Director, Public Affairs & Strategic Communications

Description

The Director of Public Affairs & Strategic Communications shapes how The Commit Partnership shows up publicly on the issues that matter most to students and families. Working at the intersection of communications, public policy, education, economic mobility, advocacy, and civic engagement, the Director translates complex policy, research, data, and systems-change strategies into compelling public narratives that build understanding, strengthen partnerships, and inspire action.

Reporting to the Managing Director of Communications & Engagement, the Director serves as a senior public affairs strategist and trusted advisor on messaging, policy communications, stakeholder engagement, reputation, and external positioning. The Director works closely with Commit’s Policy & Advocacy, Early Childhood–12th Grade (EC–12), Postsecondary, Workforce, and other impact teams to ensure the organization’s communications are credible, evidence-based, student-centered, and aligned with organizational priorities.

More than a traditional communications role, this position requires someone who understands education and economic mobility deeply enough to help determine not only how Commit communicates, but when, where, why, and to whom the organization should use its voice. The Director will strengthen the connection between Commit’s research, policy priorities, advocacy, partnerships, and communications while helping establish a clear public narrative connecting student outcomes, education, workforce, and economic mobility.

The role moves fluidly between public affairs strategy, policy and advocacy communications, stakeholder engagement, media relations, thought leadership, executive communications, and community engagement. The Director represents Commit externally across Dallas County and Texas, including periodic travel to Austin during legislative sessions and other critical policy moments.

This role is well suited for a strategic, politically sophisticated communications leader who can navigate complex public environments, build trusted cross-sector relationships, translate evidence into accessible narratives, and use communications and public affairs to advance better outcomes and economic mobility for Texas students. 

This job description is a summary and is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities required of the employee.

Please note that for external candidates, the expected salary range is approximately $110,500–$124,750 depending on experience, qualifications, and internal equity.

Requirements

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

1. Strategic Communications & Public Affairs: Shape and manage public narratives across Commit’s priority education and economic mobility issues. Translate complex education data, research, legislation, policy, and systems-change strategies into clear and credible messages that help varied audiences understand what matters, why it matters, and what action is needed.
2. Policy & Advocacy Communications: Serve as Commit’s lead public affairs and communications strategist for education policy and advocacy. Partner with Policy & Advocacy leadership to develop and execute communications strategies supporting legislative priorities, policy campaigns, coalition efforts, research releases, and other critical advocacy moments.
3. Messaging & Organizational Positioning: Serve as a strategic communications advisor to Commit’s impact teams and organizational leadership, shaping messaging, framing, timing, audience strategy, stakeholder engagement, and reputational considerations. Maintain message discipline across major public-facing communications and strengthen Commit’s position as a trusted intermediary, strategic convener, policy partner, and credible source of education and economic mobility expertise.
4. Policy Communications & Content Development: Develop high-impact communications including messaging frameworks, talking points, briefing materials, stakeholder communications, fact sheets, presentations, digital content, op-eds, media materials, and other assets that make complex policy and research accessible to policymakers, partners, investors, community leaders, media, and the broader public.
5. External Affairs & Stakeholder Engagement: Build and sustain relationships with policymakers, education leaders, employers, business and civic leaders, advocates, philanthropists, communications professionals, community leaders, and other stakeholders. Represent Commit at key meetings, convenings, briefings, public events, and policy discussions across Dallas County and Texas.
6. Strategic Counsel & Reputation Management: Develop a sophisticated understanding of the civic, political, education, and economic landscape in which Commit operates. Anticipate communications opportunities and reputational risks associated with education policy developments and advise organizational leadership on appropriate responses. Exercise sound judgment about when Commit should speak, convene, elevate partners, or allow others to lead.
7. Thought Leadership & Signature Communications: Lead communications strategy and editorial development for major K–12, postsecondary, workforce, and economic mobility publications. Shape the narrative, messaging, editorial structure, and public rollout strategy for Commit’s Economic Mobility Report and related research, and partner across the organization to support the annual Economic Mobility Summit as a platform for regional dialogue and action.
8. Data, Research & Storytelling: Develop communications and public affairs strategies around major education data releases, research findings, legislative developments, and policy milestones. Use data and evidence to demonstrate connections among education, postsecondary credentials, workforce pathways, regional talent development, and long-term economic mobility.
9. Partner & Community Voice: Elevate partner, practitioner, student, family, and community perspectives in ways that demonstrate the role of cross-sector collaboration in advancing meaningful education policy and systems change. Develop communications strategies that appropriately recognize the partners, coalitions, advocates, policymakers, practitioners, and communities contributing to progress.
10. Media & Public Representation: Serve as a media spokesperson and trusted external representative of the organization when appropriate. Develop clear, audience-specific messaging and support Commit leaders in effectively communicating complex or sensitive issues.
11. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Communications & Engagement and teams across Commit to connect research, policy priorities, partnerships, and the organization’s student-centered agenda with policymakers, civic leaders, investors, employers, advocates, media, and the broader community. Create meaningful opportunities for stakeholders to participate in and inform Commit’s work.
12. Strategic Execution: Manage multiple high-visibility communications and public affairs priorities simultaneously, balancing long-term strategy with timely execution. Maintain quality and message consistency during fast-moving legislative, policy, and public affairs moments, including periodic work in Austin alongside Commit’s Policy & Advocacy leaders and partners.

Requirements

Qualifications, Skills, and Experience

1. Public Affairs & Strategic Communications

• Demonstrated experience operating at the intersection of public affairs, strategic communications, public policy, advocacy, civic engagement, government relations, journalism, nonprofit leadership, or related fields.
• Exceptional ability to understand complex data, policy, research, legislation, and organizational strategy and translate them into clear, credible, and compelling public narratives.
• Strong writing, editing, storytelling, presentation, stakeholder engagement, and public-speaking skills.
• Ability to develop audience-specific communications across formats, including executive messaging, policy communications, public-facing narratives, media materials, and thought leadership.

2. Education Policy & Systems Knowledge

• Demonstrated understanding of public education, education policy, legislative processes, advocacy, workforce development, and the relationship between education and economic mobility.
• Ability to quickly develop fluency in complex education and economic mobility issues and apply that knowledge to communications and public affairs strategy.
• Ability to connect policy, research, data, and systems-level trends to their implications for students, families, practitioners, communities, and decision-makers.

3. Strategic Judgment & Influence

• Strong judgment and the ability to navigate complex, high-stakes, and occasionally sensitive public environments with discretion and credibility.
• Ability to assess communications opportunities, stakeholder dynamics, organizational priorities, and reputational considerations and recommend an appropriate course of action.
• Ability to determine when organizational voice, partner amplification, convening, or other communications approaches will best advance shared goals.
• Demonstrated ability to influence across organizational and institutional boundaries without relying on positional authority.

4. Data & Evidence

• Strong data fluency and demonstrated ability to use evidence to inform communications, policy, public affairs, and advocacy strategy.
• Ability to interpret research and data accurately and translate findings into accessible insights without overstating what the evidence supports.
• Commitment to accurate, credible, accessible, nonpartisan, and evidence-based communications grounded in student outcomes.

5. Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

• Demonstrated ability to build trust and work effectively with policymakers, education leaders, community partners, advocacy organizations, employers, business and civic leaders, donors, coalitions, media, and other cross-sector stakeholders.
• Proven ability to build and sustain relationships across differing perspectives, priorities, and institutional contexts.
• Ability to collaborate effectively within a matrixed organization, synthesize input from multiple teams and leaders, and maintain clear accountability for execution.

6. Execution & Project Management

• Ability to operate comfortably at both strategic and executional levels, setting direction while producing high-quality work when circumstances require it.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, anticipate risks, coordinate across teams, and deliver high-quality work in fast-moving environments.
• Ability to lead communications strategy during high-visibility legislative, advocacy, research, and public affairs moments while maintaining accuracy and message discipline.

7. Leadership & Mission Alignment

• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, build coalitions, exercise independent judgment, and create alignment around shared priorities.
• Commitment to public education, economic mobility, partnership, and The Commit Partnership’s mission.
• Student-centered orientation and demonstrated commitment to ensuring communications and public affairs strategies remain grounded in improved outcomes and opportunities for students.

Education and Experience

• 8–10+ years of progressive leadership experience across public affairs, strategic communications, education policy, advocacy, government relations, workforce development, community engagement, journalism, nonprofit leadership, or related fields.
• Bachelor’s degree in communications, public affairs, public policy, education, journalism, political science, or a related field preferred.
• Experience working within education, public policy, advocacy, government, nonprofit, or other mission-driven environments strongly preferred.
• Experience developing communications for legislative, policy, advocacy, or other high-stakes public environments preferred.
• Willingness to travel periodically within Texas, including to Austin during legislative sessions and other critical policy or advocacy moments.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to read and write in Standard English.
• Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with others.
• Ability to interact with persons of various social, cultural, economic, and educational backgrounds.
• Ability to listen perceptively and convey awareness.
• Ability to interact diplomatically with the public in a continuous public contact setting.
• Ability to work as part of a team and in a collaborative environment.
• Ability to maintain level-headedness in the face of resistance and contrary opinions.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to producing accurate work.
• Ability to organize files, records, tasks, and information so they are accessible and usable by others.
• Ability to follow instructions and established processes while asking questions when expectations are unclear.
• Ability to recognize routine problems, identify practical next steps, and escalate more complex issues appropriately.
• Ability to respond to changing priorities with flexibility and maintain reliable follow-through.
• Curiosity and willingness to learn unfamiliar tools, systems, and processes.

Work Environment

This position primarily operates in a professional office environment but may occasionally require duties outside of the typical office setting. The noise level in the work environment is typically quiet to moderate. The employee is not generally exposed to adverse environmental conditions.

Physical Activity & Requirements

While performing the responsibilities of the job, the employee is required to talk and hear. The employee is often required to sit and use repetitive motions of the wrists, hands and/or fingers. This is a sedentary position; however, the employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, reach with arms and hands, grasp, climb or balance, and to stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl and lift up to 10 pounds.

Hearing, talking and vision abilities required by this job include perceiving the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction, expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word, and close visual acuity to perform activities such as preparing and analyzing data and figures, transcribing, viewing a computer terminal, and extensive reading.

Job Requirements

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed must be representative of the knowledge, skills, minimum education, training, licensure, experience, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Commit does not sponsor visas of any kind.