforts by effectively communicating our
  impact and value proposition to current and potential donors,
  clients and partners.
• Drive revenue generation through market research and strategic
  marketing initiatives in collaboration with the senior director of
  development.
• In collaboration with the development team, capitalize on
  communications synergies to support donor stewardship through
  message coordination across varied channels.

 Departmental and team
leadership

• Provide strategic leadership and collaborate with team members
  to foster a culture of learning, respect and trust, harnessing the
  group’s diverse experience and collective wisdom.
• Support the team through mentoring or coaching to ensure timely
  and successful completion of work plans and assist professional
  development.
• Manage the departmental budget and ensure the team is
  adequately resourced to deliver against strategic and operational
  goals and operates within appropriate operational and financial
  boundaries.
• Define KPIs to determine the effectiveness of marcomms
  campaigns and report the results to leadership, staff and
  board.
• Cultivate and craft internal and employee culture through
  engagement in brand stories in collaboration with the executive
  team.

Supervisory and other duties

• Supervise four department staff.
• Participate on the executive team in service to the
  organization and as a representative of the work under your
  purview.
• Regular travel to represent CDP at events, professional
  development and in-person team meetings.
• Serve on committees and task forces at CDP as appropriate and
  as available.
• Represent CDP in a positive, professional manner in meetings
  and other external engagements.
• Perform other duties and job-related tasks that may be
  assigned.

This position reports to the president & CEO but serves the
whole organization. 

As this is a new position, prior experience navigating
organizational structural change is welcome.

Required qualifications

• ≥ 15 years of relevant, progressive professional experience in
  marketing and communications.
• Proven ability to lead, inspire and mentor a team.
• Masters in a related field or equivalent work
  experience.
• Proven experience optimizing the different disciplines of
  marketing and communications to develop and execute strategies that
  boost brand awareness, grow influence, enhance reputation and
  support organizational growth strategies.
• Outstanding analytical and problem-solving skills to drive
  data-informed decision-making.
• Experience applying insights from changing market dynamics to
  organization-wide growth strategies.
• Demonstrated skills in mentoring or coaching team members to
  support their professional development and the organization’s
  growth.
• Excellent communication, presentation and writing skills.
• Ability to effectively synthesize and distill complex
  information clearly and persuasively to multiple audiences.
• Ability to think creatively and outside the box.

Preferred skills and qualifications

• Well-rounded marketing or business development experience in
  positions of increasing responsibility, focusing on market
  expansion.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and nurture a productive
  network of professional relationships with industry influencers,
  partners and stakeholders that can support brand objectives.
• An ability to adapt branding strategies to resonate with
  different demographics and audiences.
• Familiarity with, although not necessarily a professional
  background in, philanthropy, the humanitarian sector and/or
  disasters.
• Experience working in a fast-paced, high-growth
  environment.
• Experience helping groups integrate evidence and data into
  their decisions.
• Experience designing and implementing learning practices, with
  strong facilitation skills.
• An understanding of nonprofit fundraising and relationship
  cultivation.
• Proven ability to independently manage various operational
  functions, stand-alone workstreams and/or supervise staff.
• Ability to work remotely with minimal direct supervision and to
  multi-task, including managing multiple projects
  simultaneously.
• Ability to build relationships with and motivate dispersed team
  members with diverse personalities and backgrounds.

Personal characteristics

• Commitment to the values intrinsic to CDP’s mission and
  strategy, including the centrality of local leadership, equity and
  service to marginalized and vulnerable communities.
• A transparent, humble and empowering culture builder with
  demonstrated experience leading a diverse team of professional
  staff, inspiring trust and optimizing the team’s potential.
• An entrepreneurial spirit and innovative mindset able to adapt
  to evolving market trends and conditions and leverage financial and
  human capital to advance the organization’s programmatic goals and
  overall mission.
• Sense of humor.
• Enterprise leader.

The Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s work environment is safe
and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full
spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity,
sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation,
ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status and
all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or
state in which you are working. 

We welcome and encourage applicants with non-traditional career
paths. If you don’t meet the qualifications outlined here, please
apply and tell us how your experiences would equip you for the
job.   

To Apply

Qualified candidates should submit their resume and a cover
letter via
this link. Applications must highlight competencies against
requirements.

 All applicants must be able to provide documentation
that they are legally eligible to work in the United States for an
extended period. 

Due to the expected volume of applications, only finalists
will be notified. No phone calls,
please.