PROJECT DIRECTOR, NEXT MAYOR PROJECT March 2022
The Lenfest Institute for Journalism is a unique nonprofit organization whose sole mission is to build sustainable business models for local journalism. The Institute’s goal is to transform the news industry in the digital age to ensure that high-quality local journalism remains a cornerstone of our democracy.
The Institute is seeking a Project Director for The Next Mayor Project, a new citywide community listening and media initiative centered around the 2023 Philadelphia mayoral election. The Project Director will serve as the chief ambassador to community and media partners and manage external components of the project.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Next Mayor Project is a comprehensive effort to elevate issues and civic dialogue, catalyze news media and community action, and help ensure broad engagement in Philadelphia’s future leadership and government on the occasion of the 2023 mayoral election. The project is structured around two key overlapping phases leading up to the November 2023 election.
The primary responsibility of the Project Director is to coordinate the overall project. This will include city-wide listening and public-opinion research efforts to help ensure that all of our city’s residents and communities feel properly heard and engaged.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Identify and engage prospective community listening, opinion research, and media partners to accomplish project goals
2. Plan, organize, and facilitate a series of approximately 12 community listening sessions and public events
3. Conduct initial opinion research at scale
4. Capture issues, messaging and information and prioritize issues
5. Identify key engagement metrics and methods for measuring civic engagement and empowerment
6. Lead and manage all partnership agreements and grantmaking activities in support of the project
7. Facilitate ongoing communication, reporting, and content sharing between community partners, newsrooms, and Institute staff
8. Contribute content and perspective to the project’s city-wide branding and marketing campaign
9. Collaborate with Editorial Director on public-facing website and content aggregation
10. Follow project budget in coordination with Institute staff and in line with funding parameters
11. Participate in working group to plan for post-election accountability
12. Document and share project learnings
QUALIFICATIONS / EXPERIENCE
1. 7-plus years in a project management or community engagement position
2. Prior experience and familiarity with Philadelphia’s media ecosystem
3. Experience employing a broad array of community listening techniques, including 1:1 interviews, focus groups, and quantitative research
4. Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with a wide array of partners
5. Skill in managing program activities and budgets
6. Ability to manage multiple priorities while keeping the end goals in sight
7. Great communication and presentation skills
8. News media and editorial background or project management experience related to news coverage is a plus
9. Editorial collaboration or content aggregation experience is a plus
PREFERRED QUALITIES
1. A skilled facilitator, listener, and collaborator
2. Deep sense of accountability to project stakeholders
3. An organizing and movement-building approach to community engagement
4. A mission-driven person, who cares about local news, innovation, and democracy
5. Commitment to equity in all aspects of the work
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