Director of Communications

Description: About World Centric

World Centric makes compostable foodservice products — but that's not the whole story. Founded in response to the Iraq War, we started from a belief that awareness changes how we think and act: that people who understand the world — its wars, its inequalities, its environmental crises, its human rights failures — make better choices in how they live and how they show up. That belief still drives us. We're a certified B Corp that donates a significant share of profits to frontline environmental and social justice organizations. We invest in the communities most affected by the systems we're trying to change. What we do in the world is what drives us.

About the Role

We're looking for a Director of Communications who understands that the most powerful brand story World Centric can tell is a true one.

This role owns all external communications: social media, website, email, PR, and thought leadership. You'll develop and execute the strategies that position World Centric at the intersection of environmental advocacy, social impact, and business done differently — while also knowing when a product or materials innovation is worth amplifying because it advances the larger narrative.

To be direct: much of what this role will build does not fully exist yet. World Centric has a strong mission and real impact — but the communications function, the content strategy, and the brand voice are largely waiting to be shaped. This is a genuine opportunity to build something, not maintain it.

The primary lens of this role is mission and brand, not product. That said, when we have a product or materials innovation worth talking about — particularly to our core foodservice audience — this person will know how to tell that story in a way that's targeted, credible, and connected to the larger narrative we're building.

This is a rare profile. We're looking for someone who combines deep fluency in global issues with the communications craft to act on it. This is not primarily a product marketing role — we're not looking for someone whose career has been built around driving purchase decisions or managing product launches. If your background is in brand or mission-driven communications and you've spent your career making people care about something larger than a product, we love to hear from you.

This position reports directly to the CEO and works alongside the Marketing department. It will start out as Director level without direct reports, but that may change over time. If you're interested in this role, a cover letter is the only way to stand out amongst the crowd.

Who You Are

• You have genuine, substantive knowledge of social, environmental, and political issues — you understand the landscape, the key players, and how to position narratives within contested spaces
• You can talk about climate justice, economic inequality, human rights, and democratic institutions in ways that are sharp, credible, and move people to act
• You've built or shaped brand identity for organizations known for their mission and values — not their products — and you understand what it takes to earn attention through purpose
• You're comfortable with direct feedback, willing to defend your ideas, and able to keep moving when direction shifts
• You believe that authentic, fact-based communications build more durable trust than marketing hype — and your work reflects that
• You've worked at the intersection of advocacy, storytelling, and strategic communications — and you have the portfolio to show it

Three Areas of Focus

1. Environmental, Social & Political Voice World Centric has a point of view — on war and peace, climate change, social and economic inequality, and human rights. You'll develop the content strategies and media approaches that put that voice into the right conversations, at the right moments, with the right people — grounded in genuine understanding of the global forces shaping the world.

2. Programs, Impact & Brand Identity World Centric puts its money and its people where its values are. We donate a meaningful share of profits to grassroots organizations working on the front lines of environmental and social change. We send employees on trips to the communities and places our work is meant to protect. We run giving programs and employee engagement initiatives that reflect a genuine commitment to the world beyond our business. You'll surface these stories — and build the content strategies that turn them into sustained engagement and trust with our audience: buyers, partners, advocates, and the broader public.

3. Product & Innovation Communications When and if there's a real story to tell — a new compostable material, a shift in what's legislatively possible, a breakthrough in what our products can do — you'll know how to tell it. This isn't about promotional copy. It's about connecting product and materials innovation to the systemic change we're working toward.

What You'll Do

Communications Strategy & Brand Identity

• Develop and execute an integrated communications and content strategy that establishes a distinct, mission-driven organizational voice
• Shape and steward World Centric's brand identity across all external channels — ensuring how we show up in the world reflects the depth and integrity of our work
• Identify high-impact media opportunities that prioritize quality of audience and credibility of placement over volume
• Build and maintain relationships with journalists, advocates, influencers, and thought leaders across traditional and emerging platforms

Content Development & Storytelling

• Create original content across formats — long-form pieces, opinion and editorial, digital campaigns, social content, email, reports — that translates complex systemic issues into sharp, accessible narratives without losing accuracy or edge
• Develop content strategies around the issues central to our worldview: war and peace, climate change, social and economic inequality, human rights, environmental justice
• Build frameworks for talking about materials science, innovation, and business structure in ways that connect to broader movements and resonate with mission-aligned audiences

Channel Ownership

• Own and evolve the World Centric website as a communications and storytelling platform
• Lead social media strategy and execution across relevant platforms
• Develop and manage email and other communications, including audience segmentation and engagement strategy
• Drive PR strategy: secure meaningful placements, manage media relationships, and respond to the news cycle with speed and credibility

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with the impact and programs team to surface and amplify the work of the organizations we support
• Work with research and operations teams to identify innovation stories worth telling — and frame them in ways that serve the broader brand narrative
• Manage communications consultants and/or direct reports; set clear expectations and hold the work to a high standard

What You Bring

• 7+ years of progressive communications, journalism, marketing experience, with meaningful time in the nonprofit, social enterprise, policy, or advocacy space
• Demonstrated experience building or evolving brand identity for organizations defined by their mission, values, and actions — not their products
• Proven track record developing and executing integrated communications strategies that delivered measurable results
• Deep knowledge of global environmental, social, political, and human rights landscapes — conflict, human rights, climate change, inequality, and systemic injustice — and the ability to position narratives credibly within them
• Direct ownership of external channels: website, social, email, and PR
• Exceptional writing, editing, and storytelling across formats and audiences
• Strong media relationships across traditional and emerging platforms
• Portfolio of work that carved out distinctive positioning through content and storytelling — not safe, conventional campaigns
• Experience managing consultants and/or direct reports

Preferred

• Background at the intersection of business, impact and advocacy: companies or organizations that take public positions on political and environmental issues
• Track record building niche, passionate audiences rather than pursuing mass reach
• Familiarity with B Corp, worker cooperative, or similar mission-aligned business structures

Why This Role Is Different World Centric isn't trying to out-market the competition. We're trying to build a brand that means something — to the people buying our products, the organizations we fund, the policymakers we push, and the advocates we stand alongside.This role has real ownership and direct access to leadership. You'll move quickly, take calculated risks, and work on communications that actually matter. We want to communicate with honesty and precision — we'd rather say something true and uncomfortable than something polished and hollow. We're not looking for someone who has spent their career optimizing campaigns around conversion rates and product positioning. We're looking for someone who has spent their career making people care about the world, about the issues, about the organizations doing the hard work of changing it. If that's the communications career you've built, this role is a good fit for you. If you've made it this far, you should know that applications without a cover letter will not be considered. World Centric is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a team that reflects the communities we serve. The salary range is $130-150k; actual compensation offered will depend on various factors.

Requirements: