Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications

Application Process: To ensure fair and consistent review, Points of Light accepts applications only through the online application process. Please do not send application materials to individual staff, officers or hiring managers. If you were referred by a Points of Light employee, select the referral/source option in the application and list the employee’s name.

Application Deadline: Sunday, October 26, 2025

Join Points of Light and Change the World

As the world’s largest organization dedicated to increasing volunteer service, Points of Light engages more than 3.8 million volunteers across 32 countries.

Cast from the vision of one thousand points of light shared by its founder, President George H.W. Bush, in his 1989 inaugural address, Points of Light was founded in 1990 as an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization to encourage and empower the spirit of service. The organization extends President Bush’s vision that “any definition of a successful life must include serving others.” Today, Points of Light continues to transcend politics and borders to inspire millions of individuals worldwide to take action. 

Join Us: Be part of a movement that changes lives and communities. Please read the position description below. For more information, visit pointsoflight.org. 

Salary: $150,000 - $175,000 annually

Reports to: President and Chief Executive Officer

Department: Marketing and Communications 

Location: Points of Light is a remote-first organization. Any U.S. location in the Eastern or Central time zone in a market with a major airport. Washington, DC preferred.

Position Summary: 

The Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications serves as a key member of the senior leadership team and the organization’s chief brand strategist. This role is responsible for elevating Points of Light’s reputation as the global leader of volunteering and civic engagement while driving engagement across donors, affiliates, corporate partners, and the public. The SVP provides strategic vision and leadership for all marketing and communications functions—including brand, creative, digital, PR, internal and executive communications—and ensures integration across channels.

The ideal candidate is a transformational leader with deep expertise in brand building, marketing innovation, reputation management, and stakeholder engagement. This role requires a balance of high-level strategic thinking and operational excellence, with the ability to inspire a diverse team and deliver measurable results.

Position Functions and Responsibilities Include:

• Lead Points of Light’s overall marketing and communications strategy, providing strategic counsel to departments, programs, events, and campaigns and overseeing integrated plans that support enterprise priorities to ensure alignment with mission impact.
• Ensure marketing and communications strategies advance organizational revenue and philanthropic goals, including lead generation for corporate partnerships and signature events (e.g., conference), and position Points of Light as a compelling investment to grow global volunteerism.
• Monitor and translate industry trends and audience insights into strategy updates that improve reach, relevance, and ROI.
• Oversee brand strategy, creative development, and design to ensure a consistent, compelling identity.
• Manage external vendors (e.g., PR agencies, consultants, creative partners) to augment capacity and deliver against KPIs.
• Drive integrated digital marketing, social media, and content strategies to expand reach, engagement, and visibility.
• Guide executive, internal, and external communications to align messaging across audiences and elevate thought leadership.
• Provide leadership and counsel to the CEO and executive team on marketing, brand, and communications matters.
• Manage issues and crisis communications to safeguard organizational reputation.
• Lead, mentor, inspire and support a high-performing team.
• Oversee budget and resource allocation for the marketing and communications function.
• Establish and track key metrics to evaluate effectiveness of marketing and communications initiatives.
• Represent Points of Light externally as a senior spokesperson and brand ambassador when needed.
• Serve as liaison to the Board of Directors on marketing matters as well as collaborate with Chief Development Officer on Board Resource Development and External Affairs Committee agendas, Committee Chair preparation and stewardship and meeting minutes.

Core Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Proven expertise in brand building, marketing strategy, communications, and reputation management
• Strong executive presence with ability to engage credibly with the CEO, board, funders, and media
• Deep understanding of digital marketing trends, audience engagement, and storytelling; comfort with data analytics to measure and optimize campaign effectiveness
• Experience leading integrated teams across creative, digital, PR, and communications
• Ability to balance strategic vision with operational execution
• Demonstrated track record of success working at scale serving the nonprofit sector
• Strong leadership skills with a track record of developing and inspiring teams
• Demonstrated crisis communication skills (rapid response, empathy, transparency); success operating in fast-paced, multicultural contexts; highly collaborative style grounded in integrity
• Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Office. Knowledge of Salesforce, program management software (Asana), and data analytics/visualization tools are a plus

Requirements: 

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism, marketing, communications, business, or related field 
• 15+ years of progressive leadership in marketing and communications, including executive-level experience; experience in nonprofit, purpose-driven, or corporate social impact sectors strongly preferred
• Demonstrated success in brand repositioning, digital marketing, and communications transformation
• Experience overseeing multi-functional teams and managing significant budgets
• Able to travel overnight and/or internationally occasionally (estimated 10-15%)
• Ability to create a welcoming work environment for all

Culture and Values: Points of Light has a 35-year history that it seeks to honor, while looking toward the future as an innovative thought leader in the social sector. We have a fast-paced, collaborative environment. Our organization values innovation, dedication, teamwork and respectfulness. We enjoy thinking big, but also working hard to deliver our best work. Our team is solution-oriented, looking for someone who is always ready to deliver on ways to solve challenges, internally and with external partners. 

What We Offer: Competitive compensation and excellent benefits including a robust PTO program: 18 days of PTO, 13 holidays, and 1 floating holiday; plus, we are closed December 25-January 1. Medical, dental and vision benefits offered, free life insurance, along with long-term and short-term disability, a 403b program with employer match, and 1 day of volunteer time off per month.