About IDA

IDA supports the vital work of documentary makers and champions a thriving and inclusive documentary culture. We are a nonprofit membership organization that supports documentary makers internationally by providing access to knowledge, support, and connections, and by advocating for changes that uphold their needs, rights, and interests.

Position Summary

The Director of Communications and Editorial leads IDA’s communications, marketing, and press. The Director manages Documentary magazine, which is editorially independent, and the team that delivers the IDA Documentary Awards and IDA’s screenings and public events, and is the editor of IDA’s institutional content. Together, these are how IDA reaches documentary makers, the wider field, and the public, and how it speaks for documentary makers when they need it, including in rapid response when filmmakers are under threat. The Director sets strategy for communications, marketing, and press, within the external affairs strategy led by the Deputy Executive Director, and is accountable across all of this work for its quality, consistency, and reach. Through communications, the magazine, the Awards, and IDA’s programs, the role also contributes to IDA’s goal of growing its membership.

This is a senior leadership role. The Director of Communications and Editorial is a member of IDA’s senior leadership team, a collaborator on organizational strategy, and a public representative of IDA. The Director reports to the Deputy Executive Director and works closely with the Executive Director and the Director of Programs and Advocacy, including on IDA’s public positions and rapid response, often on urgent timelines. The role is hands-on: the Director writes, edits, and signs off on IDA’s institutional content and communications, as well as leading the people who produce them.

The Director supervises four to five staff (currently all based in Los Angeles) and is accountable for the department’s budgets and revenue goals. Management is central to the role. The people who run Documentary magazine, the Awards, marketing and communications, and events day to day report to this position, and the Director’s first responsibility is to make them effective: setting clear priorities, naming a clear lead and clear support for shared work, giving direct and useful feedback, and keeping workloads sustainable through the Awards and magazine cycles. The Director supervises in accordance with IDA’s collective bargaining agreement with CWA. This is a role for an experienced manager.

Benefits

Benefits include 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision coverage, life insurance, short- and long-term disability insurance, paid parental and family leave, and access to pre-tax flexible spending accounts and a 401(k) retirement savings plan. Paid time off includes 17 vacation days in the first year, 12 sick days, 12 paid holidays, 3 personal days, and a paid week off when the office closes from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day.

Key Responsibilities

Communications and Marketing

Set the strategy for IDA’s external communications and marketing, within the wider external affairs strategy led by the Deputy Executive Director, so that IDA communicates clearly and consistently across email, newsletters, social media, the website, and editorial content, engages new members and supporters, and raises IDA’s profile in the United States and internationally.

Set the annual communications plan and calendar with the Deputy Executive Director, supported by the Manager, Marketing and Communications, and align it with the events, development, membership, and program calendars.

Lead communications for IDA’s rapid response and advocacy on behalf of filmmakers, putting into effect the positions set by the Executive Director and the Director of Programs and Advocacy, often on urgent timelines.

Work with development and membership colleagues on fundraising and membership campaigns, and make sure IDA’s communications meet its commitments to funders and members, supported by the Manager, Marketing and Communications.

Use analytics and testing to guide decisions, and share what they show with colleagues who plan IDA’s other work.

Refine IDA’s brand and style guides, train staff in their use, and make sure they are followed. Provide final quality control on IDA’s external communications — press releases, email, social media, web content, and advertising — other than Documentary magazine’s editorial content.

Working with the colleagues who manage these relationships day to day, set priorities for IDA's trade, industry, and media partnerships across Documentary magazine, the Awards, and IDA's events, approve their terms, and represent IDA at a senior level.

Press and Public Voice

Lead IDA’s press and media strategy — pitching, announcements, and responses to news in the field — and its year-round publicity calendar, in line with the wider communications calendar.

Build relationships with journalists and the trade press covering documentary and media.

Write, commission, and place op-eds and public statements for IDA and its leadership, and prepare IDA's leaders for interviews and public appearances.

Manage communications agencies, contractors, and publicists as needed.

Documentary Magazine and Editorial

Manage Documentary magazine, and support and oversee its Editor. The magazine is editorially independent: the Editor sets its editorial direction and reports on editorial content to an external editorial board, and editorial control of the magazine does not rest with this role.

Integrate the magazine’s content, including its archive, into IDA’s content and communications strategy, so that it is at the center of what IDA puts into the world, and work with the Editor to develop and repurpose it across IDA’s channels and programs.

Serve as editor of IDA’s institutional content — articles, reports, statements, news from the field, and content developed with IDA’s programs, such as the Awards, convenings, and educational programs — setting its direction and editorial calendar, and commissioning, writing, and editing it.

Working with the Editor, who manages production and distribution day to day, set the magazine's publishing model and revenue strategy in print and digital, approve the terms of its printing, distribution, and subscription arrangements, and account for performance against them.

IDA Documentary Awards

Support and oversee the Manager, Awards and Industry Relations, who leads the IDA Documentary Awards and runs the competition day to day, and take the complex inquiries from filmmakers and the industry that escalate past them.

Serve as IDA’s point of contact for the event producers and other contractors who deliver the Awards ceremony and related events, and coordinate their work with the Manager, Awards and Industry Relations and with colleagues across IDA.

Lead the communications and promotion of the Awards.

Develop the Awards budget and work with development and sponsorship colleagues on Awards revenue and sponsor benefits.

Events and Screenings

Oversee the operational delivery of IDA’s screenings and public events, in person and online, led day-to-day by the Program Officer, Events and Content. Programming is decided by the colleagues who lead each program.

Agree with colleagues on the lead and support roles for each type of event, including screenings, the Awards, development events, and educational programs.

Make sure IDA’s events are accessible, well-produced, and consistent with its brand. Track event budgets and report on attendance and outcomes.

Leadership and Management

Supervise, develop, and support the staff of the Communications and Editorial team, including hiring, goal-setting, workload, and professional growth, through regular check-ins and direct feedback, and manage in accordance with IDA’s collective bargaining agreement.

Assign work across the team for shared functions, such as e-blasts, events, and campaigns. Track the team’s workload through the year, especially during the Awards and magazine cycles, and adjust priorities or redistribute work as necessary.

Set the department’s budgets with the Deputy Executive Director and the Director of Finance and Administration, decide how resources are allocated across its programs, and report regularly on performance against them.

Manage contracts with external vendors, including designers, printers, agencies, and producers.

Contribute to organizational strategy, planning, and evaluation as a member of the senior leadership team.

Work across IDA so that communications and editorial are integrated with programs, advocacy, membership, events, and development.