Summary

Reporting to the President & CEO, the Vice President of Strategic Communications, Marketing and Research will play a critical role in positioning SFAA as the go-to source and thought leader for surety and fidelity bonds and will lead SFAA’s strategic priority to promote the value of surety and fidelity to various constituencies, including public infrastructure officials, private sector developers, lenders and lawmakers at the local, state and federal levels. S/He will be responsible for developing and advancing a strategic communications program that supports SFAA’s mission and strategic priorities and must be passionate about the value that surety and bonds provide. This is a pivotal position requiring exceptional leadership, writing, quality assurance and engagement skills with national, state, local, trade print and electronic media and key stakeholders.

Essential Functions

• Develop and execute strategic communications and marketing plan to advance SFAA’s mission and strategic priorities, targeting trade press, broadcast and social media, using all communication techniques;
• Serve as the organization’s primary spokesperson for press releases and media inquiries and interact daily with reporters from major newspapers, network news organizations, industry trade publications, consumer publications and electronic newsletters;
• Lead strategic planning and execution for SFAA key initiatives;
• Establish and maintain communications policies, protocols and procedures that prioritize member engagement and promote work with cross-functional department leaders to develop new communications programs and initiatives;
• Ensure effective development, implementation and evaluation by measurable metrics of public relations and marketing plans;
• Develop research and execute research projects using currently available and new resources to support the strategic communications plan:
• Develop one-pagers and other written resources to support the strategic communication plan;
• Work with individual SFAA departments to develop consistent messaging across all traditional and social media channels.
• Partner closely with the Government Affairs Department and use a wide variety of communications tools to influence policymakers to favor SFAA’s legislative agenda;
• Draft materials for the CEO and officers as needed, including speeches, messages, columns, presentations and introductions;
• Serve as a strategic counselor and business partner to the leadership team in identifying and managing communications on critical emerging policy or member issues;
• Establish departmental goals and metrics and monitor performance and results;
• Serve as staff lead for SFAA’s Communication Advisory Committee.

 Other General Duties:

• Provide coaching and talking points to leadership on media inquiries and, when needed, lead media training for internal and external SFAA spokespeople;
• Act as first point of contact if a rapid-response need should arise ensuring that proactive, positive messaging and dialogue exists regarding SFAA;
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with communications and marketing decision makers from new and existing members and media outlets;
• Develop creative story angles and consistently secure coverage in high-impact print, broadcast and online media outlets;
• Advance communications opportunities and solutions, and define and execute appropriate strategies to support them;
• Oversee and execute website content strategy;
• Oversee development of strategy and content for SFAA Weekly and Industry Insider;
• Design and prepare Annual Report;
• Review and edit internal and external documents for SFAA stakeholders.