Vice President, Strategic Communications

Vice President, Strategic Communications

Cambridge, MA

Full-time

Axim Collaborative is a nonprofit that transforms education to work pathways by facilitating collaboration and innovations to build an ecosystem of solutions to drive better outcomes for millions of learners. Axim uses catalytic funding to foster partnerships, convene leaders and scale innovations to strengthen pathways for learners. These pathways engage students in their course of study, enable them to persist through their programs and prepare them to excel in their careers.

Axim Collaborative is a joint endeavor between Harvard and MIT that evolved from edX, the pioneering online learning platform that launched in 2012.

Reporting to the CEO, the Vice President, Strategic Communications is a member of Axim Collaborative’s Senior Leadership Team and is responsible for leading a communications strategy that drives sector‑wide impact by elevating the compelling work of our partners. Axim is a unique convener in the education‑to‑work space, and this role will leverage that position to drive cross‑sector change. This is not a product marketing role;

this leader is charged with developing and executing strategies to align a diverse coalition of stakeholders (universities/community colleges, nonprofits, tech partners) toward a common goal and elevating Axim’s position as a convener to drive systemic change. This involves crafting a powerful, cohesive narrative for Axim's work and building the communications capacity of our partners to drive better outcomes for millions of learners.

We are actively seeking a creative leader who can build a movement around the work of our partners, someone who operates with a high‑level strategic rigor and is profoundly rooted in the language and principles of social change and collective action. The ideal candidate is driven by being in service to our partners and possesses a truly bigger vision for systemic impact and field‑building.

The successful candidate will be able to thrive in complexity, taking ambiguous, systems‑level challenges and synthesizing them into clear, compelling narratives for the entire ecosystem.

This is a Cambridge‑based role. Candidates must live within commuting distance and be willing to work out of the Cambridge office at least 2 days per week. This role will require approximately 20% travel. This role is exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

• Lead a unified field‑building strategic communications strategy that aligns diverse stakeholders and amplifies our partners' collective work, connects systems‑level themes across our portfolio, and enhances Axim’s impact.
• Develop innovative and compelling strategies to elevate awareness, engagement, and understanding about Axim’s mission and our partners’ impact in the context of the broader ecosystem.
• Craft thought leadership strategies that reach our target audiences, further innovation, and create new partnership opportunities.
• Advise the CEO and board on communications, brand positioning, and audience engagement.
• Partner with colleagues to ensure cohesive messaging and visibility for Axim’s partnership and programmatic activities.

• Drive the narrative around both Axim and our partners’ work to help our partners improve education to career pathways. This includes synthesizing complex information and ambiguity into clear, actionable narratives for the entire ecosystem.
• Support partners in developing compelling, strategic communications about their work, using all channels creatively and innovatively.
• Ensure data and analytics are used to refine strategies and measure impact across digital and offline channels.
• Oversee digital presence and content strategy, including website, social media, email marketing, to support narrative building around systems change.

• Develop opportunities for Axim’s work to be featured through owned and earned media, cultivating relationships with specific media and press outlets.
• Lead and support the development of executive communications,…