Senior Manager, External Affairs

The Agency You’ll Join: The New York City Mayor’s Office is responsible for overseeing city services throughout the five boroughs, coordinating public agencies and departments, and managing public property. The administration is leading the fight in making the city more affordable, reducing inequality, improving public safety, ensuring delivery of efficient and effective services, and working to make New York City’s economy stronger. We value leadership, transparency, fairness, and efficiency as we actively seek diverse talents from various sectors to join our team. For current job opportunities, visit our careers page.

The Team You’ll Work With: The Mayor’s Office of Child Care and Early Childhood Education (OCCECE) is responsible for delivering on the Mayor’s Universal Child Care priority. This includes setting the Administration’s child care strategy, coordinating work across City agencies to deliver a high-quality early care and education system that is responsive to child care providers and meets family needs, collaborating with a range of partners internal and external to City government, and engaging with the public. The Office serves as a central hub for citywide policy implementation and coordination across more than a dozen agencies, including New York City Public Schools (NYCPS), Administration of Children’s Services (ACS), Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), and Department of Social Services (DSS), and fosters strategic partnerships with all levels of government, private entities, nonprofits, and foundations. The Office works closely with families and providers to ensure their voices are represented in the design and implementation of City policy and programs.

The Problems You’ll Solve: The Senior Manager, External Affairs, will report to the Executive Director and work in close partnership with other senior leaders on the team.

Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Partnering with the City Hall and agency communications teams to set the child care communications strategy for the administration, and to collaborate on all public statements, press, and media related to child care matters.
• Developing and maintaining messaging materials for the Office, including talking points and standard presentation materials for public appearances.
• Coordinating with partner agencies on communications and marketing strategy for the City’s early childhood programs and initiatives.
• Managing the Office’s social media presence.
• Partnering with the Intergovernmental Affairs team to set the child care engagement strategy for the administration, and to collaboratively engage with city, state, and federal elected officials on child care matters.
• Overseeing public reporting on behalf of the Office.
• Driving preparation for all Office engagement with elected officials, including City Council hearings and regular meetings with relevant Council Committees and Sub-Committees.
• Maintaining ongoing communications with a wide variety of community, civic, and media organizations related to childcare & early education policy and service delivery.
• Managing discrete special projects related to communications and external affairs.
• Performing other related duties incidental to the work listed above.

About You:

• You have knowledge of and experience with New York City and State government.
• You respond well to rapid-response, fast-paced work.
• You have excellent communication skills: public speaking, presentations, interpersonal communication, and both formal and informal writing.
• You can navigate policy and political differences between key stakeholders.
• You can provide leadership and engage with government, the public, industry leaders, stakeholders, and high-level policy decision makers.
• You are empathic, understanding, and tactful in your approach to engaging community members in difficult conversation topics.
• You can work well under pressure and maintain an enthusiastic work ethic, including embracing different work styles.
• You know discretion, sensitivity, and pay attention to detail.
• You demonstrate a commitment to equity and public service.
• You demonstrate cultural competency to effectively work with diverse populations.

Minimum Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 5-7+ years of work experience in communications, external affairs, intergovernmental affairs, policy advocacy, or a combination thereof.

Additional Information

• In addition to the resume, a cover letter is required to apply.

Minimum Qualifications

• Do you have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university?
• Do you have an associate degree from an accredited college or university along with two (2) years of experience with administrative, analytic, coordinative, supervisory or liaison responsibilities?
• Do you have a four-year high school diploma, or its educational equivalent approved by a state's Department of Education or a recognized accrediting organization along with four (4) years of experience as described in question "2" above?
• Do you have a satisfactory combination of education and/or experience equivalent to that described in questions "1," "2," and/or "3" above?

Residency Requirement

New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of the interview.