How to apply for Chief Marketing and Communications Officer

About Family Promise

Family Promise is the nation's leading nonprofit dedicated to preventing and ending family homelessness, operating through a federated network of nearly 180 locations. Unlike many nonprofits, it combines direct services—prevention, shelter, housing stabilization—with a national platform for advocacy and systemic change. Working here means joining a mission-driven organization at a pivotal growth moment, where marketing and communications will directly fuel the expansion of services for families in crisis.

About the role

As Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, you will report directly to the CEO and serve on the senior leadership team, owning enterprise brand strategy, marketing, communications, content, thought leadership, media relations, digital strategy, and audience growth. This is a builder role: you'll create the integrated marketing and communications function from the ground up, establishing the team, systems, partnerships, and measurement infrastructure needed to scale Family Promise's national visibility and influence. Your work will directly shape how the organization is understood, experienced, and engaged by audiences across the country, ultimately expanding support for families experiencing homelessness.

A typical day

A typical day might involve meeting with the CEO to align on strategic priorities, collaborating with local affiliate leaders to gather stories and ensure brand consistency, and working with your team to develop a national campaign or thought leadership piece. You'll also spend time analyzing metrics to refine audience growth strategies and building relationships with media partners or potential funders. Expect a mix of high-level strategy, creative brainstorming, and hands-on execution as you scale the function.

Who Family Promise is looking for

• Proven experience leading integrated marketing and communications at an enterprise level, ideally in a nonprofit, social impact, or mission-driven organization.
• A track record of building and scaling marketing/communications functions, including team development, systems implementation, and measurement frameworks.
• Strong creative and strategic storytelling skills, with the ability to translate complex mission data and expertise into a clear, differentiated national voice.
• Experience working with federated or distributed networks, and the ability to align diverse stakeholders around a cohesive brand and narrative strategy.
• Comfort operating in a remote, fast-paced environment with a high degree of autonomy and accountability to the CEO and senior leadership.

Tips for this application

• Highlight your experience building marketing/communications functions from scratch—this is explicitly a 'builder role,' so share concrete examples of teams, systems, and processes you've established.
• Demonstrate familiarity with the nonprofit sector, especially federated networks. If you've worked with or within a national organization with local affiliates, emphasize how you aligned brand and messaging across locations.
• Show your ability to translate mission-driven data and stories into compelling national narratives. Provide examples of campaigns or thought leadership that shifted public perception or drove engagement.
• Address the remote nature of the role: explain how you've successfully led distributed teams and managed cross-functional collaboration virtually.
• Tailor your resume and cover letter to emphasize enterprise-level strategy, not just execution. The CMCO is a senior executive role, so focus on vision, influence, and organizational impact.

What to cover in your cover letter

["Your vision for building an integrated marketing and communications function that amplifies Family Promise's national voice while honoring its local network.", "Specific examples of how you've translated mission and data into differentiated narratives that expanded visibility and support.", 'Your approach to leading and developing a high-performing, remote marketing/communications team in a growth-oriented environment.', "Why Family Promise's mission to prevent and end family homelessness resonates with you personally and professionally, and how you'll leverage your skills to advance it."]

Research before applying

• Explore Family Promise's website, annual reports, and recent press releases to understand their current brand positioning, key programs, and national growth goals.
• Research the landscape of family homelessness in the US: key statistics, policy debates, and major players. This will help you speak credibly about the context in which Family Promise operates.
• Investigate Family Promise's federated network model: how do local affiliates operate, and what are the implications for national brand consistency and local autonomy?
• Look into the CEO's background, recent interviews, and public statements to understand their vision and priorities for the organization's next chapter.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• How would you build a national brand strategy that unifies nearly 180 local affiliates while allowing for local flexibility?
• Describe a time you translated complex data or research into a compelling narrative that changed audience behavior or perception.
• What metrics would you prioritize to measure the success of Family Promise's marketing and communications efforts, and how would you build the infrastructure to track them?
• How would you approach media relations and thought leadership to position Family Promise as the go-to expert on family homelessness?
• Tell us about a time you built a marketing/communications team from the ground up. What roles did you hire first, and how did you scale?

Common mistakes to avoid

• Focusing only on tactical execution (e.g., social media management, press releases) without demonstrating strategic, enterprise-level thinking. The CMCO must set vision and build systems.
• Ignoring the federated network structure. Candidates who propose a top-down, one-size-fits-all brand approach may alienate local affiliates and miss the nuance of the role.
• Underestimating the builder aspect: assuming the role is about managing an existing team rather than creating one. Be prepared to discuss how you'll recruit, structure, and resource the function.