[Hiring] Senior Media Relations Manager @Way to Win

Role Description

Way to Win seeks a Senior Media Relations Manager to get Way to Win and its leaders into the right conversations. This role will lead a proactive earned media strategy that strengthens Way to Win’s external profile, builds the visibility of our leaders, and ensures our perspectives, political insights, and impact are reaching the audiences and conversations that matter most.

Key Responsibilities

• Media Strategy & Relations
  • Develop and execute Way to Win's earned media strategy aligned with organizational and political priorities.
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with national, political, philanthropic, and other priority reporters and media outlets.
  • Proactively pitch stories, organizational perspectives, leaders, research, partners, and political insights.
  • Respond to inbound media inquiries and coordinate organizational responses.
  • Identify emerging news moments where Way to Win has a relevant perspective or opportunity to influence the conversation.
  • Maintain and continuously develop targeted media lists.
  • Track media engagement, placements, reach, and results.
• Executive Visibility & Thought Leadership
  • Develop media strategies for the President, executive leaders, advisors, and other organizational spokespeople.
  • Identify opportunities for interviews, commentary, panels, podcasts, op-eds, quotes, and other thought-leadership placements.
  • Prepare executives for interviews and events through briefing materials, talking points, message preparation, and media coaching.
  • Support in staffing Executive members on interviews, panels, and other external speaking opportunities.
  • Help translate complex political and organizational strategy into accessible external narratives.
  • Develop a proactive executive visibility calendar rather than relying solely on incoming opportunities.
  • Develop executive voice and strengthen executive presence through strategic messaging and copywriting for LinkedIn, Bluesky, Instagram, and other social channels.
• Messaging & Content
  • Draft and/or edit press releases, statements, talking points, media advisories, pitches, op-eds, executive commentary, FAQs, and briefing materials.
  • Partner with internal stakeholders to develop consistent organizational messaging.
  • Ensure external communications reflect Way to Win's voice, strategy, values, and positioning.
  • Quickly develop communications materials in response to political and news developments.
• Narrative & Organizational Positioning
  • Strengthen external understanding of who Way to Win is, what differentiates our approach, and why our work matters.
  • Identify stories demonstrating the impact of Way to Win's political strategy, donor advising, partnerships, and investments.
  • Partner with Program and Advising to surface stories and insights that can become external-facing content.
  • Help connect Way to Win's earned media strategy to broader organizational narrative and brand priorities.
• Rapid Response & Issues Management
  • Monitor relevant political and media developments.
  • Recommend when Way to Win should respond—and when it should not.
  • Support coordination of rapid-response messaging and approvals.
  • Support executive leadership with sensitive or high-profile communications.
  • Help develop communications protocols for reputational and crisis situations.
• Internal & External Coordination
  • Build systems for identifying upcoming announcements, reports, investments, political moments, events, and organizational milestones with media potential.
  • Coordinate with external consultants or specialized communications partners when needed.
  • Manage media-related vendors and contractors.
  • Establish clear processes for media requests, approvals, spokesperson preparation, and follow-up.

What Success Looks Like

• Established a proactive earned-media strategy and annual media calendar.
• Developed meaningful relationships with priority journalists and outlets.
• Increased the quality and consistency of Way to Win's earned media presence.
• Created a stronger external profile for key organizational leaders.
• Established an internal pipeline for identifying media-worthy stories and insights.
• Improved organizational readiness for rapid-response communications.
• Reduced reliance on an external PR firm for routine media strategy and execution.
• Created measurable reporting around media outreach, placements, executive visibility, message penetration, and audience reach.

Qualifications

• Approximately 7+ years of progressive communications and media relations experience, ideally within politics, advocacy, philanthropy, campaigns, movement organizations, public affairs, or adjacent environments.
• Strong existing relationships with political and/or national media.
• A track record of successfully pitching reporters and securing earned media.
• Excellent writing, editing, messaging, and storytelling skills.
• Strong political judgment and news instincts.
• Ability to translate complicated strategy into compelling public narratives.
• Experience preparing senior executives or principals for media engagement.
• Comfort operating in fast-moving and politically sensitive environments.
• Strong project management and follow-through.
• Ability to work collaboratively across functions while independently owning a portfolio.
• Past experience with a media database like Cision, Muckrack, etc.
• Sound judgment regarding confidential and sensitive information.

Benefits

• Salary Range: $110,000 - $125,000
• Health Care - Comprehensive and robust 100% employee and family paid health care coverage to all employees.
• Retirement Plan - employees are fully vested in the company’s retirement plan 90 days after their start date. Way to Win contributes 6% of the base salary to the employee’s retirement account, regardless of whether the employee contributes or not.
• Life, Short-term Disability, Long-term Disability, and AD&D - Employer-paid Life Insurance, Disability and AD&D.
• Unlimited Paid Time Off.
• Office Closure - 30 days of holiday time, this includes a Spring break, Summer break, Thanksgiving break and an EOY break.
• FSA - Three different tax-deferred FSA accounts (funded by employees) – Health, Commuter (transit/parking — including UberPool), and Dependent Care.
• HSA ($2,000 p/y)
• Family Leave - 12 weeks of paid Family Leave for the birth, adoption, or fostering of a child after one full year of employment.
• Professional Development - Yearly stipend for staff to receive training and development.
• EAP - Confidential Employee Assistant Program (EAP) to all full-time employees to assist with work and personal challenges.
• Work from Home - $150 monthly mobile phone stipend.