Remote work locations are as follows: (Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Maryland, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin).  To be considered, applicants must live in one of the work locations.  

About the Organization

Founded in 1979, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) is a leading non-profit organization (501(c)3) in the U.S. exclusively dedicated to defending and advancing the rights and opportunities of low-income immigrants and their loved ones. NILC’s mission is grounded in the belief that everyone living in the U.S. regardless of race, gender/gender identity, immigration status, or economic status — should have equal access to justice, resources, and educational and economic opportunities that enable them to achieve their full human potential. Together, NILC and the affiliated NILC Immigrant Justice Fund (IJF), a 501(c)4 organization, work to advocate more directly for federal immigration reform policies. NILC is committed to advancing its mission — which intersects race, immigration status, and class — through racial, economic, and gender justice and equity orientation. 

About the Position 

The Director, Narrative and Culture will develop and implement ambitious strategies for audience-centric narrative, art, culture, and storytelling, informed by internal and external best practices and consistent with NILC’s mission and values. The Director provides strategic leadership and guidance on NILC and NILC IJF’s narrative initiatives and functions, including setting overall narrative aimed at shifting hearts and minds. The Director will collaborate with NILC’s advocacy to advance NILC’s goals as articulated in strategic framework. This highly collaborative role works in partnership with organizers, artists, journalists, communicators, and advocates to develop narratives and ensure they reach people. The Director will incorporate robust narrative analysis, framing, and cultural moments into one narrative strategy focused on immigrant justice that is people- and community-centered and grounded in intersectional rights and needs of immigrants in the US.

The ideal candidate is a person with a depth of experience in developing and implementing narrative and culture-based strategies, strong program management skills, a knack for engaging people with differing views, and experience navigating both small and large institutions.

This role is not a member of the Bargaining Unit. 

The Director, Narrative and Culture will be responsible for providing leadership and driving success in the following key areas:

Specific Position Responsibilities

· In collaboration with the Communications Management Team, Vice President, Strategic Communications, Executive Vice President, Advocacy, and President, develop and implement a broad vision for using deep narrative & cultural change strategies to advance NILC’s and the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund’s (NILC c4 organization) missions, creating plans to implement vision and tools to measure progress. 

· Ensure alignment and integration between the c3 and c4 narrative change efforts and high-level messaging for the Immigrant Justice Fund (IJF) in partnership with the Political Director, IJF.

· Oversee the landscape analysis and identification of existing narratives and research to explore and test new or emerging narratives. This includes development and oversight of new narrative and culture initiatives that measurably advance our objectives.

· Drive the integration of NILC and IJF narrative change strategies throughout the organization to support growth and mission impact. 

· As a member of the Communications Management team, provide the leadership required to manage change and ensure strategic integration of our deep narrative & cultural and marketing work across advocacy and development. 

· Identify innovative solutions and strategies to gain visibility and leverage cultural moments for NILC and IJF, positioning the organization as leaders in the movement.

· Engage with key stakeholders, including movement partners, allies, donors, and board members to advance NILC and IJF’s priorities related to developing powerful deep narrative and cultural strategies.

· Serve as a subject matter expert for narrative and cultural campaigns and related work for the organization.

· Seek external partnership and collaboration opportunities that align with NILC and IJF’s strategic plan.

· Oversee implementation narrative & cultural and marketing strategies, providing guidance and support to teams driving the work, in a way that integrates powerful narratives, movement building, and campaign strategies in a clear, streamlined, and consistent voice. 

· Conceive and implement projects that leverage and lead with deep narrative and cultural strategies to advance NILC’s mission, including culturally relevant workshops on deep narrative initiatives, content production, and other initiatives. 

· Represent the organization for public events, media appearances, and other times as needed. 

· Collaborate with Development, Strategic Partnerships & Campaigns, Litigation & Legal Strategy, and Policy teams to engage other parts of our team to effectively leverage the resources and talents across the organization. 

· Work in partnership with the VP, Strategic Communications and Finance team to monitor and evaluate the narrative budget and ensure financial reports are fiscally and administratively sound.

· Contribute to fostering a collaborative and results-oriented culture, with accountability for those directly carrying out NILC & IJF strategy.

· Contribute to fundraising and development initiatives as needed for the organization in partnership with the Development team including writing or reviewing proposals for narrative-specific grant funding, meeting with funders, and other development needs.

· May be a part or lead a larger cross functional/department project using the MOCHA framework/methodology

Supervisory Responsibilities

· Recruits, interviews, hires, and trains staff.

· Oversees the daily workflow of direct reports.

· Works to foster a collaborative environment that develops strengths, improves weaknesses, and encourages creative problem-solving.

· Actively manages direct and indirect reports using applicable performance management software including documenting regular check-ins, goal progress, and any other relevant information in the system for performance and coaching purposes. 

· Handles discipline and performance issues with employees in accordance with organizational policy.

· Directly manages employees with possibility for additional staff.

· Manages outside consultants, third party administrators, and vendors.

Shared Organization Responsibilities

· Champions NILC & IJF’s mission of advancing the rights of immigrants with low income by demonstrating a commitment to human rights, and racial, economic, and social justice.

· Attends and actively participates in NILC meetings at the organization, department, project, and individual level.

· Develops relationships and supports NILC and IJF colleagues across all teams, recognizing that each individual brings a unique background and perspective to the work and assuming good intent from each other. 

· Follows through on commitments acting with a clear sense of ownership individually and collectively by taking personal responsibility for decisions, actions, and failures, establishing clear responsibilities and processes for monitoring work and measuring results, and designing feedback loops into work. 

· Learns quickly when facing new situations by experimenting to find fresh solutions, taking on the challenge of unfamiliar tasks, and extracting lessons learned from failures and mistakes. 

· Acts with integrity by following through on commitments, being direct and truthful, keeping confidences, and showing consistency between words and actions. 

· Commits to centering NILC’s values of racial justice & equity, valuing diversity, fostering partnerships & collaboration, encouraging respect & personal well-being, and striving for transparency, integrity, and honesty in all decisions and actions.

In recognition of the fluidity of the work and ecosystem that NILC operates in, other duties may be assigned depending on organizational need.

What We’re Looking for in This Role

· Commitment to NILC & IJF’s mission of advancing the rights of immigrants with low income and a demonstrated commitment to human rights, racial, economic and social justice, and equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice for all. 

· Collaborative, proactive, and action-oriented working style with a strong service mentality promoting mutual accountability and inspiriting trust and confidence from colleagues, other NILC team members, and NILC leaders alike. 

· Demonstrates sound judgement in decision-making, high integrity, and utmost respect for confidentiality. 

· Excellent verbal and written communication skills: ability to read, analyze, and interpret as well as draft documents such as reports, correspondence, and presentations for various audiences.  

· Expertise in managing projects in progressive movement organizations

· Demonstrated ability to develop strategy and work collaboratively with teams in a mission-driven, culturally diverse organization committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion

· Capacity to make “hard choices” with sound judgement in decision-making relating to organizational positions, coalition decisions, and allocations of resources. Ability to prioritize department resources among competing demands

· Ability to formulate clear strategies and plans to accelerate NILC’s strategic framework into operational day-to-day advocacy work

· Uses knowledge of advocacy and how strategies tactics play out in the advocacy space

· A creative and results-oriented leader who can lead the narrative & marketing strategy operations for NILC and IJF to higher levels of efficiency and collaboration.

· Deep understanding of the intersectional issues related to immigrants’ rights and how to communicate that to a variety of audiences. 

· Self-starter with a strong strategic ability to move daily tasks forward in alignment with NILC’s broader organizational needs and goals. 

· Recognizes each team member's unique background and perspective to achieve team goals in a positive and motivating working environment. 

· Develops team through coaching, feedback, exposure and stretch assignments. 

· An inclusive management style that places deep value on diverse perspectives and emphasizes the development and growth of team members and encourages learning and continued improvement. Sense of humor a plus!

Qualifications Required

· Bachelor’s degree in art, journalism, communications, or other related field, or significant and relevant experience in the nonprofit, political, or social justice art and deep narrative space. 

· At least 10+ years of progressive experience in deep narrative strategy including issue advocacy, digital strategy, culture change, with at least four years of supervisory experience. 

· Experience developing, leading, and sharpening strategies for social change work including developing, updating, & implementing strategic plans. 

· Demonstrated understanding of the use of art and culture to frame social justice and deep narratives that advance changes in public opinion, shifting hearts and minds in support of our objectives at a high level.

·  Experience developing strong team dynamics with internal staff and external partners across the country through remote access/technology. 

· A track record in managing complex plans, projects, budgets, and deadlines that require coordination across multiple stakeholders

· Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite and related communications software (e.g., WordPress, Drupal, project management platforms, webforms, graphic design tools, etc.).

Preferred Qualifications

· Graduate degree in art, journalism, communications, or similar discipline preferred.

· Experience working with immigrant rights organizations, the nonprofit, or social justice space strongly preferred. 

· Background in social science/psychology, cultural analysis/criticism, visual culture is a plus. 

· Proficiency in non-English languages spoken by Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, African, Caribbean, and Arab communities a plus.

At NILC, we know that talented people may have different backgrounds or experiences, and if your education and experience doesn’t exactly align with the above that’s okay! NILC believes that diversity in all dimensions of the organization supports and bolsters the innovative thinking essential to its success and is committed to providing equal employment opportunity to all qualified applicants. NILC’s goal is for our people to reflect the communities in which we live and serve and to ensure representation of people of color, women, veterans, and individuals with disabilities in our organization. We encourage you to apply and let us know in your cover letter why you are qualified and the right fit for this role and NILC. 

Work Environment

Location & Travel: 

NILC's office is located in Washington, D.C. For this role, up to 30% of overnight interstate travel may be required; travel is typically quarterly to the NILC Washington, DC office or another location within the US for 3-5 nights. 

Remote work locations are as follows: (Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Maryland, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin).  To be considered, applicants must live in one of the work locations. 

Compensation:

NILC’s compensation and benefits philosophy is to provide a competitive offering in the nonprofit sector and ensure equity across the organization.   The salary range for this role is $132,644 – $165,830. 

NILC provides an incredible benefit package that includes employer-paid healthcare coverage (100% for employees and 75% for dependents), employer-supported dental and vision coverage, a 403(b)-retirement plan including an automatic contribution from NILC, paid parental leave, monthly cell phone and wellness stipends, pre-tax accounts for transit, health, and childcare benefits (FSA), and employer-paid short- and long-term disability and life insurance. NILC also provides a generous paid-time-off policy, 15 holidays and 22 days of paid time off annually (increased to 32 after 2 years of employment). 

Physical Demands

· Remaining in a stationary position, often standing, or sitting for prolonged periods

· Communicating with others to exchange information.

· Repeating motions, like typing or answering a phone, that may include the wrists, hands and/or fingers.