Application Guide
How to Apply for Senior Director of External Relations
at C&S
🏢 About C&S
C&S is a mission-driven organization dedicated to equipping young people with civic skills and opportunities to engage in their communities. What sets them apart is their unique approach of partnering with college presidents, educators, employers, and community leaders to embed civic learning into education and workforce systems. If you're passionate about strengthening democracy through youth empowerment and cross-sector collaboration, C&S offers a chance to drive systemic change.
About This Role
As Senior Director of External Relations, you'll lead the strategy for how C&S communicates its impact, builds partnerships, and influences the field of civic engagement. This role is pivotal in amplifying C&S's thought leadership, securing high-profile speaking engagements, and forging relationships with leaders in higher education, philanthropy, and business. Your work will directly shape the narrative around civic skills and expand C&S's reach across sectors.
💡 A Day in the Life
A typical day might start with a virtual check-in with the communications team to review media coverage and upcoming speaking opportunities, followed by a strategy session with a partner university to co-design a civic skills initiative. You could spend the afternoon drafting a thought leadership piece for a major education publication, then wrap up by preparing talking points for an interview with a national news outlet.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who C&S Is Looking For
- A strategic communicator with 8–12+ years in external relations, who has developed and executed thought leadership campaigns that shifted public discourse or policy.
- A relationship-builder who can engage senior leaders from diverse sectors (higher ed, philanthropy, media) and has a track record of forging partnerships that advance organizational goals.
- A storyteller with exceptional writing skills, able to translate complex research into compelling narratives for varied audiences, and experienced in media relations and crisis communication.
- A project manager who can juggle multiple initiatives, manage external agencies, and collaborate with internal teams to ensure cohesive messaging across all channels.
📝 Tips for Applying to C&S
Tailor your resume to highlight measurable impacts of your external relations strategies, such as increased media mentions, partnership growth, or policy adoption.
In your cover letter, explicitly connect your experience to C&S's mission and flagship initiatives, showing you understand their focus on civic skills and youth engagement.
Research C&S's current thought leadership pieces and suggest how you would amplify them; mention specific media outlets or conferences where you'd position their work.
Demonstrate your ability to work remotely by describing your experience managing virtual teams and coordinating across time zones.
Include examples of how you've influenced a field or sector (e.g., education, workforce) through strategic partnerships or communications campaigns.
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
["Your passion for civic engagement and youth development, and how it aligns with C&S's mission.", "Specific examples of external relations strategies you've led that increased organizational influence or credibility.", 'Your experience building senior-level relationships across multiple sectors (higher education, philanthropy, business).', "How you would leverage C&S's research and frameworks to drive adoption in new markets or sectors."]
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Read C&S's annual report and flagship research on civic skills to understand their key messages and evidence base.
- → Review their media coverage and thought leadership pieces (e.g., op-eds, blog posts) to see how they currently position themselves.
- → Look into their partner organizations and key initiatives (e.g., the Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement initiative) to identify potential synergies.
- → Follow their leadership on LinkedIn and Twitter to get a sense of their current priorities and conversations.
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Focusing too much on personal achievements without linking them to the organization's mission or the role's strategic impact.
- Submitting a generic cover letter that doesn't reference C&S's specific work or demonstrate understanding of the civic engagement field.
- Underestimating the importance of cross-sector collaboration; avoid emphasizing only one type of partnership (e.g., media) without showing breadth.
📅 Application Timeline
This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!