Senior Director, Marketing and Strategic Communications

While we appreciate your enthusiasm for our work, we ask for no phone calls or LinkedIn messages regarding this role, please. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
A note on our process: We are committed to a human-first hiring approach. Your application will be reviewed entirely by our team, without the use of AI screening tools.

Remote (must reside within the United States)
Job Type: Full-time, 35 hours per week, Exempt
Salary Range: $150,000 – $170,000, based on the candidate's relevant experience, skills, and qualifications. This range reflects national market data for comparable roles.
Travel: Domestic and occasional international travel required, including overnight stays (up to 15%)
Start Date: Immediate
No immigration or relocation assistance is available for this position
About Us
The Pacific Institute is a global water think tank that combines science-based thought leadership with active outreach and engagement to influence local, national, and international efforts in water sustainability and resilience. Our vision is to create a world in which society, the economy, and the environment have the water they need to thrive now and in the future. Since 1987, we have worked with diverse groups ranging from major corporations to frontline communities with a mission of creating and advancing solutions to the world’s most pressing water challenges. Our work is routinely featured in national and global top-tier media, and we engage more than 270 partners, including NGOs, utilities, policymakers, businesses, and others.
About the Role:
The Senior Director, Marketing and Strategic Communications, leads the strategy and execution of integrated marketing and communications campaigns that grow the Pacific Institute ’s audiences, strengthen its reputation as a definitive voice on global water solutions, and build the visibility and positioning that drive partnership and funding growth.

Reporting to the President and CEO and serving as a full member of the Executive Management Team, the Senior Director leads a team spanning content, digital, media relations, and partner communications. Working across Development and Research and Programs, this role builds the campaigns, messaging, and marketing infrastructure that convert the Pacific Institute 's work into greater visibility, partnerships, and funding. This is a role with room to grow. As we enter our next planning period through 2030, they will shape what marketing and communications looks like at the organization for the next five years: building the systems, strategies, and team that position the Pacific Institute as the definitive voice on global water solutions.
Responsibilities:
Marketing, Brand, and Audience Growth (45%)
- Create and lead the Pacific Institute ’s marketing strategy: audience definition, positioning, and a campaign calendar tied to organizational priorities.

- Plan and execute time-bound, outcome-measured campaigns tied to research launches, initiative milestones, and funding priorities.

- Steward the Pacific Institute ’s parent brand and associated sub-brands, (CEO Water Mandate and the Water Resilience Coalition), maintaining a consistent voice, messaging frameworks, visual identity standards, and editorial integrity across all properties.

- Lead content and audience strategy across the Pacific Institute ’s digital marketing infrastructure.

- Build the analytics and reporting capability that shows what marketing and communications activity produced, in terms leadership and funders can act on.

- Partner with the Chief Growth Officer to build marketing capability that directly supports revenue growth, including funder-facing collateral and messaging, campaign support, and content that opens partnership conversations.

- Partner with the Chief Research and Programs Officer and programmatic team to integrate communications into research and program initiatives, ensuring communication strategies, audience considerations, a