Deputy Chief, Communications

Position Overview

The mission of the Office of External Affairs to improve outcomes for every student in DCPS by fostering strong connections between and among schools, families, the greater DC community, and other stakeholders. Through effective communication, meaningful family and community engagement, and collaborative partnerships, we shine a light on the inspiring stories of the students and schools within DCPS and work to ensure our district is an inclusive environment in which all voices are heard. All our work is designed to accelerate student success by:

• Building and sustaining relationships between and among DCPS, families, communities, and partners that increase trust;
• Increasing transparency and access to information, resources, and DCPS leadership and staff;
• Building capacity in schools and Central Services to enhance communication and engagement with staff, families and communities to improve student outcomes; and
• Ensuring DCPS’s stakeholders are well-informed about our priorities and our successes and have context about our challenges.

Divisions/Teams

• Strategic Communications
• Builds and executes communications systems to ensure clear and informative messaging to stakeholders.
• Supports district-wide branding and marketing through photography, videography, graphic design, social media and newsletter engagement, website management, and more.
• Works cross-functionally to transform district initiatives into effective communications campaigns.
• Monitors progress of projects, based on changes in direction, priorities, and resources.
• Operations Communications:
• Develops and leads overall school-based or district-level incident response communications strategy.
• Approves and writes operations communications on issues including facilities, building modernizations, health, school climate, and other crisis communications.
• Identifies key ways to turn crisis communications into opportunities to reverse existing narratives about DCPS.
• Works across several Central Office teams to manage crisis communications, often outside of the school day.
• Press :
• Manages reactive and proactive engagement with local and national media stories to share the stories of DCPS students, staff, and schools.
• Devises media outreach strategies to support strategic communications objectives.
• Supports crisis communications work by ensuring media are accurately reporting on developments.
• Ensure that key messaging, talking points, and other media materials align with priorities and guidelines set by the Executive Office of the Mayor.
• Family and Community Engagement:
• Aims to build the capacity of Central Services, school administrators, and educators to partner with families to drive student success.
• Listens to and engages our families and community at the district and school level to build trust, using stakeholder feedback to inform the work of DCPS.
• Builds and sustains strategic relationships with key stakeholders.
• Directly supports schools in their parent and community engagement efforts, including with Local School Advisory Teams (LSATs) and parent teacher organizations (PTOs).
• Partnerships :
• Serves as the district’s central team for identifying and managing strategic partnerships that promote student achievement, build school capacity, and advance district priorities.
• Enhances the capacity of Central Services, school administrators, and teachers to maximize the impact of partnerships on key organizational goals.
• Develops and maintains systems and policies that ensure school-based and district-level partnerships are high-quality, compliant, and aligned with the strategic priority to ensure students feel connected to their schools.

The Deputy Chief of Communications leads the development and execution of strategic and digital communications across DCPS. As the strategic communications lead for the district, this role manages a dynamic team responsible for branding, content creation, social media, websites, newsletters, and multimedia storytelling. The Deputy Chief transforms district priorities into compelling campaigns that engage and inform families, staff, and the broader community through clear, consistent, data-driven messaging aligned with DCPS’ mission. This role is instrumental in building public trust, promoting key initiatives, and enhancing visibility of the district’s work and that of its 117 schools.

If you are hired into this position at an annual salary of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) or more, DC government regulations require that you must establish residency in the District of Columbia within one hundred eighty (180) days of the effective date of the appointment and continue to maintain residency within the District of Columbia throughout the duration of the appointment. If you do not currently reside in the District of Columbia and face extenuating circumstances that prevent relocation, you may request a hardship waiver for consideration.

The Deputy Chief, Communications will report to the Chief, External Affairs.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The below statements are intended to describe the general nature and scope of work being performed by this position. This is not a complete listing of all responsibilities, duties, and/or skills required. Other duties may be assigned.

• Serves as a key cross-functional leader, translating district priorities and initiatives into compelling, data-informed communications campaigns that drive awareness, engagement, and action from external stakeholders.
• Acts as an advisor to program and senior leadership, providing strategic guidance for message development, issue positioning, and public-facing initiatives.
• Directs the creation and deployment of communications campaigns to support major district priorities such as enrollment, attendance, academic success, and student well-being—ensuring content is accurate, accessible, responsive, and reflective of DCPS’ diversity.
• Leads the planning and execution of a districtwide, centralized editorial calendar to ensure coordinated, timely communications campaigns around national recognition days, awareness months, and district milestones and priorities.
• Designs and manages districtwide communication systems and approval workflows to ensure clear, timely, and consistent messaging from high-priority program areas within Central Services across all channels, including social media, websites, email campaigns, print, and video.
• Develops and monitors the efficacy of communications campaigns, reporting out on digital media analytics, stakeholder feedback, and performance metrics.
• Supervises and manages a high-performing communications team; setting clear goals, coaching for results, and building team capacity to deliver high-quality, timely content.
• Oversees and directs all aspects of the district’s digital and strategic communications, including photography, videography, graphic design, social media, newsletters, email marketing, and website presence, ensuring alignment with the district’s voice, tone, and strategic priorities.
• Ensures all DCPS digital content across websites and social media accounts—including Central Services program areas and individual schools—reflect the district’s branding, messaging, accessibility, and engagement standards.
• Serves as a senior member of the Office of External Affairs, staying abreast of best practices and emerging tools in communications, digital media, and SEO/SEM, bringing innovation and insight to DCPS’s communication efforts.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and eight to twelve years of related work experience.
• Master's degree strongly preferred.
• Previous exposure to or experience in the education sector a plus.
• Strong track record of translating programs and initiatives into compelling communications campaigns.
• Proven interpersonal skills and leadership experience in managing and developing high-performing teams.
• Excellent project management and ability to operate independently in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Superb written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey complex information concisely to multiple stakeholders.
• Flexibility to staff occasional events on weeknights and weekends.

DCPS Values

• STUDENTS FIRST : We recognize students as whole children and put their needs first in everything we do.
• COURAGE : We have the audacity to learn from our successes and failures, to try new things, and to lead the nation as a proof point of PK-12 success.
• EQUITY : We work proactively to eliminate opportunity gaps by interrupting institutional bias and investing in effective strategies to ensure every student succeeds.
• EXCELLENCE : We work with integrity and hold ourselves accountable for exemplary outcomes, service, and interactions.
• TEAMWORK : We recognize that our greatest asset is our collective vision and ability to work collaboratively and authentically.
• JOY : We enjoy our collective work and will enthusiastically celebrate our success and each other.