Edtech.com's Summary

College Board is hiring an Executive Director, Media Relations. This role requires leading a media relations team to develop and execute comprehensive media strategies that enhance the organization's national visibility and reputation, focusing on flagship programs and emerging priorities. The position involves managing media intelligence, high-stakes media engagements, cultivating journalist relationships, and advising senior leadership to effectively communicate in complex media environments.

Highlights

Lead and coach a high-performing media relations team while fostering cross-divisional collaboration.
Develop proactive and reactive media strategies aligned with College Board's mission and priorities.
Manage media intelligence to anticipate emerging issues, providing actionable insights for executive decisions.
Serve as senior media lead during high-risk and high-visibility situations, coordinating communications and crisis responses.
Build and maintain trusted relationships with national, regional, and trade journalists to ensure accurate and impactful coverage.
Advise and prepare executive leaders for effective media engagement through briefing materials, media training, and support on high-profile interactions.
Required qualifications include a bachelor's degree in journalism, communications, public affairs, or related field, 15+ years in media/public relations, and 5+ years leading teams.
Exceptional writing and editing skills, strategic communications leadership experience, and crisis management expertise are essential.
Experience advising senior executives and managing agency partnerships is required; Spanish fluency is a plus.
Salary range: $144,000 to $210,000, with adjustments based on location, experience, and background.

Executive Director, Media Relations Full Description

Executive Director, Media Relations

College Board - Engagement and Reach

Location: This is a remote role. Candidates who live near CB offices have the option of being fully remote or hybrid (Tuesday and Wednesday in office). All CB employees are required to occasionally travel to meet in person for business purposes.

Role Type: This is a full-time position

About the Team

The Communications department plays a critical role in advancing College Board's mission and ensuring our work is understood with clarity, accuracy, and impact. We define and align core messaging across the organization and lead strategic engagement with key audiences, including students, families, educators, policymakers, and the media. As a creative, strategically disciplined team, we hold ourselves to high standards and continuously innovate in how we tell our story—elevating thought leadership, strengthening executive visibility, and delivering clear, effective communications in moments that matter. We partner closely with leaders and teams across programs, research, policy, and operations to translate complex work into compelling narratives that expand understanding, strengthen trust, and drive meaningful impact.

About the Opportunity

As Executive Director of Media Relations, you will lead a high-performing team responsible for shaping and safeguarding College Board's national visibility and reputation. You will design and drive a disciplined, forward-looking media strategy across national, state, and local markets—strengthening trust and demand for our flagship programs, including the SAT Suite, Advanced Placement, and BigFuture, while elevating emerging priorities such as career readiness, AI-related initiatives, and program growth in rural areas. In a complex and highly scrutinized landscape, you will leverage media intelligence and strategic foresight to anticipate emerging issues, steward relationships with top-tier journalists, elevate executive visibility and thought leadership, and lead high-stakes media engagement in moments that shape public understanding. This is a consequential leadership role for a strategic, creative communicator who thrives under pressure and is motivated by the opportunity to shape national narratives and expand opportunity for all students.

In this role, you will:

Lead a high-performing media relations team and strengthen cross-divisional collaboration (15%)

Set vision and priorities for the team, track and mange progress to goals, and provide coaching and support to ensure team members meet and exceed goals, remain engaged, and contribute meaningfully to our mission
Cultivate an inclusive and high achieving culture that enables all team members to live out College Board's Operating Principles.
Bring proven leadership experience and consistently embody College Board's Manager Expectations in your work.

Develop and execute a comprehensive enterprise media strategy (25%)

Translate organizational priorities and enterprise messaging into proactive and reactive media strategies that strengthen institutional credibility and public understanding
Identify and drive media opportunities aligned to College Board's mission, strategic goals, and reputational priorities
Partner closely with teams across the organization to ensure message consistency, strategic alignment, and impact
Advise senior leaders on media engagement strategy, visibility, and reputational risk

Oversee media intelligence and anticipate emerging issues (15%)

Lead comprehensive monitoring and analysis of media coverage, sentiment, and narrative trends
Translate insights into actionable executive guidance that informs communications and operational decision-making
Identify emerging issues, policy dynamics, and reputational vulnerabilities early
Recommend proactive engagement or mitigation strategies to shape narratives before they escalate

Guide high-stakes media engagement and reputational response (20%)

Serve as the senior media lead during high-risk, high-visibility issues and sensitive inquiries
Assess complex or high-profile media requests and recommend engagement strategy, including whether and how to respond and who should serve as spokesperson
Develop clear, accurate, and strategically positioned statements, background materials, and Q&A documents
Coordinate executive interviews and media engagements when appropriate, ensuring preparation, message discipline, and follow-through
Partner closely with a range of College Board leaders and subject matter experts to deliver aligned, timely responses
Maintain and strengthen crisis protocols, escalation frameworks, and organizational readiness

Cultivate trusted media relationships to strengthen credibility and coverage quality (15%)

Build and maintain long-term, trust-based relationships with national, regional, and trade journalists
Engage reporters proactively through background briefings, contextual education, and strategic outreach
Serve as a reliable, credible resource to enhance accuracy and depth of coverage
Act as senior escalation point for sensitive or complex inquiries to protect and reinforce institutional reputation

Prepare and advise executive leaders for effective external engagement (10%)

Provide candid strategic counsel on engagement posture, tone, and risk in high-stakes media environments
Develop high-quality briefing materials, talking points, and Q&A that ensure message clarity and consistency
Deliver media training and rehearsal sessions that build confidence and discipline
Support high-profile interviews and public moments to maximize impact and minimize risk

About You

To qualify for this role, you must have:

Bachelor's degree in journalism, communications, public affairs, or related field required; advanced degree a plus
15+ years of progressive experience in media relations, public relations or strategic communications
5+ years leading and developing multi-person communications teams, including hiring, performance management, and coaching
Exceptional writing and editing skills, with the ability to translate complex information into clear, compelling narratives
Demonstrated success leading national media strategy for a high-profile, mission-driven organization or prominent principal
Deep experience engaging top-tier national media outlets and managing high-profile or sensitive issues
Proven track record developing and executing strategic communications plans across national, state, and local environments
Significant crisis communications and issues management experience in complex, fast-moving media landscapes
Experience directly advising and preparing senior executives or other high-visibility leaders for media engagement
Experience managing and optimizing external agency partnerships to ensure strategic alignment and measurable impact
Fluency in Spanish a plus

All roles at College Board require:

A passion for expanding educational and career opportunities and mission-driven work
Curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging technologies, with a willingness to experiment with and adopt new AI-driven solutions and comfort with learning and applying new digital tools independently and proactively
Clear and concise communication skills, written and verbal
A learner's mindset and a commitment to growth: welcoming diverse perspectives, giving and receiving timely, respectful feedback, and continuously improving through iterative learning and user input
A drive for impact and excellence: solving complex problems, making data-informed decisions, prioritizing what matters most, and continuously improving through learning, user input, and external benchmarking
A collaborative and empathetic approach: working across differences, fostering trust, and contributing to a culture of shared success
Authorization to work in the United States

About Our Process

Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.
While the hiring process may vary, it generally includes: resume and application submission, recruiter phone/video screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise such as live coding, a panel interview, a conversation with leadership and reference checks.

What We Offer

At College Board, we offer more than a paycheck- we provide a meaningful career, a supportive team, and a comprehensive package designed to help you thrive. We're a self-sustaining nonprofit that believes in fair and competitive compensation grounded in your qualifications, experience, impact, and the market.

A Thoughtful Approach to Compensation

The hiring range for this role is $144,000-$210,000
Your exact salary will depend on your location, experience, and how your background compares to others in similar roles at the College Board
We aim to make our best offer upfront, rooted in fairness, transparency, and market data
We adjust salaries by location to ensure fairness, no matter where you live.

You'll have open, transparent conversations about compensation, benefits, and what it's like to work at College Board throughout your hiring process. Check out our careers page for more.

Original Job Description