General Manager (aka Chief of Staff)

Movement Media Seeks General Manager

Movement Media is seeking an outstanding General Manager with a passion for social change to play a key role in Movement Media’s work to support our remarkable client partnerships. The General Manager at Movement Media is a full-time position and is a new role within the growing organization. The role will be a hybrid between a Chief of Staff and Project Manager position. The primary responsibilities of this position support Movement Media’s role in anchoring Dr. Bronner’s Public Relations department and helping with the collective execution of a multi-faceted global strategy. Specifically, the General Manager’s workload is split between a focus on US and International projects for Dr. Bronner’s and select activist initiatives.

This new team member will be part of a unique company that centers progressive values and maintains exceptionally high standards while working in a dynamic, fast paced work culture serving highly visible clients on critical issues in the realm of social justice, environmental sustainability, and socially responsible business. The core causes our work relates to include Animal Advocacy, Community Betterment, Criminal Justice Reform, Drug Policy Reform, Fair Pay & Fair Trade, and Regenerative Organic Agriculture, among other causes.

• This is a full-time, salaried, and exempt position requiring a commitment to a minimum of 40 work hours per week
• Base salary starts at $85,000-$95,000 annually based on experience
• Employees are benefits-eligible after a three-month introductory period
• All full-time benefits-eligible employees receive:
  • Top tier, company paid full medical, dental, and vision plans
  • A contribution of 10% on top of base salary to a 401K plan with each payroll
  • A year-end discretionary bonus of up to 10% on top of base salary
  • Significant PTO and health leave
  • At least 12 paid holidays annually including May Day and Juneteenth
  • Opportunities for on-going skill-building and professional development programs
• Position is predominantly remote within the United States. Residents of Washington, D.C. area are preferred, and may be asked to work office hours, TBD

The ideal candidate has a minimum of 5 years’ experience working as a supervisor in a Project Manager, Chief of Staff, General Manager, or equivalent role managing the work of three or more people (as direct reports). An equal amount of time in the field of public relations or communications is also essential. We need someone who is both an excellent senior manager and a seasoned public relations professional.

Movement Media is a full-service public relations firm based in Washington, D.C. We aim to be a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. We strongly encourage people of systemically marginalized identities and life experiences who meet essential requirements and qualifications of this position to apply. We value skills acquired on nonconventional career paths and look at cover letters as closely as, if not more closely than, resumes. If you see your professional history as having built the skills and experience necessary to excel in this position, we encourage you to apply.

We seek to actively embody an ethos that is anti-racist, anti-sexist, pro-feminist, LGTBQIA-positive, anti-ableist, non-binary in thinking, and supports animal rights—in the interest of collectively undermining and ending all forms of oppression.

Movement Media strives to cultivate a workplace culture that centers consent as fundamental to all interaction. Read about our commitment to consent culture, here: https://www.wearemovementmedia.com/our-values/#consent-culture

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Managing and developing communications and media-relations oriented projects for Dr. Bronner’s Public Relations Department in the US and internationally
• Managing relationships with myriad partners around the world
• Providing support, direction, and management to maximize bandwidth of communications staff
• Playing advisory role to Director, as requested
• Creating, writing, and editing communications materials including press releases
• Setting up and maintaining internal systems and protocols for project management and execution

• Researching and compiling lists of target media
• Performing media outreach and regularly “pitching” media outlets

• Answering and fulfilling media requests and coordinating interviews with Executives and other spokespeople

• Writing project summaries and regular client reports and presentations

• Administering and bottom-lining multiple projects with a high degree of attention to detail, freeing up the Director to focus on big-picture and highest priority work

The primary objectives of this role are:

• Supporting Director with strategic planning and preparation by driving organizational effectiveness and alignment
• Providing supervision and direction for client-facing managers and their workloads to ensure that delegated work is completed on time and with the highest levels of quality
• Increasing bandwidth on client-facing projects

A typical week in this role could involve:

• Preparing team members and/or Director for internal and external meetings with clients and/or colleagues
• Facilitating and/or attending meetings with clients and colleagues
• One-on-one check ins with staff on progress of ongoing projects
• Providing detailed work plans and time management plans for client facing staff
• Researching media outlets and strategizing outreach plans
• Writing and/or editing press releases and other press materials
• Writing and/or editing project reports
• Giving or assisting with presentations
• Coordinating media requests
• Pitching stories to target media and executing media outreach strategies
• Scheduling media interviews and opportunities for clients
• Scheduling meetings with clients, colleagues, or with/for Director
• Developing internal systems to increase efficiency and reduce stress and bottlenecks
• Working with the Director to set priorities for the team

Requirements and Skills

• Confident, outgoing, down to earth, and highly cooperative attitude
• Extremely savvy and effective communicator on the phone, via email, and in-person
• Exceptional ability to write crisp, tight, and compelling material in a variety of voices for both internal and external communications, both quickly and through more in-depth work, as required
• Proactive, flexible, and highly accountable problem solver
• Proven team management skills and a collaborative and coaching-forward approach to leadership
• Commitment to a non-fear-based management style: we do not blame, shame, or use aggression as a management tactic in this workplace
• Experience in project management from conception to completion
• Comfortable providing strategic leadership on multiple concurrent projects and to one or more team members
• Expertise in establishing and executing a vision for developing voice; message, and strategy for PR campaigns as well as generating earned media coverage
• Highly competent at interfacing with clients, colleagues, and media in multiple countries across a variety of cultures and backgrounds
• Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, and communications skills and the tenacity to solve clients’ problems quickly and provide them with service of the highest standard
• An enthusiastic and committed outlook, open to participating in and influencing change within the organization and within the world at large
• Driven self-starter with the ability to think independently and work autonomously when necessary and a desire to succeed while working cooperatively among fellow professionals
• Passionate about issues related to social justice, environmental sustainability, and animal rights and interested in working on campaigns connected to these causes
• A deep understanding of the media landscape from traditional media outlets to digital and social platforms
• Strong demonstrated ability to generate press coverage and amplify stories and campaigns
• Experience with programs and services such as Cision, Meltwater, PR Newswire, Mailchimp, and Basecamp and/or a fast learner with programs of this nature related to communications and project management
• Proficiency with Objectives and Key Results (OKR) methodology or other goal setting frameworks

• Able to travel to meetings, trade shows, client-headquarters, company headquarters or other company related events between 1-4 times or more per year for an estimated 20-30 cumulative days annually on average—varies due to pandemic and subject to change and flexibility

Essential Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years’ experience working as a supervisor in a Project Manager, Chief of Staff, General Manager, or equivalent role managing three or more direct reports
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience working in the field of Public Relations or Communications
• An affinity with activism, B Corps, progressive values, and issues related to social justice, animal advocacy, and environmental sustainability
• Highly competent and proficient with Microsoft Office, Dropbox, and Google Drive
• Able to work standard business hours on eastern or pacific time M-F with occasional weekends and early mornings/late evenings to accommodate other time zones

To Apply:

Email hiring@wearemovementmedia.com a one paragraph introduction and overview of contents with an attached zip file or Dropbox link with the following application packet in PDF format.

IMPORTANT: We deeply value skills acquired on nonconventional career paths and look at cover letters as closely as resumes. If you believe your professional history gives you the experience necessary to excel in this position, we encourage you to apply and tell us why.

• Cover letter
  • A unique letter tailored for this application, a minimum of 800 words in length, addressing:
    • Why you are interested in and passionate about this position
    • Why you would be a good fit
    • Why you want to work with the clients mentioned above
    • What skills you bring to the table and examples of how you have used and developed them in the past
    • In closing, please name:
      • One book that helps you understand the world as it is today and explain how/why in a few sentences
      • One book that helps show you the world as is could be and summarize how/why in a few sentences
    • CV
    • Two sample press releases (written by you in previous positions)
    • Two other professional writing samples
    • At least two professional references from the last 3 years
    • At least one professional reference from the last 10 years

Note: Please consider your application your first assignment related to the (potential) job. All applications that do not submit the full application packet with the content and in the format specified above will not be considered. Please demonstrate complete competence and attention to detail in the application process.

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Movement Media is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We encourage all who meet minimum requirements and conditions to apply. We are opposed to all discrimination based on race, color, creed, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, religion, marital status, pregnancy, military status, physical or mental impairment, or medical condition including genetic characteristics and any other protected characteristics or marginalized identities.

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About Movement Media

Movement Media is a full-service public relations firm based in Washington, D.C. We are activists at heart and publicists by trade. Our mission is to create and anchor public relations and communications infrastructure and offer tools to support growth, strengthen dialogue, build movements, sustain momentum, amplify unheard voices, and influence social change.

Movement Media offers opportunities for social change work that is both financially sustainable and emotionally rewarding. We believe jobs should encourage a healthy work-life balance, and we want our work to enhance our quality of life rather than be an obstacle to it. We strive to create a healthy work environment and an approach to our workplace that encourages personal wellbeing and growth and the ability for staff to thrive and take pride in their contributions to the broader world community through their work at Movement Media. Learn more here: https://www.wearemovementmedia.com

This position serves Movement Media’s ongoing and long-term relationship with Dr. Bronner’s.

About Dr. Bronner’s

Founded in the U.S. in 1948, Dr. Bronner’s is the top-selling natural brand of soap in North America and a leading brand worldwide. The company is an independent, family-owned business based in California, committed to honoring the vision of founder Emanuel Bronner by making socially and environmentally responsible personal care and food products of the highest quality, and by dedicating profits to help make a better world.

Dr. Bronner’s commitment to social justice, environmental sustainability, and progressive business practices is part of the company’s mission to put into practice the “All-One” philosophy printed on the company’s iconic soap labels. The company caps executive salaries at 5 times its lowest paid fully vested position and donates all profits not needed for business development to causes and charities it believes in. Dr. Bronner’s generated nearly $170 million in revenue in 2021 and donated an estimated one third of profits to activist and charitable efforts. For further information, go to: http://www.drbronner.com

Dr. Bronner’s PR Department Statement of Purpose:

The purpose of Dr. Bronner’s Public Affairs and Media Relations (PR) department is to assist the company in representing itself in a manner that is reflective of and consistent with its stated mission, principles, and core values. The department’s mandate and responsibilities include: managing the brands global PR strategy; helping develop the brand’s messaging, communications, campaigns, and various materials; facilitating media relations and media coverage; managing partnerships with public relations agencies and personnel around the world; managing and assisting with select activist, philanthropic, and advocacy related initiatives on behalf of the company;  developing and producing multi-media projects, including documentary videos; and serving as a point of contact for the company to media, nonprofit organizations and activist initiatives, other companies and institutions, as well as the general public. 

https://www.wearemovementmedia.com/2022/02/13/movement-media-seeks-general-manager/