Communications Associate

About United Neighborhood Houses

United Neighborhood Houses (UNH) is a policy and social change organization with a mission to promote and strengthen settlement houses’ neighborhood-based, multi-service approach to improving the lives of low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. We represent 46 settlement houses that collectively reach 840,000 New Yorkers from all walks of life. Our role is to amplify the voices, perspectives, and experiences of our members—fighting for a New York where everyone belongs and has opportunities to thrive.

UNH advances the settlement house movement by driving public policy, offering peer learning and professional development, and supporting innovative practices across the movement. We are at an exciting moment of organizational expansion, with a sharpened focus on communications and branding as tools to advance our advocacy and movement-building work.

The Opportunity

This is a rare chance to join a mission-driven organization at an inflection point—and to grow with it. UNH is investing in communications as a strategic function, and this role is designed for someone who wants to build something: a stronger brand, smarter channels, and a communications operation that punches above its weight.

The Communications Associate will own UNH’s day-to-day communications output while advising on longer-range strategy. Working closely with organizational leadership, you’ll help shape how the settlement house movement shows up in policy debates, in the media, and in communities across New York. Over the course of 5–6 years, this role is designed to grow into senior leadership for the right person.

If you’re a motivated communications professional who wants ownership over meaningful work, room to grow, and the chance to use your skills in service of a movement—this is that role.

What You’ll Do

Channel Management & Audience Growth

• Own UNH’s social media presence across Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X—developing platform-specific growth strategies and producing polished, policy-resonant content
• Lead strategy and execution for UNH’s external newsletter (monthly, policy-oriented) and member bulletin (monthly, advertising UNH offerings to settlement house staff)—from audience-building to drafting and designing each issue
• Maintain and evolve UNH’s website, designing new pages and keeping existing content current and on-brand
• Set channel goals, track performance metrics, and report progress to leadership and the Board

Brand, Voice & Visual Identity

• Help shape and safeguard UNH’s brand voice and visual identity across all external-facing materials
• Ensure consistent messaging and audience-focused storytelling across channels and formats
• Translate written content into clear, visually consistent formats aligned with UNH’s brand
• Coordinate with external designers or vendors when higher-level design support is needed

Content & Collateral

• Play a key role in developing UNH’s annual and impact reports—coordinating inputs, managing timelines, and driving review cycles
• Develop marketing and communications collateral for events, partner activations, advocacy campaigns, and special initiatives
• Contribute to the design of organizational products: reports, one-pagers, briefs, presentations, and SWAG
• Conceive and create new formats—video, photography, and other media—to grow UNH’s audience and deepen supporter engagement
• Draft and revise a wide range of materials for external audiences, including donors, funders, elected and appointed officials, members, and the public

Strategy & Leadership

• Advise on the development of annual and long-range communications goals in consultation with organizational leadership and UNH’s Board
• Support tracking and reporting on progress toward strategic communications goals
• Participate in UNH’s Communications and Development Peer Groups—cross-organizational workgroups comprised of staff from member settlement houses
• Support the Development and Communications team in the run-up to UNH’s Annual Benefit, major fundraising appeals, and signature events

What We’re Looking For

We’re looking for someone who is strong across the full communications stack—strategy and execution, words and visuals—and who brings real hunger to grow.

• 3–5 years of communications experience, including managing accounts and channels end-to-end
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute strategy for social media and email—not just post content, but grow audiences and advance goals
• Exceptional writing skills—especially the discipline of brevity and the ability to adapt voice for different audiences
• Experience working as a part of a team and ideally across departments at a small- to mid-size organization
• Creative thinking and a genuine eye for good design; comfort with design tools (Adobe Creative Suite a plus)
• Experience with or genuine interest in digital media strategy, including short-form video
• At least a strong interest in public policy, movement building, or the settlement house sector—and ideally, relationships with or knowledge of New York City/State media
• Strong organizational and project management skills; ability to prioritize and deliver across multiple workstreams simultaneously
• A real desire to grow as a leader—this role is built for someone with manager and director in their future

Compensation & Benefits

This position pays $70,000 - $80,000 depending on skills and experience. UNH offers a competitive benefits package including:

• Excellent medical, dental, and vision plans;
• A 403(b) with the opportunity for a 10% match on a 3% contribution after year one;
• Four weeks of paid vacation to start and generous sick time;
• Early closure on Summer Fridays;
• One-week office closure between 12/25 and New Years;
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave or leave to care for a family member after year one;
• And more!

UNH is currently operating on a hybrid schedule, with occasional travel to Albany and other parts of New York State.

UNH is committed to growth within the organization. This role is explicitly designed with a career pathway toward leadership.

Our Commitment to Equity

UNH recognizes that by adopting a racial equity framework, and by openly acknowledging and challenging racial inequity through our work, we can play a more deliberate and intentional role in combating explicit and implicit racial biases as well as systemic racism. We believe diversity and inclusion enrich our work so that we may better strengthen our communities.

Each UNH employee is encouraged to seek ways in their work to thoughtfully act towards our long-term goal of ensuring that race no longer predicts the quality and trajectory of an individual’s life nor the quality of life in the communities where we live and where settlement houses operate.

We value diversity, equity, and inclusion, and welcome applicants of diverse backgrounds including race, ethnic culture, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, and physical abilities.

How to Apply

To apply, email a resume to unhjobs@unhny.org along with link(s) to your social media account(s) – organizational, professional, or personal account submissions are all welcome. Cover letters are not required to apply for this role. Writing is a critical component of this job and writing samples may be requested during the interview process.

UNH does not use AI to screen resumes. Candidates are encouraged to submit a resume that reflects their design sensibility.

• No inquiries please; only successful candidates will be contacted.