Vice President for Communications and Marketing

Job Description

The Vice President for Communications and Marketing of The Pontifical Missions Societies USA (TPMS) serves as a key member of TPMS' leadership team, responsible for articulating, shaping, and amplifying TPMS' mission to a wide array of stakeholders. This position oversees all branding, messaging, editorial, digital, and public relations efforts and ensures that TPMS maintains a unified, mission-driven voice across all platforms.

The Vice President for Communications and Marketing must work in either the St. Petersburg or New York City office unless when traveling on a work-related trip. A couple of significant international trips per year is expected.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Leadership and Messaging

• Propose, win leadership agreement and lead the execution of a multi-channel communications strategy that includes print, digital, email, social media, web content, multimedia storytelling, and public relations.

• Maintain TPMS's institutional voice, ensuring theological accuracy, pastoral sensitivity, and alignment with Vatican, USCCB, and diocesan norms.

• Serve as chief editor and senior content strategist for all messaging, including MISSION Magazine, national campaigns, and internal initiatives, as well as providing support for donor communications.

• Advise the National Director, Chief Operating Officer and leadership team on communications priorities, media opportunities, narrative framing, rapid response, and stakeholder engagement.

• Coordinate messaging with the Vatican's Dicastery for Evangelization, Dicastery for Communication, other TPMS National Directors, USCCB offices, and diocesan TPMS directors and communication teams.

• Coordinate international mission-territory travel with the National Director to gather photographs, interviews, stories, and multimedia assets.

• Lead the drafting of key messages and materials that inform, inspire and persuade recipients to deepen their involvement in TPMS initiatives and campaigns.

World Mission Sunday Campaign

• Plan and execute the full World Mission Sunday campaign annually, from conceptual development, through the creation of all materials, to the national rollout. The campaign should seek to continue to increase its overall reach to Catholic families, the number of parishes participating substantially, and overall contributions.

• Lead the forging of the campaign's visual identity, messaging framework, and strategic content plan.

• Coordinate the ordering, printing and shipping of World Mission Sunday assets to parishes nationwide.

• Produce an integrated suite of materials including:

- Posters, parish kits, prayer cards, and bulletin inserts
- Homily Helps, educational materials, and sample letters for bishops and diocesan directors
- Op-eds for board members and other bishops
- News articles for diocesan newspapers
- Email series, social media assets, digital volunteer campaign, and scripts for video content for various dioceses

• Serve as primary liaison with USCCB's communications office for access to their website and social media channels, and diocesan communications offices nationwide.

• Oversee the creation and annual rewriting of the St. Therese Novena for World Mission Sunday, including managing the partnership with the Hallow app and the contribution of Cardinal Tagle.

Marketing and Communications Execution

• Implement comprehensive marketing strategies to support fundraising, donor engagement, diocesan relations, program impact storytelling, and brand visibility.

• Collaborate with the Development team on integrated campaigns, donor appeals, Giving Tuesday, Lenten and Advent initiatives, and stewardship strategies.

• Ensure message alignment across departments (Diocesan Impact, Development, Finance), embedding communications best practices and brand identity into all organizational workflows.

• Oversee project management of all marketing timelines, deliverables, and vendor contracts.

Editorial Oversight and Content Production

• Serve as editor-in-chief of MISSION Magazine, overseeing editorial planning, article assignments, interviews, editing, and production schedules.

• Direct the creation and distribution of high-quality print and digital collateral, including:

- Annual Gratitude Report
- Brochures, fact sheets, and parish resources
- National meeting materials and conference presentations
- Multimedia assets for events, diocesan workshops, and fundraising appeals

• Manage and maintain the national TPMS website, including SEO, platform improvements, and ongoing content updates.

Press Relations and Public Affairs

• Develop and execute a national press strategy for annual initiatives and extraordinary events.
• Draft, edit, and distribute press releases, statements, media alerts, talking points, backgrounders, and op-eds.
• Proactively cultivate relationships with Catholic and secular media.
• Serve as organizational spokesperson when delegated by the National Director.
• Represent TPMS at the annual Catholic Media Conference.

Partnership and Stakeholder Engagement and Initiative Management

• Build institutional partnerships with digital evangelization platforms.
• Lead new initiatives with new platforms and partners, such as video series, podcasts, articles, and other awareness campaigns.
• Work closely with Vatican communicators and other international TPMS offices to align messaging and collaborate on multimedia content.
• Support communication needs of diocesan directors, including onboarding, parish engagement, and diocesan newsletter content for World Mission Sunday.

Team Leadership and Vendor Management

• Provide clear direction on branding, editorial tone, production expectations, and Catholic content accuracy.

• Supervise the Marketing and Communications Assistant and manage workloads, performance, timelines, and capacity.

• Lead the collaboration with La Machi (and other external communications agencies) to ensure timely delivery of branding assets, design work, and campaign materials.

• Coordinate with the print house for the timely delivery of MISSION Magazine, the Gratitude Report, and the financial report to dioceses, and manage the branded assets storefront.

Organizational Insight and Market Awareness

• Monitor trends in nonprofit marketing, digital evangelization, and Catholic media landscapes.

• Conduct ongoing competitive analyses and propose innovative communication methods based on emerging tools, platforms, and best practices.

• Ensure TPMS remains current within U.S. Catholic media and maintains a strong, credible, and evangelizing presence.

Budgeting and Administrative Oversight

• Develop, manage, and track the annual communications and marketing budget.

• Ensure cost-effective use of resources and maintain vendor accountability.

• Oversee contract negotiations, printing bids, subscription renewals, and external service agreements.

Support for Direct Marketing

• Collaborate with the VP for Development and external direct marketing partners (Parable, Trinity) on digital and mail campaigns.

• Review and approve content to ensure theological accuracy, brand consistency, and effective donor engagement.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education and Communications & Marketing Experience

• Bachelor's Degree required; advanced degree preferred (ideally in Journalism, Communications, Advancement or Theology).

• At least 7+ years' experience in public relations, communications, marketing or fundraising.

• At least several dozen significant publications (press releases, articles, blogs, briefings, recommendations, etc.) and several dozen editing the work of others. Ideally, these publications include the categories of inspiration, information, formation and persuasion.

• At least 3+ years of experience developing marketing campaigns and plans, and evaluating their outcomes, preferably for Catholic institutions and/or not-for-profit organizations.

• At least 3+ years of experience with mass marketing/communications, digital fundraising, audience segmentation, social media, press releases, prepared remarks drafting, and other forms of marketing writing.

• At least 3+ years managing and supervising the work of others.

• Experience working collaboratively with external communications and marketing vendors.

Skills and Expertise

• Exceptional written communication and editing skills.

• Strategic thinking capabilities with attention to operational detail.

• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills.

• Ability to lead a small team to have a positive morale and strong team culture which enhances the overall organization's culture.

• Proficiency with Communications and Media software implementation, including MS Office, social media platforms, email services and web-based CMS.

• Advanced fluency in English. Spanish and Italian fluency a plus.

Faith-Based Requirements

• Practicing Catholic of mature faith, who is knowledgeable of and living in accord with Church teaching.

• Deep understanding of, and commitment to, TPMS' mission.

• Familiarity with diocesan structures and Church governance and knowledge of the key global and national leaders within the Catholic hierarchy and in key Catholic apostolates.

Personal Qualities

• Highest standards of integrity and confidentiality.
• Collaborative leadership style with ability to work across diverse teams and constituencies.
• Accurate, detail-oriented, and dependable.
• Proven ability to manage one's own time and deliver promised deliverables on time.
• Cultural sensitivity and appreciation for the global nature of the Church's mission.
• Willingness to travel domestically and occasionally internationally.

APPLICATIONS AND NOMINATIONS

TPMS has hired Magnanimity Search to oversee the hiring process. Interested applicants should send a cover letter, resume, and three references to tpms-search@magnanimity.us, with a CC to jobs@pontificalmissions.org. Please write "Application for VP for Communications and Marketing" in the subject line. Note: References will only be contacted with a candidate's permission during the later stages of the process.

TPMS hopes to fill the position ideally by early February 2026, so we encourage interested candidates to submit their application materials as soon as possible, at the latest by January 31, 2026. We expect finalists in the search process will participate in four rounds of interviews, with one of those being a written interview.

We also welcome nominations of strong communications professionals. Please email nominations to tpms-search@magnanimity.us.

About the Employer

The Pontifical Mission Societies (TPMS) are a worldwide network at the service of the Pope that supports the missions and the Young Churches with prayer and charity. These include the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Society of St. Peter the Apostle, the Missionary Childhood Association (MCA) and the Missionary Union of Priests and Religious.