About City Bureau

City Bureau is an innovation lab reimagining local journalism, civic media, and participatory democracy. We equip people with civic skills, develop resources that directly meet people’s information needs, and create pathways for deliberative dialogue that strengthens communities. We envision a world where all communities have the information, tools, and resources they need to actively shape their futures and cultivate a more responsive and just democracy.

Location: Hybrid in Chicago

About the Job

We're looking for a Deputy Director of Communications to oversee our team's day-to-day operations and project management while supporting strategy development and implementation across all channels. This role will manage our communications team members; create, maintain, and optimize workflows; and ensure effective coordination across departments. The position will also oversee our digital marketing and analytics strategy to help us make data-driven decisions about our work.

The Deputy Director will focus primarily on team and project management, co-creating strategy and guiding implementation, and interdepartmental coordination, with a portion of time allocated for digital marketing management, special projects, and department support.

We're seeking candidates who bring a blend of skills including team leadership, project management finesse, and digital marketing experience. The ideal candidate will be both a systems thinker who can create efficient workflows and an empathetic leader who can support team development. They should be comfortable diving deep into analytics while maintaining a big-picture view of our strategic goals.

Responsibilities

Team and Project Management

• Manage day-to-day operations and ongoing projects of the communications team

• Create and maintain workflows and project management systems

• Support and develop direct reports, ensuring clear prioritization and high-quality deliverables 

• Design and lead creative sprints and tactical workshops 

• Manage relationships and contracts with vendors and consultants

• Refine and facilitate efficient practices of interdepartmental communication

Strategy Development & Implementation

• Co-create strategy and set goals, guiding team implementation

• Support planning and execution of key projects and feedback cycles

• Develop and maintain interdepartmental workflows and tools with other teams

• Create efficiencies through process improvement

• Manage team resources and support documentation efforts

Digital Marketing Oversight

• Lead digital marketing and analytics strategy and reporting, including lead gen campaigns, retargeting, and other campaigns

• Manage Google Analytics, Google Ad Grants, Meta Business Suite and other relevant platforms

• Maintain department-wide data dashboard

• Guide data-driven decision making across channels

Department Support

• Hire contractors as needed to support specific initiatives

• Evaluate materials for quality and consistency

• Support Director on major campaigns and projects

• Provide backup for high-level responsibilities

• Represent department in cross-functional meetings

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in marketing and communications, with at least 2 years in a management role

• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities

• Demonstrated success in project management and workflow optimization

• Experience with digital marketing and analytics platforms and applying insights

• Strong track record of team leadership and development

• Experience designing and facilitating collaborative strategy and skills-based workshops

• Excellent interdepartmental collaboration skills

• Proficiency with project management tools (e.g., Asana)

  We expect that the strongest candidates will have the above skills and areas of expertise in varying degrees. If you don’t have every qualification, please consider applying, and use your application to tell us about the skills you bring that would help us build this team.

Compensation, Benefits and Support

• $90,000 annual salary

• Full time with benefits package including health care, dental, vision, life insurance

• This is a hybrid role in Chicago, with weekly in-person team meetings and regular workshops and events, in addition to 2x annual staff retreats and sprints 

• Attendance/participation in City Bureau events is expected, including some evenings and weekends 

• Employer sponsored 401K plans, with 100% employer match up to 4% of salary

• $1,000 annual technology and work tools allowance

• $1,000 professional development allowance

• 15 days paid vacation, not including health days

• 11 company holidays each year, which may be exchanged for employees who celebrate other holidays

• Flexible work schedule—some night/weekend hours may be required

• A 4.5 day week for most of the year. From June through August, City Bureau operates on a 4 day work week.

• A culture of intentional professional development and organizational learning

Our Anticipated Timeline

We’re projecting the following timeline for this hiring process. We will notify candidates of any shifts as we move through the process.

*Please Note: Rolling interviews with qualified candidates will begin immediately the week of March 10. 

• Applications will close no later than March 27; however interviews are rolling, so early applications are encouraged 

• Within a week of submitting your application, you will know if you’ve moved onto the interview stage.

• Within two weeks of your interview, you’ll know if you’ve moved onto the case exercise stage.

• Within two weeks of your case exercise completion, you’ll know if you’ve moved onto the final interview.

• We expect to make a final offer by mid-April

City Bureau is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

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