Princeton Alliance Church Communications Director Plainsboro, NJ · Full time Company website

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ROLE SUMMARY

This is a single-contributor role that relies on others for reach. Volunteers, contractors, photographers, and videographers do a meaningful share of the work, and building that bench is part of the job rather than a nice addition. The role reports to the Sunday Experience Pastor and partners closely with the Tech Director on streaming and video, and with the Adult Ministries Pastor on welcoming guests and online visitors.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

• The congregation knows what is happening and what to do next, and new people can find their way without asking anyone.
• PAC sounds like one church across every channel, rather than like nine ministries with nine voices.
• Ministries get their messages out on time through a process they understand, instead of through last-minute favors.
• Volunteers and contractors perform real work against clear standards, so delivery does not depend on a single person's availability.
• Campaigns and seasonal pushes are planned well in advance to be executed strategically rather than assembled under pressure.
• Communication during a crisis, a loss, or an organizational change is clear, timely, and pastorally sound.
• Communications performance is measured, and collected data influences what happens next.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own church-wide communications strategy, aligned to PAC's mission, vision, and ministry calendar. Set messaging priorities across ministries, events, and campaigns, and maintain the annual communications calendar and planning rhythm.
• Plan, write, edit, and publish content across social media, the website, email, YouTube, and other digital channels, including weekly email communications and the digital publishing schedule.
• Own the church website, mobile app, and digital communication platforms, maintaining content, improving user experience, implementing new pages and functionality, and managing related integrations.
• Protect and strengthen PAC's brand, visual identity, and voice. Maintain brand standards across ministries, and review significant or large-scale materials for clarity, accuracy, consistency, and tone.
• Recruit, train, and coordinate volunteers, contractors, and creative contributors, including photographers, videographers, writers, and designers, equipping them to deliver defined work so the function's output is larger than one person's hours.
• Oversee social media strategy and media distribution, including YouTube livestreams, sermon publishing, clips, and event video, coordinating with the Tech Director on streaming and the video archive.
• Lead communication projects from concept through completion, coordinating pastors, ministry leaders, production teams, volunteers, and contractors, and developing workflows, timelines, and standard operating procedures that make the work repeatable.
• Provide communications consultation to ministries and support leadership with clear communication during organizational change or sensitive situations.
• Partner with the Adult Ministries Pastor to strengthen communication with first-time guests and online visitors, so the digital front door and the physical one tell the same story.
• Track performance and improve on it. Monitor engagement, reach, and campaign effectiveness across platforms, and recommend changes grounded in data and ministry goals rather than in preference.
• Manage the communications budget, maintain an organized digital asset library, and evaluate and responsibly implement AI tools that improve quality, creativity, and efficiency in line with PAC's standards.
• Model and reinforce PAC's staff culture, including with the volunteers and contractors who represent PAC's voice in public.

DECISIONS THIS ROLE OWNS

Decides independently: 

• Content, copy, design, and publishing schedule across PAC's channels.
• Messaging priorities and sequencing within the approved communications calendar.
• Brand standards, application of the visual identity, and voice guidelines.
• Website structure, content, and user experience changes.
• Social media strategy and engagement approach.
• Volunteer and contractor structure, training standards, and work assignments within communications.
• Which communication requests are accepted, deferred, or redirected, within the calendar and available capacity.

Decides in consultation with the Sunday Experience Pastor: 

• Annual communications budget, and any spending beyond the approved plan.
• Church-wide messaging on major initiatives, campaigns, or organizational change.
• Vendor and contractor selection, including printing and design vendors.
• Rebrand, visual identity change, or significant website redesign.
• Platform migrations or new communication systems affecting other ministries.
• Adoption of new AI tools into the communications workflow.
• Communications addressing contested doctrinal or cultural questions.

Escalates immediately, regardless of any threshold: 

• Any suspicion of harm against a minor or vulnerable adult, per New Jersey mandatory reporting law. This obligation overrides confidentiality in every setting.
• Any allegation of misconduct involving a staff member, volunteer, or contractor.
• Any content carrying legal, copyright, privacy, media, or reputational exposure, including use of a minor's image without a current release.
• Any communication touching a crisis, a death, a staff transition, or a pastoral situation, before it is published.
• Any inbound media inquiry or public criticism of PAC requiring a response.
• Any published error requiring a correction or a retraction.
• Any matter carrying legal, employment, or compliance exposure.
• Any contract or financial commitment binding PAC beyond the current fiscal year.
• Any data breach or compromise of congregant information through communications platforms or email systems.

WHAT'S ENTRUSTED TO THIS ROLE

This role is entrusted with PAC's public voice. For anyone who has not yet walked through the doors, the website, the social feed, and the emails are the church. What this seat publishes is the first impression, and once something is public, it can’t be fully retracted.

Specifically, the role is entrusted with PAC's brand, visual identity, and tone across every channel; the website, mobile app, and digital platforms; congregant contact data held in email and communications systems; photo and video assets including images of minors and the releases governing their use; the communications budget and the vendor and contractor relationships it funds; advance knowledge of sensitive information such as staff transitions, pastoral crises, and organizational change, often before the congregation knows; and the accuracy of what PAC says about itself in public.

PASSIONATE ABOUT

• Clear communication as a form of hospitality.
• Writing for the visitor and the long-time member and resonating with both.
• Brand discipline that makes a large church feel like one church.
• Building a bench of volunteers and contractors instead of becoming the bottleneck.
• Curiosity about new tools, paired with stubbornness about keeping a human voice.
• Issuing a correction quickly instead of hoping nobody noticed.

REQUIREMENTS

• Personal, growing Christian faith and full alignment with PAC's mission, beliefs, and C&MA doctrinal commitments.
• 3+ years in communications, marketing, or digital content, including ownership of an organization's public channels.
• Excellent writing and editing, with the judgment to shift voice across audiences without losing the organization's own.
• Demonstrated project management across many concurrent requests, stakeholders, and deadlines.
• Experience managing a website and digital platforms, including content updates, user experience, and basic functionality.
• Working knowledge of graphic design, video editing, and digital content creation.
• Experience recruiting, developing, and leading volunteers or contractors.
• Sound public-facing judgment, including recognizing which messages need review before publishing and which errors need a correction rather than a stealthy edit.
• Pastoral sensitivity when communicating during crisis, loss, or organizational change.
• Successful completion of a background check and PAC's child safety training prior to start.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Degree or formal training in communications, marketing, journalism, or design, or equivalent years of relevant experience.
• Experience in a church, nonprofit, or other mission-driven organization.
• Analytics and reporting experience, including turning platform data into a recommendation someone can act on.
• Experience leading a rebrand or a significant visual identity refresh.
• Familiarity with Planning Center Online.
• Experience using AI tools responsibly in a content workflow, including knowing where they do not belong.

LEADERSHIP EXPECTATIONS

• Growing Christian faith and character.
• Commitment to the mission of the church.
• Call to ministry within a diverse congregation.
• Lifestyle congruent with the biblical requirements for leaders (1 Tim. 3:1-13; 2 Tim. 2; Titus 1:5-9).
• Member of PAC within 6 months of start date.
• Commitment to give faithfully to the Local and Global Ministry Funds.
• Participation in a Community Group.
• One-on-one discipleship.

TIME COMMITMENT

This position includes weekend services as well as office hours. Staff is expected to attend weekend services and church-wide events as assigned, and to promptly communicate schedule changes to other staff and direct reports.

This role requires attendance at all Sunday services, Good Friday, all Easter services, all Christmas Eve services, and the Sunday between Christmas and New Year's. It also includes weekly and biweekly department and staff meetings. Evenings and weekends are required as ministry needs arise, including ministry special events and the volunteer summit. Planned retreats, workshops, and training outside standard business hours are also a part of normal ministry rhythms.

Communications work centers on seasonal campaigns and major services, so the busiest weeks are predictable and can be planned for.

WORK ARRANGEMENT & FLEXIBILITY

This role is hybrid. Sunday presence, event coverage, collaboration with ministry leaders, and photo and video capture all require regular in-person availability.

Up to one day per week may be worked remotely, scheduled with the Sunday Experience Pastor. Writing, design, editing, and planning fit a remote day well. Because this seat handles crisis and sensitive communications, remote days carry responsiveness expectations and will sometimes be interrupted.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The individual in this role is trusted with privileged and confidential information as part of their work at Princeton Alliance Church. Therefore, the individual is expected to be trustworthy, maintain confidentiality, and protect the privacy of those served, other PAC staff, and the PAC congregation. All PAC staff are legally required to report any suspicions of harm against minors or vulnerable adults (the elderly or disabled); in these cases, confidentiality may be breached with the appropriate law enforcement or medical personnel.

This role routinely learns about staff transitions, pastoral crises, benevolence situations, and organizational changes before the congregation does, because communicating them well requires advance notice. That information is held until it is released through the appropriate channel and at the appropriate time. This role also holds congregant contact data and photo and video assets, including images of minors, which are used only within the scope of a current release and PAC's standards.