Director, External Communications

at  Amherst Holdings

The Amherst Group of companies comprise of leading real estate investment and advisory firms with a mission to transform the way real estate is owned, financed and managed. Amherst leverages its proprietary data, analytics, technology, and decades of experience to seek solutions for a fragmented, slow-to-evolve real estate ecosystem and to materially improve the experience for residents, buyers, sellers, communities, and investors. Today Amherst has over 1000 employees and $14.1 billion in assets under management.
Over the past decade, Amherst has scaled its platform to become one of the largest operators of single-family assets and has acquired, renovated, and leased more than 46,000 homes across 32 markets in the U.S. The firm delivers customized, stabilized cash-flowing portfolios of assets to its investors, wrapped in all the ongoing services required to manage, own, and finance the asset including property management, portfolio management, and a full capital markets team. In addition to its single-family rental platform, Amherst’s debt business pursues two distinct credit strategies in mortgage-backed securities and commercial real estate lending. Over its 25-year history, Amherst has developed a deep bench of research and technology talent, and leverages data and analytics at every stage in the asset lifecycle to improve operations and preserve long-term value for our investors and the more than 188,000 residents the firm has served.
The Director of external communications will play a key role in Amherst’s branding efforts and will be responsible for honing Amherst’s story, core messaging, and capabilities through earned, owned and paid media elements. We are looking for an experienced communications professional and storyteller who can drive a steady cadence of impactful media coverage to position Amherst as a leading real estate investment manager and educate key audiences about our capability set, particularly within the single-family rental asset class.

In this role you will:

• Work closely with the Head of Corporate Communications to craft core messaging and narratives and develop strategies to support and enhance all external communications functions.
• Generate a steady drumbeat of media opportunities to reinforce a positive dialogue surrounding Amherst’s capability set as well as viewpoints on the broader housing market and economy.
• Develop and execute media policies and best practices for Amherst to effectively manage media inquiries.
• Collaborate with Amherst’s government affairs, consumer, and institutional marketing teams to develop and align on key brand building initiatives.
• Initiate and manage a thought leadership program, including identifying and securing speaking engagements for senior leadership that helps Amherst executives gain increased visibility with key audiences and recognition for expertise in real estate development, management and investment.
• Effectively coordinate the release of impactful announcements for Amherst regarding significant transactions, partnerships, corporate developments, research reports and other key business milestones.
• Determine KPIs and metrics to measure success.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of communications experience, agency or in-house with experience leading and executing media relations programs; experience in real estate investing and/or consumer media relations preferred
• Experience working with senior leaders and creating executive platforms and thought leadership programs
• Experience with issues and crisis management
• Enthusiasm for seeking out new ways to operate in today’s shifting media landscape
• Exhibits broad set of strategy, program development and execution skills. The ideal candidate will be equally passionate about creating initiatives and executing them
• Strong written and verbal skills, experienced in developing press releases, bylines/op-eds and distilling complex analysis into compelling content
• Thrives in a fast paced, collaborative environment
• Ability to adapt quickly and help cross-functional teams align
• Well organized, detail-oriented and exceptional at prioritizing

Our full-time employee benefits include:

• A competitive compensation package, annual bonus, 401k match
• Flexible PTO including 7 paid holidays, 1 floating holiday, and 1 volunteer day
• Employer-paid benefits (medical, dental, vision, health savings account)
• Professional career development and reimbursement
• Up to 16 weeks paid maternity leave; up to 4 weeks of paid parental leave
• Backup childcare offered through Bright Horizons

Amherst is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information or veteran status, and encourage all applicants to apply

• Work closely with the Head of Corporate Communications to craft core messaging and narratives and develop strategies to support and enhance all external communications functions.
• Generate a steady drumbeat of media opportunities to reinforce a positive dialogue surrounding Amherst’s capability set as well as viewpoints on the broader housing market and economy.
• Develop and execute media policies and best practices for Amherst to effectively manage media inquiries.
• Collaborate with Amherst’s government affairs, consumer, and institutional marketing teams to develop and align on key brand building initiatives.
• Initiate and manage a thought leadership program, including identifying and securing speaking engagements for senior leadership that helps Amherst executives gain increased visibility with key audiences and recognition for expertise in real estate development, management and investment.
• Effectively coordinate the release of impactful announcements for Amherst regarding significant transactions, partnerships, corporate developments, research reports and other key business milestones.
• Determine KPIs and metrics to measure success