Associate, Communications

Job description (August 2023)

Smile Train is changing the world one smile at a time. We’re always on the hunt for curious, passionate, and innovative thinkers to join our team, to help us do what we do better. If that’s you, please read on.

Smile Train is an international nonprofit headquartered in New York. Our vision is to transform the life of every person impacted by cleft lip and palate. We train and support doctors and medical professionals to provide free life-changing comprehensive cleft treatment to our beneficiaries. Our sustainable model has allowed us to reach 1.5+ million children in 90+ countries to date and we’re just getting started. We are truly changing the world one smile at a time.

We are looking for an Associate, Communications to join our team. The Associate will provide general support to the Communications team and will help to develop and iterate on new and existing communications tools and processes. The Associate will help to coordinate and triage efforts between the Communications team’s primary functions as well as across stakeholders and contributors throughout the organization and beyond.

This is an excellent opportunity to build a strong foundation for an open-ended career in communications, project management, and global health for a high-impact international non-profit organization.

The Associate, Communications will report to the Director, Internal Communications, with accountabilities to the rest of the Communications team. This is a full-time role starting as soon as possible, and candidates must be based in New York City.

Responsibilities:

In collaboration with the Director, Internal Communications and other colleagues, the Associate will:

• Support on internal and external communications materials, including compiling, drafting, and proofreading content for newsletters, blog posts, one-pagers, websites, and other communications, and ensuring consistent, branded Smile Train style and voice throughout.

• Manage cross-departmental initiatives and campaigns, including supporting on creating project plans, setting timelines, enforcing deadlines, compiling and synthesizing inputs, and tracking progress.

• Provide administrative and logistical support for the Communications team, including responsibility for calendaring, coordination, and minutes related to Communications team meetings and monitoring general inquiries to the Communications team email address.

• Provide logistical support for events and high-profile convenings both external (e.g. international conferences and advocacy opportunities) and internal (e.g. all-staff meetings and Board of Directors meetings), to include coordinating and updating shared folders, PowerPoint decks, itineraries, runs of show, speaker lists, and associated briefing books and marketing toolkits.

• Maintain and evolve internal organizational calendars, including key Smile Train events and milestones and a Communications team editorial calendar.

• Maintain and evolve digital workspaces and databases, including a SharePoint intranet, Asana initiatives, and digital asset repositories, including a YouTube channel relevant to Smile Train’s programmatic and partner communications.

• Maintain and evolve tools and resources for Smile Train staff, including Smile Train’s impact statistics for marketing efforts, glossary of terms, and other reference materials.

Required Qualifications

To be considered, candidates must have:

• Exceptional organizational skills and the ability to prioritize work and manage their time in order to deliver consistent outcomes and meet multiple deadlines.
• Excellent writing, proofreading, and copyediting skills with demonstrated ability to write quickly and well on deadline.
• Demonstrated ability to take initiative, learn quickly, and work independently when needed.
• Bachelor’s degree, with coursework or experience in communications, project management, journalism, copyediting, or a closely related field.
• Fluency in English.

Preferred Qualifications

In addition to the above, the ideal candidate has:

• 2-3 years of professional communications, project management, or paralegal experience.
• Experience and fluency with digital communications tools, including email marketing software, blogs, Slack, and Microsoft Teams, and leveraging technology to effectively communicate with diverse, globally dispersed audiences.
• Demonstrated experience successfully juggling and managing multiple projects with competing priorities, diverse stakeholders, tight timelines, and evolving circumstances.
• Experience and conversancy with project management software, preferably Asana.
• Experience with Microsoft SharePoint.
• Experience analyzing data and managing databases.
• Understanding and appreciation for working across different cultures.
• International experience or prior work in a global nonprofit organization (particularly global health).

Application information

Smile Train is an equal opportunity employer, committed to inclusive hiring and dedicated to diversity in our work and staff. We strongly encourage candidates from all groups and communities to apply. To apply, please complete the application online. Include your CV, a writing sample (an existing example of your writing – no need to create something new), and a cover letter that describes why you believe you would be a good fit for Smile Train and this role. We encourage interested applicants to apply as soon as possible.