Senior Communications Manager

Department: Communications |
Reports to: Chief Innovation Officer |
FLSA Status: Exempt |
Salary Range: $80,000 - $95,000 |
Location: California (Remote) |
Accountability indices: Strategic alignment, initiative, effective project management, high-quality communications, and timely execution

Every student in California deserves learning experiences that help them understand the environment, engage with real-world challenges, and contribute to solutions. Yet many students lack access to these experiences. Ten Strands is committed to changing this. We advance environmental literacy and support resilient, climate-ready schools across the TK-12 system by empowering students and strengthening schools to create a healthier future for people and our planet.

The Senior Communications Manager leads the day-to-day planning and implementation of Ten Strands’ organizational communications as a department of one. Working closely with organizational leadership, the Senior Communications Manager’s primary focus is supporting the programs team, with cyclical support for advocacy campaigns and close partnership with fund development. This role helps translate organizational strategy into clear, compelling, and coordinated communications while capturing and amplifying stories of progress, impact, and change from across Ten Strands’ programs and the broader field.

In practice, success in this role means our programs are well promoted, our advocacy campaigns have clear and timely communications, funders see compelling evidence of our impact, and our website, newsletter, and social channels stay current and consistent.

The Senior Communications Manager is a hands‑on implementer and trusted thought partner, contributing ideas to the messaging and priorities set with organizational leadership while managing content, channels, projects, and external communications support. This role is responsible for helping Ten Strands tell a cohesive story about its work and impact to educators, partners, policymakers, funders, and other priority audiences. The Senior Communications Manager oversees projects, consultants, and vendors and has no direct reports.

• Serve as the primary communications partner to the programs team, supporting educator-facing outreach, professional learning and curriculum promotion, events, and program storytelling.
• Coordinate and produce communications for Ten Strands’ advocacy work, in partnership with leadership and coalition partners, during legislative and campaign cycles, including campaign messaging, coalition communications, action alerts, press releases, and support for op‑ed development and placement.
• Partner closely with the fund development team on funder‑facing communications, including the annual report, impact stories for proposals, case statements, and donor communications.
• Develop, edit, and publish communications collateral and content across Ten Strands’ digital and print channels, including managing website content, newsletters, social media, publications, presentations, and other communications materials.

• Help refine and steward Ten Strands’ brand and messaging guidelines, ensuring consistency across channels and developing storytelling that shows how programs connect to our mission and impact.
• Work proactively across Ten Strands’ programs and partnerships to capture progress, identify and develop success stories, and elevate stories of change from across the field.
• Translate complex education, environmental, climate, and policy work into clear, accessible, and compelling communications for diverse audiences.
• Build media…