NAC Careers

Open Positions

Job Description: Chief External Affairs Officer

TO APPLY: Please submit your resume with a cover letter as one pdf document to HR@caregiving.org, by the deadline: Friday, May 3, 2024. Resumes without a cover letter will not be accepted.

About Us

The National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) is seeking a dynamic leader to shape the future of caregiving through strategic advocacy and impactful communications. The Chief External Affairs Officer will spearhead the development and execution of a comprehensive external engagement strategy, leveraging NAC’s policy, advocacy, and thought leadership to champion America’s 53 million family caregivers.

Established in 1996, the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) is a national membership coalition that brings together more than 50 national healthcare companies and nonprofits, care innovators, caregiving advocacy organizations, and financial services leaders to advance a common agenda of building health, wealth, and equity for family caregivers. From championing our nation’s first-ever national caregiving strategy to releasing new insights on the realities of caregiving, NAC works tirelessly to make caregiving more sustainable and equitable through agenda-setting research, programming, and policy change.

The Opportunity

The Chief External Affairs Officer will work with the President and CEO to strengthen collaboration and impact across the organization’s policy, programs, and communications departments to achieve system change goals in support of family caregivers. This individual will play a pivotal role in amplifying our voice, advancing our organizational objectives, and elevating public awareness of critical issues facing family caregivers.

Responsibilities

Government Affairs

• Oversee NAC’s policy and advocacy department, working hand-in-hand with the VP for Policy and Advocacy to guide and empower a growing team of advocates, maximizing their impact through strategic outreach, coalition building, and targeted communications.
• Provide senior counsel in the development and implementation of a national government affairs strategy to achieve legislative and regulatory policy objectives that support family caregivers.
• Expand NAC’s presence on Capitol Hill and with relevant federal agencies, building and maintaining strong relationships with policymakers and advocates across the caregiving space.

Communications and Strategic Positioning

• Lead the communications team in developing and executing a strategic communications plan to raise awareness of family caregiver issues and amplify the organization’s message across policy, research, and programs.
• Oversee all aspects of external affairs and communications, including media relations, public awareness campaigns, and social media.
• Manage and collaborate effectively with the communications team, including an associate director and vendor relationships.
• Lead the team in executing external engagements and events that support our partnerships and positioning objectives.

Organizational Capacity and Growth

• In coordination with department heads, drive the identification, development, and coordination of joint projects by involving relevant departments in the planning process, leveraging their expertise, and ensuring shared ownership of deliverables.
• Create a platform for knowledge exchange where departments can share their expertise and insights on caregiving issues. This could involve internal knowledge repositories, brown bag lunches, or cross-departmental training sessions.
• Own the development and execution of the policy and communications related annual objectives, ensuring cross-team engagement and collaboration in execution.
• Facilitate a long-term partnerships strategy to benefit the organization collectively, and individual departments.
• In partnership with the CEO, champion and implement NAC’s 2025-2028 Strategic Plan, including a commitment to equity and centering the voices of family caregivers.   

Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in public policy, public administration, communications, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• Minimum 10-15 years of experience in government affairs, healthcare advocacy, and/or public policy with a successful track record in advancing issues related to aging, healthcare, disability, financial security, and caregiving (or the intersection of these issues).
• Demonstrated expertise in building relationships with policymakers, stakeholders, and the media.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to craft persuasive messages for diverse audiences.
• Proven ability to manage and lead a team effectively.
• Deep passion for the mission of supporting family caregivers.
• Candidates located in the DMV (District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia) area is preferred, while still being open to remote work.

Benefits

• Annual compensation package of $125,000.00 to be paid bi-weekly in accordance with NAC payroll practices. Compensation will be reviewed annually and evaluated based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to NAC funding, performance, and comparable national and local market rates (available through published databases).
• Health, vision, and dental insurance. Health and vision insurance for DC-based NAC employees is offered through Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic. NAC will be responsible for paying 85% of that policy’s monthly premium and you will be responsible for 15% of the premium. Dental insurance is offered through Guardian Dental, which is a national plan; employees are expected to make a small monthly contribution towards their premium. Spouse or dependent(s) can be added to either policy; however, the employee will be responsible for 100% of their costs, collected through a bi-weekly payroll contribution. All benefit plans are subject to change at the discretion of management.
• Life, short-term and long-term disability insurance. NAC provides its employees a fully paid package of life, short-term, and long-term disability insurance. You have the option of purchasing additional life insurance (subject to restrictions of the policy); however, you will be responsible for 100% of the added premiums collected through a bi-weekly employee contribution.
• Flexible Spending Account. NAC currently offers its employees the option of enrolling in a flexible spending account for health-related purchases and/or dependent care.
• TIAA-CREF 403(b) Retirement. NAC provides quarterly contributions to a 403(b) Retirement plan, at 10% of worked earnings. While not required, employees are encouraged to make matching contributions.
• Flexible Time, Telework, and Timesheets. Washington DC staff work on a hybrid schedule of remote and office-based work; currently, employees are asked to be in the office two days per week. Staff are asked to coordinate with their supervisor to (1) identify a schedule to allow for alignment with our staff and (2) communicate with the team about how best to collaborate.
  • All staff who are remote or who work on a hybrid schedule of remote and office-based work are expected to sign a tele-commuting agreement on their first day of employment.
  • Weekly schedules should be developed in tandem with immediate supervisors. Staff are expected to be available to each other and to partners during core office hours (10a to 4p) unless otherwise attending an outside meeting, briefing, or conference.
  • Staff are expected to complete daily timesheets through an electronic platform. Completing timesheets helps NAC align compensation to the appropriate grants, sponsorships and contracts underwriting positions, and to calculate bi-weekly paychecks. Grants and sponsorships budgets are developed on the basis of a 40-hour ‘billable’ week. Expectations are that timesheets convey 40 hours of worked time that can be allocated to your relevant cost centers.
• Annual Paid Time Off. For full-time employees, NAC offers 15 days (3 business weeks) of paid time off (PTO) annually, accrued bi-weekly at 4.62 hours per paycheck; in 2024 vacation time will be prorated to start date. In addition to paid time off, NAC offers 5 paid sick days annually; prorated to start date, but not less than 3 days. Finally, NAC follows a schedule of paid federal holidays, and offers a fully paid winter holiday (office closure between 12/24 and 1/1 of the following year).
• Caregiving Support and Specialized Leave. In addition to Annual PTO, NAC aims to be a caregiver-friendly workplace which recognizes the importance of balancing work and life. To further this aim, NAC offers multiple types of paid leave related to family and medical needs, such as paid family and medical leave (available through the DC PFML program for DC-based employees), bereavement leave, and other types of workplace accommodations. These benefits are subject to state and local laws.
• Career Development. Staff receive complimentary membership in an organization/association of their choosing – to be aligned with the work they are performing for NAC. NAC also pays for and provides additional training that can further the staff’s success in this role, as agreed upon between you and your supervisor during annual performance goal setting. Costs to support these activities are subject to budgetary restrictions and may change at the discretion of management.
• Cell Phone and Computer. NAC expects all staff to utilize their cell phone while working for us; staff are also expected to utilize their home internet services for NAC work when working remotely. NAC provides a monthly stipend of $50.00 towards the cost of cell phone and internet services. NAC also provides a laptop computer to each staff member. Details of these provisions are contained within the remote/tele-commuting agreement.

NAC is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). Candidates of diverse backgrounds, minorities, women, people with disabilities, people of LGBT orientation, and Veterans are encouraged to apply. 

Download the position PDF.