Job Brief

Principal Technical Advisor, Strategic Communications

About the Program:

The Overdose Prevention Program partners with U.S. states, Tribal Nations, and Native communities to advance evidence-based strategies that reduce overdose deaths. Through grant funding and tailored technical assistance, the program helps government, institutional, and community partners strengthen policies, implement innovative programs, and mobilize local action to address the evolving overdose crisis.

Our work spans the neighborhood, municipal, county, state, and Tribal levels, supporting sustainable public health solutions that are responsive to local needs. Program staff are organized into multidisciplinary regional teams, each managing a portfolio of states or Native communities. These teams work closely with colleagues in Operations and with subject matter experts in Communications, Program Evaluation & Knowledge Management, and Legal & Policy to deliver coordinated, high-impact support.

Job Purpose:

The Principal Technical Advisor (PTA), Strategic Communications brings deep expertise in communications strategy and public health to identify and develop opportunities for the program to make novel contributions at the state, national, and global levels towards overdose prevention.

The position is a leader in OPP's efforts to shape professional and public discourse across multiple channels, using data-driven strategies including media relations, digital and social media, thought leadership, and advertising to advance public health approaches to illicit drug use. The PTA works to establish Vital as a recognized voice in overdose prevention and elevate our partners and those with lived experience. They navigate complex and shifting political realities to identify strategic communication opportunities and translate program goals into action, bringing together diverse audiences from policymakers to impacted communities around a shared evidence base.

The PTA contributes their lived experience and professional knowledge while learning from the experience and expertise of colleagues as the team plans, monitors and continually improves the program.

This is anew role for the Overdose Prevention program. It is a full-time positionpreferably based in the New York City metro area; we will consider other locations in the U.S. dependent on the work (North Carolina, New Jersey, Kentucky, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Nevada, or Washington state). We offer highly competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits. The salary range for this position is $ 150,000 to $ 170,000 USD.

Reporting & Key Relationships:

The PTA is an integral member of two teams: as a member of PAC and a leader on the OPP team, the position serves the needs of the program while ensuring coherence with organization wide goals and standards.

The Vice President, PAC provides technical supervision and the Director, provides OPP program supervision and direction. This position collaborates closely with and guides regional team colleagues, including dedicated Communications staff, as well as Legal & Policy and Knowledge Management colleagues. In addition, the PTA supervises Communications staff on multi-state and/or local initiatives.

To foster continuous learning, the PTA will lead an internal Community of Practice for Communications Technical Advisors serving OPP regions.

Externally, this role cultivates and manages relationships with government officials, public health departments, public health bodies, journalists, editors, key media outlets, and influential voices across the portfolio and may attend conferences with external stakeholders working on overdose prevention.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Collective Planning and State Strategy Development -
• Advise multidisciplinary teams and contribute unique perspective to their development and mon-itoring of a comprehensive strategy and annual work plan with a corresponding budget for each state that integrates the collective expertise and experience of the team, current overdose data and epidemiology, state policy landscapes, community needs, and lessons learned from prior implementation.
• Create data-driven annual communications strategy recommendations.
• Create and maintain benchmark Key Performance Indicators to guide insights on communica-tions successes, challenges and opportunities.
• Lead the monitoring and integration of analysis of media coverage to inform program strategies and refine messaging.
• Monitor national media trends and field developments, advising leadership and partners on pro-grammatic positioning and reputational risks and using Vital's experts, website, social media presence to respond and spur positive narratives.
• Champion best practices across social media, advertising, public relations within the team and Vital's extended network, including public appearances with technical audiences.
• Act as a key liaison to funders on communications activities, including producing progress re-ports for communications activities.
• Support OPP leadership to scope and evaluate any new business communications opportuni-ties.
• Apply an intersectional racial justice framework across all planning processes, program design, and implementation.

Multi-State and National Policy Initiatives -

Together with Leadership, Deputy Directors, and other senior colleagues support multiple regions:
• Participate in review of all state/Native community strategy and work plans with Leadership, to identify communication gaps and ensure coherence.
• Proactively identify and develop opportunities for the program to make novel contributions to the field of drug policy and overdose prevention at a multi-state and national scale, contributing their unique perspective to inform possible strategies to advance policies and initiatives at this scale. This may include activities such as:

• Writing or contributing to national Op-Eds; key organizational statements;
• Participating in and actively contributing to coalitions, task forces, and other stakeholder groups and representing the program in cross-organizational initiatives, where appropriate and as assigned;
• Preparing and delivering presentations to broad audiences;
• Representing the program in national and coalition development efforts, or other means of participating in and influencing professional and public discourse;
• Proposing innovative and creative communications strategies that Vital Strategies is uniquely positioned to execute.

Media Strategy and Press Relations -
• Cultivate and manage strong relationships with journalists, editors, and key media outlets: build and maintain national media contact lists that identify outlets and reporters with a demonstrated interest in drug-related topics.
• Develop and/or review compelling press materials including media pitches, press releases, op-eds, event advisories, and talking points for spokespersons.
• Establish the program as a trusted, go-to source of expertise for journalists covering overdose prevention and drug-related public health issues.
• Understand Vital Strategies communication approach and identify opportunities to utilize Vital's communications resources.
• Guide and mentor Technical Advisors on regional teams to lead the development and execution of media engagement strategies that align with the collective strategy to elevate awareness of overdose prevention efforts across their portfolio of states.
• Provide leadership for Vital and partners to leverage and evaluate social, digital and emerging media including working with influencers/creators, paid digital advertising, short-form video con-tent, podcasts and substack.
• Lead mass media campaigns implemented by state teams including:

• Strategic planning, goal, and objective setting;
• Formative research, message/concept testing, pre- and post-campaign evaluation;
• Advertising agency selection and management, adaptation and/or creative development; production, medial planning, and campaign evaluation; and
• Media advocacy, social media, and public relations to amplify campaigns

Government and Institutional Communications Partnerships -
• Advise the regional teams to create opportunities for collaborative multimedia campaigns with state and local governments or institutions, with an emphasis on jointly funded and branded campaigns.
• Advise the regional teams' development and implementation of government affairs and inside-outside policy strategies by identifying and following through on communications-oriented opportunities.

External Content & Publications -
• Identify opportunities to showcase timely national, state, and program-level public health data points for messaging and communications purposes; stay aware of the timing of key data re-leases and incorporate these strategically into regional communications plans.
• Take the lead in writing or compiling content for foundational external communications products for the program - including program brochures, website content, fact sheets, and printable ma-terials for events and conferences.
• Work with graphic design teams to create compelling data visualizations that translate complex data into accessible, audience-ready content.
• Work with Vital's digital and design teams to create necessary collateral, social and web con-tent, frequent website updates, quarterly OPP newsletter and contribute OPP stories into Vital's organizational newsletter

Project Management -
• Supervise Communications staff on assigned projects, providing performance management, coaching, and professional development support to meet role objectives.
• With approval from Director select and hire vendors such as: creative, production, media and PR agencies, media planners, and research companies.
• Manage select projects, contracts, and organizational partnerships, to support the general pro-gram strategy.
• Recruit and support communications agencies, freelancers as required
• Provide regular reports on progress of OPP communications and activities.
• Perform other duties as required.

Experience & Qualifications:

Education -
• Bachelor's degree, or equivalent combination of education and experience required. Advanced degree preferred.

Skills & Abilities -

Communications Expertise:
• Exceptional written and oral communications skills, with demonstrated ability to write clearly and compellingly across formats and for diverse audiences.
• Demonstrated mastery of press materials, fact sheets, talking points, social media content, and presentations.
• Strong media relations skills, including experience building and managing journalist relation-ships and pitching stories.
• Ability to translate complex public health data and policy content into accessible, compelling messaging for non-technical audiences.
• Adept at social media strategy across earned and paid channels, including platform analytics and working with content creators to advance program objectives.
• Knowledge of SEO strategies and ability to incorporate them into digital communications includ-ing website content.
• Familiarity with media monitoring tools and methodologies, including setting objectives, tracking trends, and analyzing coverage of specific events or initiatives
• Ability to provide strategic recommendations on media budget allocation and adjust implementa-tion based on campaign performance

Strategy & Judgment:
• Demonstrated ability to develop and implement integrated communications strategies across traditional, digital, and experiential channels in a cohesive program framework
• Ability to incorporate evaluation planning into campaign design, including using research, sur-veys, focus groups, and stakeholder interviews to inform and refine communications ap-proaches
• Highly organized, with the ability to manage a demanding portfolio and deliver results across multiple concurrent workstreams
• Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to think creatively under constraint

Leadership & Collaboration:
• Deep commitment to racial equity and public health justice, with experience operationalizing these values through program and communications design
• Demonstrated commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment
• Ability to manage contractors and coordinate varied streams of work
• Demonstrated ability to:

• Work collaboratively as well as autonomously
• Integrate new information and adapt with agility
• Facilitate connection and build understanding among parties who bring different experience and perspectives
• Clarify accountability and coordination structures to ensure efficient execution of work plans
• Build strong, impactful relationships at all organizational levels and