Location: Remote with periodic travel as necessary for project outcomes and partner coordination.

Reports To: Executive Director

Supervises: Contractors, interns, and/or future communications staff (as applicable); may coordinate specialized contractors for web and data visualization (as needed)
Grade: 5

Status: Exempt

 

The Organization

This position will be located in Seward, Alaska, at the Alutiiq Pride Marine Institute (APMI), a branch of CRRC. CRRC is a nonprofit inter-Tribal fish and wildlife commission established to address environmental and natural resources issues of concern to its seven member Tribes, located in the Chugach region of southcentral Alaska. These include Chenega IRA Council, Native Village of Eyak (Cordova), Port Graham Village Council, Nanwalek IRA Council, Qutekcak Native Tribe (Seward), Tatitlek Village IRA Council, and Valdez Native Tribe.

 

Position Description

The Strategic Communications & Data Products Leadleads CRRC’s organization-wide strategic communications function and CRRC’s data-to-public storytelling pipeline, ensuring CRRC’s research and program work is translated into high-quality, accurate, and compelling publications, verifiable datasets, and impact storytelling products for funders, partners, boards, and external audiences. This role develops and maintains a Communications & Publications Roadmap (and associated data product plan) to guide dissemination of CRRC work through reports, briefs, conference submissions, web content, and other external channels, increasing visibility and ensuring CRRC’s impact is shared broadly and respectfully. This role strengthens CRRC’s ability to secure funding and partnerships by translating high-quality science into funder-ready narratives, compelling publication products, and clear evidence products (documented data + visualizations) that staff, partners, and decision-makers can easily understand, champion, and support.

This role does not manage routine social media posting cadence, education programming/curriculum development, or event planning, which remain within Education & Outreach. This role focuses on strategic communications, publications, data products/visualizations, and dissemination of CRRC work to external audiences. This role also supports CRRC’s web presence as a primary dissemination channel, Travel will be planned strategically and limited to what is necessary to achieve project outcomes and partner coordination, to manage costs and reduce burden on staff and partners.

 

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Communications & Narrative Direction

• Lead development of CRRC’s organization-wide strategic communications priorities, messaging framework, and external narrative strategy in alignment with Tribal values and CRRC program goals including plain-language interpretation of program findings and data for public audiences
• Partner with Executive Director on executive-level communications, including briefings, presentations, memos, external messaging, and funder communications
• Support the Executive Director in developing high-quality presentations and briefing materials for gatherings, board meetings, conferences, funder meetings, and other external speaking opportunities (including slide decks and talking points)
• Translate technical research/program outputs into clear and compelling narrative products that are appropriate for external audiences and culturally responsive, including producing or coordinating public-facing charts/graphics and evidence summaries
• Mine and synthesize CRRC internal data and external gray literature into analysis-ready, documented datasets that can be responsibly shared with the public
• Establish lightweight QA/QC and provenance practices for externally published data (source logs, versioning, definitions, known limitations)
• Develop public-facing visualizations (figures, dashboards, story maps, infographics) and plain-language interpretations suitable for non-technical audiences
• Maintain a CRRC “evidence inventory” of key datasets, indicators, and knowledge products (what exists, who owns it, update cadence, and publication status)
• Coordinate with program staff to ensure permissions, confidentiality, and culturally appropriate framing for any public data release

Communications & Publications Roadmap (Research-to-Visibility Pipeline)

• Develop and maintain a Communications & Publications Roadmap (Research-to-Visibility and Data-to-Public Pipeline) that aligns CRRC research/program milestones with priority dissemination channels (funder/board deliverables, conferences, publications, partner networks, and public-facing storytelling products), including sequencing key data products and web publication milestones
• Identify and track external dissemination opportunities (conference CFPs, relevant publications/outlets, professional networks) and coordinate timely submissions and deliverables, including opportunities for data-driven storytelling and public transparency products
• Support program teams in packaging results for broader audiences while maintaining scientific accuracy, appropriate permissions, and cultural integrity, including review of any public-facing data summaries or visuals
• Support development of publication-ready products (technical summaries, methods narratives, figures/tables coordination) and coordinate inputs as needed for peer-reviewed or professional/practitioner outlets; coordinate production of companion datasets/appendices when appropriate

Publications, Editorial Standards, and Quality Control

• Serve as CRRC’s editorial lead for high-visibility deliverables, ensuring clarity, consistency, accuracy, citations/references, and readiness for external audiences (including alignment between narrative claims and underlying data)
• Manage production workflows and approval processes for high-stakes deliverables, ensuring clear timelines, reviewer accountability, and on-time submission
• Establish and maintain CRRC editorial standards (voice/tone, formatting conventions, template consistency, accessibility best practices)
• Develop and maintain templates for reports, briefs, slide decks, and publication collateral to streamline production and improve consistency
• Coordinate review cycles and version control across contributors to ensure deliverables are polished, accurate, and on schedule
• Provide final editorial review for high-visibility presentation collateral (slide decks, conference posters, abstracts) to ensure consistency, clarity, and publication-ready quality
• Coordinate with CRRC’s graphic design support (internal or contracted) as needed to ensure final deliverables are visually clear and professionally presented, including figures, data visualizations, and web-ready graphics

Priority Project Leadership (initial focus examples)

• Lead development of the EVOSTC historical funding documentation deliverables, including coordination with DOI/State partners, production of a verifiable dataset, methods documentation, data dictionary/source log, and briefing products appropriate for funder/board and external use
• Coordinate records access and agency engagement using a remote-first approach, limiting in-person travel to what is strictly necessary for records retrieval and relationship management
• Support Kelp Values and related projects by developing interview/survey instruments and workflows (as needed), providing synthesis and interpretation support, and translating findings into high-quality narrative outputs, evidence summaries, and dissemination products
• Ensure responsible handling of sensitive Tribal/community knowledge, including confidentiality practices, permissions, and culturally appropriate storytelling

Capacity Building and Collaboration

• Direct and mentor contractors/interns/support staff to execute portions of the communications pipeline (formatting support, editing, content assembly, interview logistics support), and coordinate specialized support for data visualization or web tasks as needed
• Build internal capacity by documenting workflows, creating toolkits, and training staff on templates and editorial standards, including basic guidance for data documentation and publishing-ready visuals
• Coordinate closely with department directors to ensure communications products accurately reflect program work and support department goals
• Other duties as assigned.

Educational & Experience Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, Public Relations, Marketing, Public Policy, Environmental/Natural Resource fields, Data Analytics/Data Science, Information Design, or a related field OR an equivalent combination of education and demonstrated professional experience.

Preferred: Master’s degree in a relevant field and/or formal training/certifications in data visualization, GIS/StoryMaps, or analytics.

Skills and Abilities

• Basic knowledge of marine chemistry and ecology, particularly life history and physiology of marine fish and invertebrates.
• Ability to work independently with little supervision and to prioritize across competing organizational needs
• 6+ years experience in strategic communications, publications, research dissemination, data-to-public storytelling, and/or mission-driven communications work
• Strong project management skills (scoping, timelines, review cycles, version control) and comfort using project management tools/workflows (e.g., Asana, Trello, Airtable, Teams/SharePoint)
• Demonstrated experience working with messy real-world data (reconciling sources, standardizing fields, documenting assumptions/limitations) and communicating results to non-technical audiences
• Demonstrated experience managing high-value, high-scrutiny deliverables with multiple reviewers/approvers and strict quality standards
• Demonstrated ability to translate technical research into clear, compelling narrative products for non-technical audiences
• Strong editorial skills (clarity, grammar, formatting, citations/references) and high attention to detail
• Experience producing high-quality deliverables subject to external scrutiny (funder-facing materials, peer/professional audiences, public reporting)
• Comfort working across teams and coordinating review cycles, deadlines, and deliverables
• Cultural competency and professionalism working within Tribal/community contexts

Computer Skills/Knowledge

• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) and Google Workspace tools as applicable
• Experience producing polished documents and presentation materials; comfort with templates and editorial workflows
• Familiarity with graphic and document tools (e.g., Canva and/or Adobe Acrobat) and ability to coordinate effectively with graphic design support for final layout/design needs
• Familiarity with shared workspaces and file systems (e.g., Teams/SharePoint, Google Drive) including version control and collaborative editing
• Familiarity with project management tools/workflows (e.g., Asana, Trello, Airtable, Smartsheet, Monday.com) to track timelines, deliverables, and review cycles
• Familiarity with data storytelling and visualization tools and ability to produce publishable visuals (e.g., Excel charting at minimum; Tableau/Power BI/Datawrapper/Flourish/ArcGIS StoryMaps or similar strongly preferred)

Core Values

Employee is expected to embrace, support, and promote the core values of respect, integrity, trust, compassion, and quality which align with CRRC's Mission and Vision through their actions and interactions with all staff and partners.

 

Equal Opportunity

THE CHUGACH REGIONAL RESOURCES COMMISSION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER. PREFERENCE IS EXTENDED TO QUALIFIED AMERICAN INDIAN INDIVIDUALS FOR APPOINTMENTS TO ALL POSITIONS ON THE STAFF OF THE CHUGACH REGIONAL RESOURCES COMMISSION (Public Law 93-638 Indian Self-

Determination and Education Assistance Act, Indian Preference Act, and the Indian Civil Rights Act, 1968 apply). Preference will be given to a Native from the Chugach Region or person who is knowledgeable of the region's language and culture.

---