Director of Strategic Communications, Transformational Giving

ABOUT THE FOUNDATION 

The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health, in partnership with Stanford Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, unlocks philanthropy to transform health for children and families in Northern California - and around the world. Through fundraising and grantmaking, the Foundation drives scientific research, innovation, and policy change that will improve care, advance cures, and reform healthcare systems for this and future generations.  

MAIN FOCUS: A highly productive individual contributor, the Director of Strategic Communications, Transformational Giving, will use strong persuasive writing skills and messaging expertise to develop and manage various fundraising communications for the Transformational Giving (TG) Team. This position will report to the Senior Director of Strategic Communications and partner closely with the Senior Vice President of Transformational Giving, another Director of Strategic Communications, the Creative Content and Design Specialist (currently hiring), and the entire TG team. The position will be responsible for leading high-priority communications initiatives to drive transformational gifts supporting pediatric research and clinical care. 

LOCATION: Palo Alto, CA (Hybrid strongly preferred). This is a hybrid role, with an expectation of working an average of eight (8) days per month in our Palo Alto office. For an exceptional candidate, this role may be performed remotely from within the U.S.; compensation for remote hires will be adjusted based on geographic location.

WHAT YOU'LL DO... 

The Director of Strategic Communications, Transformational Giving, will develop communications related to transformational philanthropic opportunities that will drive significant revenue for maternal and child health initiatives at Stanford. This role will create compelling donor-facing materials, including proposals and stewardship reports, as well as complex internal documents, such as faculty and leadership briefings and talking points for meetings and events.

The compensation range for this role is $150,000-$165,000 annually.

YOU'LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR...

Strategic Communications –

• Support overall strategy and vision for TG communications, based on both Foundation priorities and specific donor interests.
• Support TG-related content for Foundation-wide communications projects, such as bespoke donor collateral (stewardship reports/proposals), emails, event/donor meeting briefings, photo/video shoots, Packard Children’s News content, blog posts, etc.
• Share TG communication materials across the Foundation to ensure useful content is generated for TG-specific purposes (proposal language, patient family interviews, etc.) and can be leveraged by other teams, as relevant and appropriate.
• Lead projects with freelance writers, consultants, designers, and other outside vendors.
• Recommend new approaches, procedures, and processes to improve and enhance communications for the TG team and generally across the Foundation.
• Support communications strategy and content for Board meetings and task forces led by the TG team as needed.
• Support communication strategy and content for key events led by the TG team.

Donor Communications/Solicitations - Revenue Growth –

• At the direction of and in partnership with the Senior Vice President, Transformational Giving, and other Foundation leaders, creates proposals, case statements, and other donor-facing materials.
• Lead the development of creative custom collateral tailored to individual donors’ preferences and motivations, making recommendations about potential communications platforms (including websites, video, PDF, etc.).
• Partner with the Senior Vice President, Transformational Giving, to produce overviews of scalable gift opportunities for transformative ideas at the hospital and School of Medicine that have the highest potential for philanthropy.
• Share information with communications colleagues and ensure that other teams are aware of and have access to collateral and resources (faculty quotes, statistics, patient family interviews, etc.) related to transformational ideas; leverage documents created by other teams (reports/proposals) for communication with Transformational Giving donors.
• Draft briefings and talking points for meetings involving leadership and/or faculty members.
• Draft personalized acknowledgement letters/emails, written from the point of view of leadership, faculty, and gift officers, as related to transformational gifts cultivation/solicitation.
• Track reports and other projects to ensure deadlines are anticipated and worked toward in a strategic way.
• Recommend new approaches, procedures, communication platforms, and processes to effect continual improvements in efficiency and quality of products.
• Serve as a resource and mentor to communications colleagues on partner teams.
• Collaborate effectively with colleagues across various teams.

YOU MUST HAVE...

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Minimum 8 years related experience demonstrating progressively increasing responsibilities.
• Ability to lead big picture communications strategies that advance institutional priorities in a complex and matrixed environment.
• Education or professional experience in writing for medicine, biology, or scientific research.
• Experience translating scientific/medical (or otherwise highly complicated/technical) concepts into compelling, lay language, synthesizing material from multiple sources to produce materials for discerning, high-stakes audiences.
• Experience creating donor-facing communications that can scale in scientific sophistication and complexity based on audience knowledge.
• Strong experience directing designers or communications agencies.
• Previous experience working in a nonprofit or higher education environment.
• Strong sense of design, including experience with branding and digital design, or visual design and technological aptitude, and eagerness to learn.

YOU'LL BE SUCCESSFUL IF YOU...

You are an exceptional writer and communicator.

• Exemplary communications skills with proven ability to present, write, edit, and organize thoughts in a clear, concise, and well-organized manner for print, online, and other media.

You possess strong collaborative skills.

• Personal and interpersonal skills with the proven ability to collaborate, motivate, engage, and work closely with senior leaders and internal and external stakeholders.

You are adaptable and flexible.

• Demonstrated openness and receptiveness to new ideas. Possess a high tolerance for ambiguity and shifting priorities in a complex and matrixed work environment.

You possess sound judgment.

• Proven ability to make independent decisions, problem solve and operate diplomatically while balancing and meeting multiple organizational needs.

You possess strong organizational skills and a systems-oriented mindset.

• Proven ability to meet deadlines, manage multiple priorities, maintain attention to detail, and function effectively in a complex, fast-paced environment.

You have a mission-first mindset.

• A commitment to the mission of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health—to elevate the priority of children's health and increase the quality and accessibility of children's health care through leadership and direct investment.

Working at the Foundation

WE OFFER EXCELLENT BENEFITS & PERKS, INCLUDING…

• Generous leave, including PTO, holidays, Summer Fridays, and a sabbatical (after 7 years of employment) 
• Annual bonus opportunity
• Retirement plan + employer match
• Premium Medical and Dental coverage
• FSA + dependent care FSA
• Employer-paid life insurance
• Legal services plan 
• Commuter Benefits, including CalTrain “Go Pass” Program
• 4-week paid maternity and paternity leave for new parents
• Stipend for home office and mobile phone
• If remote, frequent opportunities to visit our beautiful HQ in Palo Alto 

WE’RE DYNAMIC…

The Foundation is a dynamic organization in a rapidly changing industry. Therefore, the responsibilities associated with this position will evolve and grow in accordance with LPFCH's business needs and growth plans. More specifically, the incumbent may be required to perform additional and/or different responsibilities based on the future growth plans for the Foundation.

WE STRIVE TO EMBODY OUR CULTURAL TOUCHSTONES

• Mission-first - We can never lose sight of why we exist and exercise profound commitment to advancing child and maternal health. 
• Good of the whole - We share responsibility for overall results, think of what’s best for the team and organization, and act as responsible stewards of resources. 
• Bold and bendy - We’re unapologetically ambitious for our mission, creative, and take risks by trying new things.   
• Sweat the big stuff - We’re clear on our priorities, calibrating effort and resources to audience and impact; the higher the return, the greater the investment. 
• Make it happen - We’re focused on outcomes and prepared with ideas and solutions for every challenge. 
• Community matters - We prioritize listening to and supporting each other, not just as colleagues, but as people with varied experiences and perspectives. 

EVERYONE BELONGS HERE 

Our Foundation values the unique qualities each of us brings to our team and community.  We take pride in cultivating a workplace where every voice is heard and each of us has the opportunity to achieve our fullest potential—so that together, we can make meaningful impact on the health outcomes for children and their families.  

We are guided by the following principles: 

• Uphold integrity and professionalism in all our actions.
• Foster a welcoming and supportive culture.
• Embrace unique perspectives and contributions.
• Interact with compassion, openness, and an eagerness to learn.