Director of Communications

Reporting to the Head of School, the Director of Communications will guide and oversee all aspects of a robust Communications program including publications, social media, marketing, media relations, internal communications and web content. The director will, in all matters, aspire to celebrate and articulate Nightingale’s mission to both internal and external constituencies. 

About the Nightingale-Bamford School 

Frances Nicolau Nightingale and Maya Stevens Bamford, both experienced teachers, recognized as soon as they met that their strengths were complementary. Joining Miss Nightingale's warmth and enthusiasm with Miss Bamford's rigor and intellectual ambition, they created a school for girls that educated the mind and heart together. 

At the 1925 commencement Miss Nightingale offered the following words to her first graduates: 

If you live truly by that standard of truth, friendship, and loyalty you will find that you are given power to discriminate, to put first things first, to avoid crowding out things that really matter by things that do not matter; to share your life—which means forgetting yourself and thinking of other people—remembering that only in sharing, in service, and in sacrifice may the radiant fullness of life be realized. 

Close to 100 years later last fall Nightingale’s seventh Head of School, Paul A. Burke, unveiled the school’s strategic plan entitled, First things First, a direct reference to Miss Nightingale and her lasting vision. Her school has kept its original location on East 92nd Street in Manhattan but it has expanded to become a k-12 school with over 650 students, coming from five boroughs as well as New Jersey, Long Island and Westchester. The school has earned its reputation as a national leader in girls’ education. 

In partial fulfillment of First things First the 2017 Nightingale Board of Trustees approved the following mission statement: 

Our vision is for Nightingale students to be joyful learners who have the intellectual depth and the courage to be critical thinkers, compassionate citizens, and agents of their own lives; in doing so, we advance equity for the betterment of all. 

To achieve this mission and vision, we will educate girls’ minds and hearts by: 

• Infusing their lives with meaningful relationships; 

• Teaching them to value difference as a source of strength and means of growth; 

• Empowering them to question the status quo with confidence, empathy, resilience, and reason. 

Nightingale looks towards its future with great optimism. Anchored in a proud past but unabashedly forward-thinking Nightingale is approaching its second century with a story to tell. 

Director of Communications key responsibilities: 

• Develop, implement, and evaluate an annual communications plan across the community’s audiences in collaboration with the leadership team and approved by the Head of School. 

• Lead the generation of online content that engages various school constituencies and leads to measurable action. 

• Put communications vehicles in place to create momentum and brand awareness as well as to test the effectiveness of communications activities. 

• Manage the development, distribution, and maintenance of all print and electronic collateral including, but not limited to, newsletters, brochures, and Nightingale's website. 

• Coordinate webpage maintenance—ensure that new and consistent information (article links, stories, and events) is posted regularly. 

• Hire, mentor and lead three-member communications team. 

• Track and measure the level of engagement within the school’s various audiences over time. 

• Work with directors in all school departments to identify goals and develop strategies for improved internal and external communications and public relations. 

• Manage all media contacts. 

Director of Communications, job qualifications: 

Nightingale is seeking an accomplished communications professional who has considerable communications experience, covering areas such as website content, newsletters, and donor communications. The job requires a strategic thinker; someone who can transform content into inspiring and clear messages, and then disseminate it to the right audiences through the best channels. 

Specific requirements include: 

• Highly collaborative style; experience developing and implementing communications strategies. 

• Excellent writing/editing and verbal communication skills with a keen eye for detail. 

• A strong track record as an implementer who thrives on managing a variety of key initiatives concurrently. 

• Relationship builder with the flexibility and finesse to manage multiple constituencies. 

• An admired leader who can inspire others to do their best. 

• Sincere commitment to working collaboratively with all constituent groups, including staff, board members, volunteers, donors, program participants, and other supporters. 

• Self-starter, able to work independently, and entrepreneurial; enjoys creating and implementing new initiatives.