About Big City Mountaineers

At Big City Mountaineers, we work alongside the transformative powers of nature to foster a lasting impact in the lives of youth from disinvested communities. BCM creates opportunities for 12 to 18 year-olds to connect with nature and realize their own sources of strength, resilience, confidence, serenity and joy by providing free, fully outfitted, and professionally led outdoor experiences. BCM’s programming culminates in a weeklong backcountry trip, which is often the first time the youth we serve experience the outdoors in such a way. The BCM experience enables youth to take on healthy and relevant challenges and cultivate a connection to themselves, their community, to nature, and to joy. 

For over thirty years, BCM’s programming has shown staying power beyond the norm, and has come to be a recognized and highly regarded national nonprofit that is supported by a stable operating budget.  BCM is at an exciting point in its history, one that holds great potential and opportunity to reimagine how the organization can best deliver on its mission. Our team includes a dedicated staff, seasonal trip instructors, and volunteers. 

Though we are headquartered in Colorado, Big City Mountaineers’ regional hubs touch both coasts, and several locations in between. We are located on the ancestral territories the Ute, (Denver, CO), the Sioux and Anishinibawaki (Minneapolis, MN), the Ohlone, Ramaytush, Chochenyo, and Muwekma (San Francisco Bay Area), the Duwamish (Seattle, WA), and the Muscogee Creek and Shawnee (Birmingham, AL).

Position Overview

The Communications & Outreach Manager (COM) is an essential position on the BCM team. Reporting to the Executive Director, the COM will play a central role in driving organizational growth and maintaining BCM’s public reputation by managing BCM’s varied public communications channels and BCM’s brand. By collaborating with the Director of Development, Executive Director, and BCM’s program staff, the COM will be responsible for both the creation and execution of the organization’s marketing, communications, public relations, and outreach functions. 

The COM will also curate and maintain BCM’s public facing assets including photos, videos, and written content. This includes ownership of the day to day voice and presence of Big City Mountaineers, including our website, social media, newsletter, public relations, and more. These initiatives have the potential to reach tens of thousands of people daily.

The COM will provide a clear and consistent voice in our overall communications strategy targeted at our donors, volunteers, program partners, trip participants, and BCM’s broader network. As such, they will work closely with professional marketing & communications contractors, public relations professionals, and marketing experts who provide both fee-based and pro-bono services to the organization. The COM will coordinate with these and other interested parties to ensure BCM is effectively communicating our unique value to the public and inspire further support of the organization.

The COM will be expected to actively engage in the mission and vision of the organization while maintaining messaging consistent with BCM values. Additionally, they should be able to work well with a diversity of people ranging from community members to our Board of Directors.

This position is an excellent opportunity for an enterprising communications professional who is passionate, willing to learn, ready to take initiative, who loves interacting with people (both virtually and in person), and who has a desire to meaningfully contribute to the growth of a nationally recognized nonprofit. The incumbent will have a passion for youth development, equity, and outdoor access, and a track record of managing effective organizational communications  in these or similar areas of focus. 

Essential Duties

Management of BCM’s communications channels

• Maintain organizational communications calendar
• Ensure brand and messaging are consistent across all communications platforms
• Oversight of owned channels
  • Social Media (Facebook, instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, Youtube)
  • Website 
  • Blog
  • Monthly supporter newsletter and bimonthly corporate partner newsletter
• Oversight of paid channels
  • BCM’s nonprofit Google AdWords grant
  • Meta paid social media posts

Curation of BCM’s communications assets and collateral

• Ensure assets are cleared for public use, well organized, easy to access, cleared for use, and readily available
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Quotes and testimonials from youth, donors, trip participants, volunteers, and other stakeholders
• Manage assembly of annual report, with support from BCM’s Executive Director and design firm
• Maintain BCM’s Media Kit and control access to it
• Craft donor and supporter communications (acknowledgement letters, outreach campaigns, and similar) on an as-needed basis
• Craft program materials and collateral (infosession decks, one pagers, and similar) on an as-needed basis
• Create and update pitch decks, collateral, and other promotional materials
• Manage procurement and design of BCM’s branded swag 

External Relationship Management

• Cultivate and manage BCM’s public relations and media relationships, with support from our PR firm and BCM’s leadership
• Serve as primary point of contact for our design firm and marketing consultants
• Manage other relationships with pro bono and paid marketing and communications vendors and partners

Seasonal Campaign Support

• In collaboration with the Director of Development, design and execute various fundraising campaigns throughout the year, including an end-of-year giving campaign
• In collaboration with development staff, design and execute messaging to support BCM’s adventure fundraising campaigns and events
• In collaboration with BCM’s program team, design and execute campaigns to support onboarding of new youth agency partners and youth recruitment
• In collaboration with the Volunteer and Operations Coordinator, design and execute campaigns intended to engage BCM’s volunteer base

Organizational Leadership

• Alongside BCM’s leadership, define and maintain BCM’s brand voice, ensuring all external facing content is on-brand and consistent
• Set and track progress towards goals for BCM’s MarComm activities; ensure goals are closely related to program and/or development KPIs
• Lead BCM’s weekly internal staff MarComm meeting
• Participate in BCM’s Board MarComm committee meetings
• Provide guidance and recommendations to BCM staff and Board regarding brand positioning, messaging consistency, and language 
• Drive the creation of BCM’s marketing and communications strategy
• Collaborate closely with BCM leadership in cases where crisis communications are required

Role Requirements

• A minimum of two years of experience personally managing an organization’s communications and/or marketing functions

• Familiarity and comfort with the full breadth of marketing and communications functions, especially in small social impact organizations
• Personal and professional values consistent with BCM’s mission, values, and principles, including principles of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Unwavering belief in the power of nature-based experiences to help youth strengthen life skills and build community, and high degree of motivation to increase access to the outdoors for youth from disinvested communities
• Impeccable professional communication and compelling storytelling skills, both verbal and written
• Aptitude for fastidious data and project management, detail orientation, and organization
• Comfort and excitement making data-informed decisions
• Capacity to work collaboratively and efficiently within a small team and flat organizational hierarchy
• Demonstrated ability to make meaningful, authentic connections with people across various lines of difference
• Proven ability to manage relationships with contracted and pro bono support

Additional Qualifications

• Personal experience and passion for youth development, outdoor recreation, outdoor access, and experiences in nature
• Familiarity with the regions and local communities BCM serves
• Knowledge of and connections to the communities that support – or might support – BCM’s work that operate in our current service regions and nationally.
• Experience working with youth who hold marginalized identities or who come from traditionally disinvested communities, and/or the organizations that serve them.
• Ability to work both collaboratively and independently, and to know when each is required
• Interpersonal awareness, ability to cultivate trusting interpersonal relationships and connect with people across lines of difference
• Comfort giving and receiving feedback up and across a supervisory hierarchy
• Ability to set priorities and manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Willingness to hold self and others accountable for all organizational policies
• Experience working with technology and social media platforms that enable effective remote collaboration (Google Workspace, Slack, Salesforce, Formstack, Mailchimp, Zoom, Hootsuite, SmugMug, Canva, Adobe Creative Suite, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn)
• Experience working with a remote team in multiple time zones
• Undergraduate or graduate degree in relevant or related field (preferred)

Employment & Compensation

This is a part time hourly position (24 hours or 3 days/week), with an estimated starting pay rate of $30/hr. BCM is unable to offer health, dental, and vision benefits at this time.  Both increased hours and benefits may become available in the future, this is dependent on BCM exceeding its revenue goals and the incumbent exceeding their performance expectations.  

Big City Mountaineers employees enjoy a generous paid time off policy and flexibility in terms of work schedule and location. 

We will give preference to candidates who have directly related experience in communications for organizations and nonprofits whose programs include youth development and/or outdoor access, and who live and work in the Metro Denver area.  No candidates will be considered who live outside one of our metropolitan regions of operation. 

Expected start date for this position is, at latest, March 1, 2025.

How to Apply & Timeline

Please submit a current resume and thoughtful cover letter detailing why you believe your experience, capacity, and passions align with BCM’s needs to [email protected]. In your cover letter, be sure to address the following: 

• Your professional experience and track record of success working in roles similar to this one 
• Your personal “Why”, both in terms of our mission and why this is the right moment and role for you in your professional path
• How your personal identity and/or lived experiences play a role in your motivation and ability to do this work

Please combine both documents into a single PDF file, and use the subject heading format [Your Full Name] – Communications & Outreach Manager Application.  (there are several free PDF creator tools online to help you with this)

All applications must be received no later than January 31 @ 11:59pm MT. If we feel you are a potential fit, we will be in touch to schedule an interview.

Big City Mountaineers is invested in cultivating a diverse candidate pool and is interested in connecting with candidates whose identities and/or lived experiences are similar to the youth we serve. We understand that our next Regional Partnership Manager may not have taken a traditional professional path, and we encourage interested individuals to apply even if they don’t meet every one of our additional qualifications listed.