Title: Director of Communications & Outreach -OR- Senior Program Associate (Communications & Outreach)
Salary: $110,000-$160,000+ -OR- $90,000-$110,000+ (incl. healthcare and retirement contributions)
Location: In-person, Washington, DC; visa sponsorship available
Job Type: Full-time
Application Deadline: May 22nd, 2025
The Horizon Institute for Public Service is seeking a full-time Director of Communications & Outreach / Senior Program Associate (Communications & Outreach) to help scale the organization’s impact. Your work would help us attract high-quality applicants across our many programs and grow the quality and user base for our digital products; reach and build relationships with funders, senior policy leaders, partner organizations, and other important external stakeholders; and shape Horizon’s long-term communications strategy as we expand our national profile and prepare for future organizational growth. You will also have opportunities to explore and potentially launch new lines of work, such as an advising workstream focused on training people in policy writing skills, or new organizational digital products like a podcast.
Competitive applicants for the Senior Program Associate role will likely have completed at least a bachelor's degree and have 1-2 years of relevant work experience. Director-level candidates will likely have more years of relevant work experience. However, if you think the role is a great fit for your skills and interests, we encourage you to apply even if you don't have previous experience in this exact field. Our hiring process is designed to test for aptitudes and skills, not specific resume markers.
The Horizon Institute for Public Service is a non-profit that supports the next generation of public servants with expertise in emerging technologies.
Emerging technologies, like biotechnology and artificial intelligence, are rapidly reshaping our world. The US government plays an essential role in developing and governing new technologies, crafting policies to take advantage of their benefits and avert the risks they pose. But policymakers' ability to stay ahead of the curve depends on access to the requisite expertise. And right now, that expertise is sorely lacking.
Since our launch two years ago, we've helped hundreds of experts launch critically needed careers in public service. For example, through our fellowship program, we’ve helped 75+ subject-matter experts fill vital roles at top think tanks, congressional offices, and federal agencies. Our online emergingtechpolicy.org career resource has reached 70,000+ users. We’ve also helped more than 1,000 individuals through our online seminar series and 1-1 advising calls, and participated in the first-ever government AI hiring fair. You can read more about our work here.
As our Director of Communications & Outreach / Senior Program Associate (Communications & Outreach), you’ll develop specialized expertise in talent pipeline development and strategic field-building; strengthen your skills in communication, policy writing, and design work; and build in-depth knowledge of emerging technology policy areas such as AI and bio. You will also be a key member of a tight-knit, high-performing team at a fast-paced, growing organization; you will be managed by co-Executive Director Remco Zwetsloot and collaborate on your portfolio with other senior members of the executive team and program leadership. This role is an excellent platform for advancing to future senior roles involving communications, fundraising and partnerships, recruitment and hiring, program and project management, and broader nonprofit and executive leadership.
Oversee Horizon’s public communications and track related news developments (30%)
Draft all organizational updates and other website material (e.g., fellow Q&As)
Ramp up our newsletter activity, with ~monthly organizational updates and other occasional announcements (see program outreach and emergingtechpolicy.org sections below); assess whether we should shift to Substack and if/how to ramp up newsletter subscribers (currently several thousand)
Draft our annual report and related historical documents (e.g., “first 4 years” report in 2026)
Manage social media accounts (currently X and LinkedIn) and all social media advertising campaigns; ensure better cross-posting of updates and identify other opportunities for online engagement
Track Horizon mentions in media and help respond to incoming press inquiries; may include proactive outreach to media
Brainstorm other ways we could communicate our mission and accomplishments, including by learning from the comms approaches of related nonprofits
Work with the executive team to bolster personal and organizational public presence, including through op-eds or other public pieces
Follow and summarize relevant news and social media activity that could affect our different workstreams and inform the above activities
Run occasional meetings with external comms consultants who can provide input on the above work
Senior version: Set an overall communications strategy and establish goals and targets against which comms success can be measured
Outreach and recruitment for high-impact programs (10-15%)
You would work in collaboration with program leads across our many workstreams to manage regular recruitment and advertising cycles, including our fellowship program (1 cycle per year currently), workshops (3-4 per year), new career accelerator program (likely at least 2-3 cycles per year), online events (1-2 series per year), career support intake form (300+ advising calls per year), and other/future programs.
Manage a CRM system with hundreds of organizations and individuals that we regularly tap for promising talent leads with tailored language and requests; build deeper relationships with the highest-yield lead sources
Attend events and give talks to promote Horizon’s programs to relevant target audiences
Optimize visuals and text for social media marketing campaigns, including managing and evaluating $5,000+ worth of advertising spending per year
Evaluate the efficacy of different outreach and recruitment strategies, including the above, and experiment with different methods to increase high-quality inflow
Design, promotion, and editorial work for emergingtechpolicy.org (10-15%)
Since launching in November 2023, emergingtechpolicy.org has become the leading public resource on US AI and biosecurity policy careers. The website has grown to 100+ guides, exceeding three books’ worth of content, and it’s reached 70,000+ users even though promotion resources have been limited. You would supercharge our capacity to improve the user experience and further scale our audience, working closely with the 3 other members of our web content team.
Promotion – regularly post new and existing guides to social media, test other outreach strategies (e.g., tailored outreach per guide to relevant experts for promotion to their mentees and online followers), and generally ensure that all relevant web content reaches our target audience
Design – work with web design and development contractors to improve presentation of the website and implement standard processes for new and existing articles (e.g., creating consistent imagery through an AI pipeline, optimizing preview language that would show up on sharing platforms, etc.)
(bonus) Editorial – as capacity allows, support web team by providing editing support for in-progress guides, and help optimize style guide for maximal reader engagement with online content (including expanding guides to have more attractive visuals)
Similar work may extend to other digital products, e.g., if we launch online courses as a new product line (under consideration for late 2025).
Senior version: Take ownership of a new vertical of emergingtechpolicy.org (or other online content), e.g., inspirational storytelling about policy impact stories to motivate senior people to make the transition
Fundraising: Help build a broad base of support for Horizon to enable organizational growth and brand diversification (10-15%)
Prepare fundraising materials (edits of our core slide decks, two-pagers, etc.) for prospective donors; support leadership in collecting and highlighting impact stories from our work
Work with senior leadership to draft regular updates for existing funders, board members, and other key supporters
Track activities and announcements/and developments at potential funding sources (institutional foundations, etc.)
Senior version: Help build a deep network of strategic relationships with relevant partners to inform fundraising strategy
The remaining ~30% of time can be designed flexibly based on a competitive candidate’s skills, interests, and availability — this can be discussed as part of the application process. Illustrative examples:
Remaining time reserved for part-time graduate education in DC (such that the candidate works 0.7-0.8 FTE for Horizon). Several of our current staff are in part-time degree programs; salary would be prorated to hours worked.
Pilot a new support service for fellows and advisees that helps them publish pieces and create writing samples that communicate their subject-matter expertise, e.g., by writing pitch/media guides, teaching sessions on policy writing, and doing individualized coaching work. This can include vetting and managing external service providers that would support high-volume versions of this work (e.g., consultants who support policy writing, media training, etc.). We have seen high demand for this type of support from our advisee base.
Other creative/comms-related projects that advance the organization’s mission (e.g., creating “book” versions of emergingtechpolicy.org content, exploring a podcast launch, etc.). You can mention initial ideas as part of your application if you have specific ideas you’d like to pursue.
Contributions to other lines of Horizon work (e.g., conducting individual career advising calls, program support for our various workstreams, etc.).
Enjoy and are skilled at tailoring communications and writing for diverse audiences
Are detail-oriented in written communication and visual design (preferred but not required: track record of high-quality public writing)
Can quickly learn about debates and coalitions in emerging technology policy areas such as AI and bio policy (preferred but not required: has prior background in related debates)
Are excited to be part of a tight-knit and collaborative organization and to track work happening across all of Horizon’s programs
Have some experience with AI tools, and/or are excited to leverage AI tools to enhance all aspects of your work (e.g., writing, visual design, data analysis)
Are entrepreneurial and a team player, adapting to new responsibilities as our growing organization’s needs may change over time
Are motivated by Horizon’s mission and public service-oriented
Can work in-person in Washington, DC
The salary range for the Director of Communications & Outreach is $110,000-$160,000+, and the salary range for the Senior Program Associate (Communications & Outreach) is $90,000-$110,000. Salary will be set based on experience and seniority. As a small non-profit, Horizon does not yet provide a traditional benefits package, such as health insurance or a retirement plan. Instead, we offer a competitive salary (as a W-2 employee), inclusive of a benefits-equivalent stipend, to empower our employees to tailor their benefits according to their individual needs.
Horizon additionally offers:
Unlimited vacation
12 weeks of paid parental leave
Up to $3,000 per year in professional development funding
Flexible working hours
A productive, collaborative office
We can provide visa sponsorship for qualified candidates.
As an additional benefit, employees with subject-matter expertise in emerging technology have the unique opportunity to utilize Horizon’s placement expertise to do a public interest rotation for up to 12 months after working at Horizon for 2 years. At least 6 months' notice must be given to redeem this benefit.
Interested candidates should express initial interest by filling out an application (<10 minutes) by May 22nd, 2025. The application process will involve a paid short work test, a paid longer work test, a structured interview, reference checks, and a paid in-person work trial. We will acknowledge receipt of all applications and aim to get back to candidates within 10 days of the application deadline. Our ideal start date is July/August 2025, though flexibility is offered for exceptional candidates.
We welcome candidates from diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply. Strong candidates may not always fulfill all our required or desired criteria. Studies show that individuals from underrepresented groups may underestimate their qualifications. Therefore, we urge you not to self-disqualify prematurely. If you are excited about this work, we strongly encourage you to apply.
Yearly based
District of Columbia,District of Columbia,United States
District of Columbia,District of Columbia,United States
