Job Title: Web Editor

Department/Program: Marketing

Reports to: Acting Director of Marketing Origination

Date: February 22, 2021

Location: Alexandria, Virginia; Begins remotely

FLSA Status: Exempt

ABOUT THE NATIONAL HEAD START ASSOCIATION

Are you passionate about early childhood education, remedying social inequities, and supporting the most vulnerable children and families? Be a part of the team! NHSA is a nonprofit organization committed to the belief that every child, regardless of circumstances at birth, has the ability to succeed in life. NHSA is the voice for more than 1 million children, 275,000 staff, and 1,600 Head Start grantees in the United States. Since 1974, NHSA has worked diligently for policy changes that ensure all at-risk children have access to the Head Start model of support for the whole child, the family, and the community.

OUR MISSION AND VISION

NHSA’s vision is for Head Start to lead—to be the untiring voice that will not be quiet until every vulnerable child is served with the Head Start model of support for the whole child, the family, and the community—and to advocate—to work diligently for policy and institutional changes that ensure all vulnerable children and families have what they need to succeed. NHSA’s mission is to coalesce, inspire, and support the Head Start field as a leader in early childhood development and education.

OUR CORE VALUES

● We are determined to play a valued and visible national leadership role in this country’s       efforts to educate and serve its most vulnerable children and families.

● We recognize change is constant and are building a flexible, nimble organization that values innovation and can respond effectively to change.

● We are actively committed to being a high-impact organization that evaluates effort and measures outcomes; our commitment extends to helping Head Start value and use measurements effectively.

● We value partnerships and collaboration and at our core, we are relationship-based.

● We celebrate Head Start alumni, both graduates and parents, and the lasting impact that are having in this country.

● We are accountable to our members and funders, seeking high standards of governance, carefully stewarding resources, operating transparently, and living up to the highest standards of quality.

OUR CULTURE

NHSA is proud of our inclusive, collaborative, and professional culture. We value and reward teamwork, initiative, creativity, and intellectual and professional growth. We seek those qualities when considering people to join our team.

● Collaboration: NHSA works in teams—we share ideas, brainstorm endlessly, and constantly seek innovative ideas that advance NHSA’s and Head Start’s missions.

● Vision: NHSA values colleagues who see and seize opportunities, take risks, learn from failure, and bring a relentless passion for our mission.

● Creativity: NHSA team members use data to form original insights. We find ways to incorporate innovative ideas and approaches that exist in the rich and vital Head Start community.

● Mindfulness: NHSA has an organization-wide commitment to strive for excellence; we set clear objectives, achieve ambitious goals, ensure accountability for results, and focus on our impact.

● Curiosity: NHSA values those who are curious and hungry for knowledge. Reflecting Head Start’s 55 years of commitment to continuous improvement, our staff is committed to personal and professional growth, understanding, and commitment to our mission.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The opportunity to succeed in school and in life, regardless of circumstances at birth, is a core American value, and for the past fifty-five years, the Head Start community has embraced the challenge of delivering on that value and changing life trajectories for the nation’s most vulnerable children and families. A strong and sustainable future for Head Start will mean the success of generations of children who may otherwise struggle throughout their lives. Their future success rests on the knowledge, commitment, and collaboration of families, programs, researchers, and policymakers.

NHSA is a unique organization looking to grow intentionally and to find the right person for the right opportunity on our team. If you are looking to be part of an organization that is static, where things are predictable, and challenges are hard to come by, you should not work with us. If you are a person who is looking to only work on tasks on a job description (such as this) and has a proclivity to say “that is not my job,” we respect that, but you should not work with us. If you are interested in being a responsible contributor while flexing your curiosities and creativity, keep reading.

We look for flexibility, good judgment, and people capable of evolving. Your growth and contributions to the team are important to us because we know that a better you makes a better us. We pride ourselves on not being bureaucratic. Do you believe that every child, regardless of circumstances at birth, has the ability to succeed in life? Do you believe in providing America’s most vulnerable children, families, and communities with the opportunities they need in order to succeed? Then think about joining us! The Web Editor will have the opportunity to make us a better organization. 

NHSA is searching for a highly motivated, positive, organized, creative, and detail-oriented person for the position of Web Editor. Essential strengths include attention to detail, ability to thrive in a fast-paced, multi-tasking environment, sound judgment, strong communication skills, and superb organization. In this time of unprecedented uncertainty, a strong sense of curiosity and an eagerness to learn is essential as well as creativity in developing and maintaining our website. We communicate with over 300,000 people each year with our web and social media assets. We promote and share technical knowledge and advocacy to the early childhood education community on a daily basis. The Web Editor will support and lead much of this work.

The ideal candidate will be highly organized and be able to set objectives, manage deadlines, and see projects through to completion. They should have the strength and ability to work independently and as a vital and contributing member of our highly-collaborative team. Our Web Editor should have an excellent knowledge of content management systems (ideally WordPress), embedded HTML in related systems, engagement activities analytics, and supporting robust communities. This position interacts largely with our marketing and technology teams.

This position will be charged with providing informed, clear, compelling, and easy to navigate digital properties for our community and external audiences. The Web Editor is supervised by and reports to the Acting Director of Marketing and is expected to work in coordination with all team members. NHSA prides itself on being a learning organization, and additional duties will be added based on the individual’s interests and strengths. This role will begin remotely. Strong commitment of NHSA’s mission and a can-do attitude will make them successful.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

● Translates complex subject matter into written and visually appealing content that is easily digestible and optimized for web and various other digital communication channels

● Contributes to creative brainstorming sessions and works with projects managers to develop new ideas for content development and digital engagement and manages updates

● Fosters close relationships with content-generating teams and leadership, and develops a firm understanding of organizational strategies and priorities

● Generates traffic reports and efficacy metrics and be on the lookout for trends to better employ the website to our audience

● Other relevant duties as assigned

REQUIREMENTS

● Ability to execute a design and brand for digital communications.

o Demonstrated command of content management systems (WordPress), familiarity with HTML and CSS

o Knowledge of branding, layout, and typography 

● Must be able to work independently and be proactive while being highly collaborative and a dependable team-player

o Great interpersonal skills and humor under pressure

o Good judgment, flexibility, and problem-solving skills

● Bachelor’s degree required with relevant experience, coursework, or internships

● Excellent written communication, including proofreading, grammar, spelling, and editing skills

● Competency in building engagement

● Knowledge of internet security practices

● Competency in Microsoft Office and Google Suite

● Strong ability to learn new software and/or tools in order to execute the responsibilities of the position

THESE ARE A PLUS:

● Experience with Adobe Creative Suite software (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign) and PowerPoint

● Experience with video editing and photography

● Experience managing editorial calendars or working on publications

THE PROCESS

Please submit your cover letter, résumé, examples of work (see below) in one PDF document to jobs@nhsa.org with Web Editor in the subject line.

Please submit 1—3 examples of your work—this could include a sample of your writing, a publication or document that you designed/laid out, a web project that you worked on, or anything else you think relevant to this position. We appreciate the phone calls and the enthusiasm however, please know that we cannot return those calls unless we have further engaged in our recruitment.

NHSA IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, national origin, marital status, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, personal appearance, family responsibilities, political affiliation, or enrollment in a college, university, technical school, or adult education.

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