Senior Vice President, Communications

Helios Education Foundation (Helios) seeks a Senior Vice President for Communications (SVP) to join the Foundation’s senior leadership team and spearhead Helios’s enterprise-wide communications strategy and execution. As Helios implements its ambitious Five-Year Impact Plan, focused on key drivers essential to getting students on track for college attainment, the role of the SVP for Communications is mission-critical: leading Helios’s communications, brand and reputation management, and message creation and alignment in support of an integrated portfolio of investment, research, and policy efforts. 

Helios is more than a grant-maker. Our strategy for delivering results in early learning, college access, and college attainment includes the integration of four key domains of our work. We seek to influence policy changes that can bring systemic improvements and to identify laser-focused community investments that can serve as a proof of concept for policy considerations and can lead to spreading effective practices. Original research and data drive our approaches. And, through each of these areas, strategic communication is used to amplify important insights and to build public will for effective improvements. In addition, Helios documents and assesses our efforts in each of these areas to understand our impact and continually refine our work for increased impact in the future. 

The SVP for Communications will report directly to the President and oversee all the Foundation’s external and internal communications. Partnering with the President and the senior leadership team, the SVP will develop and manage an annual communications approach that supports the Foundation’s Impact Plan. They will effectively design and implement a full suite of internal and external communications activities to foster a strong sense of community among the Helios team, as well as among grantees and key partners, and will enhance the Foundation’s reputation at the highest levels of education, research, and policy discourse in Arizona, Florida, and, where appropriate, nationally. The SVP for Communications will be located in Phoenix or Tampa and will be expected to travel monthly to the other office.

The SVP will provide strategic, institution-wide communications counsel on thought leadership and brand management, lead communications activities that amplify Helios’s policy and research efforts, and support the development of organizational culture and change management efforts. Leading a team of communications staff members and consultants, the SVP will oversee enterprise-level digital efforts such as the website and Helios’s social platforms and will play a coordinating role in designing and delivering concepts, ideas, and plans for convenings and partner events. The SVP will support the creation and promotion of Helios’ research publications, including writing, editing, and design, and will manage public relations and media efforts in Arizona and Florida. The SVP for communications will be a trusted partner and liaison to internal teams to bring projects to life and highlight the impact of the foundation’s efforts. 

All inquiries, nominations/referrals, and resumes with cover letters should be sent electronically below.

Nella Young and Stephanie Simon are leading this search. 

Helios Education Foundation is a diverse and dynamic professional learning organization that values a broad array of backgrounds, knowledge, and expertise. Helios believes that equity is most effectively achieved by teams who are diverse and inclusive, who reflect the communities served, and who are encouraged to generate bold solutions. Helios Education Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer actively committed to building a diverse staff and creating an inclusive environment for all employees.