Senior Communications and Engagement Lead at Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions

Looking for exceptional writer-storyteller who can turn member experiences and operational insights into compelling communications, practical resources, and meaningful engagement across PLEJ's national network.

About PLEJ

The Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions (PLEJ) is a national, nonpartisan community of support, best practices, and peer engagement among election offices serving the largest and most diverse populations in the U.S. PLEJ empowers election leaders to address operational challenges, communicate with clarity and transparency, and drive innovation. Through collaborative problem-solving and practical innovation, PLEJ helps build more resilient, efficient, and voter-focused election systems that improve the experience and confidence of millions of Americans. PLEJ is entering a critical phase of growth and impact—expanding its capacity, strengthening its institutional role, and positioning large jurisdictions as national leaders in election administration.

Position Summary

The Senior Communications & Engagement Lead (SCEL) serves as PLEJ's primary lead for member communications, organizational storytelling, stakeholder engagement, and knowledge sharing.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Communications and Digital Engagement, this role is responsible for helping PLEJ connect, inform, and engage a growing national network of election leaders while memorializing and communicating the impact of PLEJ’s work.

This is a writing-intensive role. As such, it requires an exceptional writer, editor, and storyteller who enjoys transforming complex information, conversations, operational insights, and member experiences into compelling communications products for members, partners, funders, and other stakeholders.

The SCEL develops recurring communications products, facilitates peer exchange, manages member-facing content and resources, supports organizational storytelling efforts, and helps ensure that member insights and experiences inform PLEJ's broader work. This individual will play a central role in helping members learn from one another, strengthening engagement across the network, and communicating PLEJ’s impact in election administration.

Experience with election administration is valued but not required. Candidates with backgrounds in communications, associations, nonprofits, philanthropy, public affairs, government, civic engagement, membership organizations, or other mission-driven fields are encouraged to apply.

Core Responsibilities

The SCEL sits at the intersection of member engagement, organizational storytelling, and practical knowledge sharing—turning member experiences into practical resources, compelling stories, and stronger network connections:

Member Communications & Engagement

• Serve as a primary communications contact for PLEJ members and stakeholder groups.
• Create and maintain member communications through regular member newsletters, updates, and briefings.
• Build trusted relationships with election officials, information officers, member staff, and key stakeholders.
• Identify member needs, emerging challenges, opportunities, and areas where peer learning may be valuable.
• Maintain confidentiality and trust while surfacing field-level insights that can strengthen PLEJ’s work.
• Help ensure member perspectives inform organizational priorities and communications efforts and products.
• Support member-facing convenings, webinars, trainings, information sessions, and engagement initiatives.

Writing and Storytelling & Content Development

• Develop compelling written content that supports member engagement and organizational goals.
• Draft newsletters, stakeholder updates, funder communications, annual reports, impact reports, case studies, issue briefs, talking points, and other organizational communications (comms) products.
• Translate complex operational, technical, and policy into clear, practical, and actionable comms products.
• Monitor member needs, field trends, public communications challenges, and emerging operational issues.
• Capture member stories, case studies, and examples that uplift members as election administration leaders.
• Articulate PLEJ's impact, value, and effects to election administration as a practical, nonpartisan field anchor.

Resource Development & Knowledge Management

• Curate best practices, lessons learned, and operational insights to develop compelling comms products.
• Craft public- and member-facing resources (i.e. toolkits, templates, FAQs, guides, and educational materials).
• Ensure comms resources are timely and responsive to member needs, promoting resilience and public trust.
• Manage content strategy and information architecture for PLEJ's member portal and distribution outlets.
• Support development of rapid-response resources during high-profile, sensitive, or time-sensitive moments.
• Help ensure that PLEJ’s resources uplift practical best practices that reflect the realities of large offices.

Organizational Storytelling & Impact Communications

• Collaborate with leadership to communicate organizational priorities, milestones, outcomes, and impact.
• Develop recurring communications to members, funders, partners, board members, and other stakeholders.
• Develop annual reports, impact reports, organizational updates, and other strategic comms products.
• Maintain consistent messaging across member, partner, funder, and organizational communications.

Workgroups, Peer Learning & Community Building

• Help PLEJ Team facilitate PLEJ workgroups, communities of practice, peer-learning activities, and events.
• Translate member discussions into practical resources, comms products, and knowledge-sharing tools.
• Develop comms materials that foster meaningful dialogue and knowledge sharing among members.
• Convert conversations and emerging insights into practical resources, guidance, and comms products.
• Identify opportunities for peer learning that moves beyond dialogue to collaboration and implementation.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with the PLEJ team to support convenings, briefings, and other member-facing programming.
• Collaborate with the PLEJ team to identify stories, resources, and examples to inform public-facing comms.
• Support organizational initiatives that strengthen member value, engagement, and overall impact.
• Contribute to a culture of professionalism, service, collaboration, confidentiality, and nonpartisanship.
• Support broader organizational efforts and collaborate across teams to meet evolving priorities, including taking on additional responsibilities as needed that contribute to PLEJ’s mission and impact.

Requirements

Candidate should demonstrate the following experience, skills, and leadership qualities:

Required

• 7+ years of experience in communications, stakeholder engagement, membership engagement, public affairs, coalition-building, organizational communications, or a related field.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and storytelling skills, supported by a portfolio of work demonstrating the ability to communicate complex topics to diverse audiences, particularly in high-stakes environments.
• Experience developing recurring comms products such as newsletters, annual reports, impact reports, stakeholder updates, toolkits, briefs, case studies, grant reports, or funder communications.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex operational topics into clear, actionable comms products.
• Experience facilitating communities of practice, peer-learning networks, or stakeholder convenings.
• Strong relationship-building, coalition-management, project management, and organizational skills.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment, maintain confidentiality, and manage sensitive information.
• Commitment to nonpartisanship, professionalism, and public service.

Preferred

• Experience working with election administration, government agencies, civic institutions, membership organizations, associations, nonprofit networks, voting systems, or democracy-related issues.
• Experience managing knowledge-sharing platforms, member portals, or online communities.
• Experience working across coalitions, associations, member networks, or multi-jurisdictional initiatives.

Key Competencies

• Exceptional writer, editor, strategic storyteller, and content developer to support peer exchange/growth.
• Skilled facilitator, convener, and relationship/community builder to build trust with the member network.
• Strong listener and information synthesizer with the ability to translate complexity into clarity.
• Sound judgment in sensitive, high-pressure, or politically charged environments.
• Experience with knowledge management, resource development, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Sound judgment and discretion, with a commitment to nonpartisanship, confidentiality, and public service.

Key Outcomes (First 1–2 Years)

• Stronger Member Communications & Engagement: PLEJ members receive clearer, more consistent, and more useful communications that help them stay informed, connected, and engaged across the network.
• High-Quality Storytelling & Content Production: PLEJ regularly produces compelling newsletters, reports, case studies, stakeholder updates, and impact communications that translate member experiences into clear and actionable stories.
• Improved Funder & Partner Communications: Funders and partners have a stronger understanding of PLEJ’s value, progress, and impact through regular, thoughtful, and well-written updates.
• Increased Resource Utilization: PLEJ members more regularly access and use PLEJ resources, tools, templates, and member portal content to support their communications and operational work.
• Greater Visibility of Member Innovations: Member innovations, lessons learned, and best practices are more consistently captured, shared, and elevated across the PLEJ network.
• Stronger Knowledge Capture & Dissemination: Insights generated through workgroups, convenings, and member engagement activities are more consistently translated into practical resources, communications products, and shared learning opportunities.
• Clearer Organizational Impact Narrative: PLEJ more consistently communicates how its work strengthens election administration, supports large jurisdictions, and contributes to a more resilient, voter-focused election system.

Benefits

Compensation & Location

• Salary range: $113,890.00 – $136,082.00, commensurate with experience.
• Location: Flexible, with regular travel for staff meetings, member convenings, and national engagement (up to 30%).
• PLEJ is a fully remote team. This role must be located and performed within the United States and be online and available between the hours of 9a and 5p ET, regardless of where candidate lives.
• Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of hire.
• Benefits: PLEJ offers a generous benefits package including:
• Fully covered medical, dental, vision, short-term and long-term disability, and term life insurance premiums for the employee (employee’s family may be added at employee’s expense)
• Unlimited PTO
• 14 observed holidays and generous holiday schedule
• 401(k) retirement plan

The Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions (PLEJ) is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization committed to providing a community of support to election jurisdictions nationwide.

PLEJ is an equal opportunity employer. Employees and job applicants are protected from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, political affiliation, military service, or other non-merit-based factors. These protections apply to all employment decisions, including recruitment, hiring, performance evaluations, promotions, training, and career development. Additionally, PLEJ provides employees and applicants reasonable accommodations for disabilities; for pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; and for religious beliefs, observances, and practices.

This job description is intended to outline the general scope and responsibilities of the position and may be subject to updates based on organizational needs. It does not constitute a contract of employment.