Associate, External Communications

About Us

Girl Scouts of the USA

 

We are Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.

 

From coast to coast and across the globe, GSUSA provides programs built specifically for girls, meant to evolve alongside them as they discover who they are, explore their passions, and develop hands-on skills. Backed by millions of alums and a network of dedicated adult volunteers and mentors, Girl Scouts of all backgrounds and abilities rise to meet new challenges, tap into the power inside them, and build the confidence to let it shine. They find their strengths in science labs and on hiking trails, at cookie booths and in front of city councils. Along the way, they uncover the tools they need to lead with joy, on their own terms. And GSUSA is there to support and inspire them every step of the way, working with 111 local councils across the country and USA Girl Scouts Overseas to deliver our life-changing Girl Scout Leadership Experience.

 

If you believe in the promise and potential of all girls and are inspired by Girl Scouts’ mission of building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place, we’d love to hear from you.

 

Corporate Affairs helps care for and strengthen the Girl Scout brand by building trust, relevance, and meaningful connections with both internal and external audiences. Through thoughtful, engaging storytelling, they elevate the “voice of the girl,” making sure her experiences, accomplishments, and impact are always front and center.

 

The team delivers this work through a mix of internal and external communications, media relations, cultural assets, and government affairs, helping ensure clear, consistent, and compelling messages across every channel. By sharing the Girl Scout story in authentic and inspiring ways, the team helps audiences better understand who we are, what we stand for, and why our work matters. Ultimately, the team’s goal is to make sure the Girl Scout brand remains trusted, relevant, and deeply connected to the Girl Scout mission everywhere our story is told.

#LI-hybrid

You Will

The Associate, External Communications is a resourceful, proactive storyteller who helps more people understand the experiences and impact of Girl Scouting. This role seeks out compelling stories with national potential and helps bring them to life through earned media.

Working as part of the External Communications team, the Associate listens closely, asks thoughtful questions, and connects ideas shared in internal meetings to broader cultural conversations and media opportunities. The role uncovers promising leads across GSUSA and the Girl Scout Movement, surfaces them to the team and its public relations agency partner, and develops them into timely, distinctive pitches and content that bring Girl Scouts’ brand platform, The Power Within, into public conversation across audiences and media.

The Associate also supports day-to-day media outreach; drafts and organizes press materials, briefing documents, and toolkits; tracks coverage and trends; helps prepare spokespeople; and contributes to storytelling around key moments, from the iconic Girl Scout Cookie Program to national research on the lives of girls.

This is an opportunity for a communications professional who takes initiative, pursues promising opportunities, and turns complex information into compelling narratives. Success requires curiosity, sound judgment, creativity, and the drive to collaborate across teams, spot connections others may miss, and strengthen Girl Scouts’ national presence.

Essential Responsibilities

The Associate, External Communications supports GSUSA's national earned media and storytelling work. Most of the role's time is spent finding, developing, and placing stories.

 

Story Development and Media Relations

• Identify and source proactive story leads from across GSUSA, the Movement's 111 councils, national research, and the GSUSA Collection and Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace. Surface the most promising ones to the team and agency partner with a recommended angle and target outlets.
• Identify timely hooks for Girl Scout stories, spokespeople, and research by mining news cycles and what’s trending.
• Draft press materials, including pitches, press releases, talking points, FAQs, and briefing documents that reflect GSUSA's key messages and The Power Within brand platform.
• Maintain media lists, the proactive media calendar, and the coverage tracker.
• Support thought leadership moments from planning through execution, including national research releases, speaking opportunities, events, and girl-centered activations.
• Prepare spokespeople for interviews with briefing documents, message points, and anticipated questions. Coordinate interview logistics and staff media opportunities in person and virtually.

Agency and Influencer Collaboration

• Serve as the day-to-day liaison with GSUSA's public relations agency. This includes sharing briefs and story leads, tracking deliverables and timelines, and consolidating internal feedback.
• Support influencer and creator work in partnership with Marketing and other teams by vetting talent for brand fit and values alignment, developing content and activation ideas, and finding ways to extend influencer work into earned storytelling.
• Maintain the earned influencer roster and relationship history.

Council Support and Sensitive Issues

 

• Coordinate with council communications staff on national campaigns and key moments, including the Girl Scout Cookie Program.
• Monitor the media line and inbound inquiries. Respond to routine questions and route others as directed.
• Support sensitive-issues monitoring by flagging emerging risks early. Help draft holding statements and response materials under team direction.

Measurement and Reporting

• Track and analyze coverage and earned influence performance against campaign and annual goals, including placements, reach, message pull-through, and share of voice.
• Prepare regular performance summaries, including inputs to quarterly organizational performance reporting.

Team Operations

• Keep External Communications workstreams on schedule by tracking next steps, deliverables, and owners across teams.
• Coordinate the team's contracts with Legal and Procurement, and process invoices with Finance.
• Maintain accurate timelines, files, and project documentation.

Schedule and Availability

 

**This is a full-time role. National news cycles, live events, and Girl Scout Cookie season may occasionally require evening or weekend work.**

 

Note: This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or activities required of the role. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position.

Required Competencies

Initiative

• Resourceful self-starter who anticipates needs, follows through on commitments, and finds practical ways to move work forward.

 Curiosity

• Naturally curious and skilled at asking thoughtful questions, listening for possibilities, and connecting ideas across teams and conversations
• Passionate storyteller with excellent writing skills and the ability to adapt stories for print, broadcast, digital, social, and emerging media

News Judgement

• Strong instinct for Girl Scout stories, people, research, and moments with national relevance, and for how to adapt them across print, broadcast, digital, social, and emerging media

Collaboration

• Surfaces opportunities clearly, works effectively with colleagues, councils, and agency partners, and takes feedback well.

Cultural Awareness

• Attuned to news cycles, audience interests, social media, and cultural trends.

Judgment and discretion

• Knows when to escalate, when to hold, and how to handle sensitive information.

Detail and accountability

• Delivers accurate, timely work in a fast-moving environment.

Mission and brand stewardship

• Understands and values the Girl Scout mission and The Power Within brand platform.

Required Technical Skills

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Excel for trackers and reporting and PowerPoint for briefing materials.
• Proficiency in at least one media database or monitoring platform, such as Cision, Muck Rack, or Meltwater.
• Fluency with social and creator platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn, as sources of stories, trends, and talent.
• Practical use of Microsoft Copilot and other generative AI tools for research, drafting, and synthesis, with sound judgment about accuracy, sourcing, and confidentiality.

You Need

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in a corporate environment
• Demonstrated record of securing earned media placements with national or regional outlets through original pitching. Candidates should be able to share examples of pitches and the coverage that resulted.
• Strong writing skills across press materials, including releases, pitches, media advisories, talking points, FAQs, and briefing documents, with copy that is accurate, on message, and ready for review with minimal revision.
• Working knowledge of how newsrooms, broadcast bookers, and digital and creator media operate, including news cycles, embargoes, exclusives, and attribution.
• Experience tracking and reporting on coverage and earned influence performance (reach, impressions, message pull-through, share of voice) and turning results into clear, usable summaries.
• Working familiarity with influencer and creator partnerships, including vetting for brand fit and alignment and understanding disclosure requirements under the FTC Endorsement Guides.
• Experience working with or at a public relations agency, including managing briefs, timelines, and deliverables.
• Understanding of issues monitoring and rapid response, and demonstrated discretion with confidential and sensitive information.
• Experience coordinating multiple concurrent workstreams alongside routine administrative processes such as contracts, invoices, and vendor documentation, with consistent accuracy.

 

SALARY RANGE: $66,000 - $75,000

This represents the present low and high end of the pay range for this position. This pay range is only applicable to NYC Metro-based employees, on a hybrid schedule.  Actual pay will vary based on various factors, including but not limited to experience.

 

What We Offer: 

Girl Scouts is powered by people, and we encourage our team members to be their best selves in and out of the office. We place a high priority on flexibility and offer a competitive employee salary and benefits package that includes: 

 

Paid Time Off:  

GSUSA offers 20+ days of paid time off, 2 floating holidays, as well as 9 workplace holidays per year. GSUSA staff also enjoy a paid holiday year-end office closure between Christmas and New Year's.

 

Other Benefits: 

Medical and Behavioral Health Coverage 

Plan options with individual and family coverage which includes wellness, hospitalization, and fertility assistance. 

Both plans include GSUSA partial subsidy of premium costs

Dental and vision coverage 

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) including Health, Dependent Care, and Limited FSA for those with Health Savings Accounts 

Company-paid life insurance 

Flexible work arrangements 

12 weeks of paid parental leave 

401(K) with company match 

Sick leave 

Short- and Long-Term Disability for salary continuation 

Health and Wellness Classes and Activities throughout the year  

 

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

 

WORK ENVIRONMENT: This job is remote. however will be required to be on-site in the NYC area for photo shoots for 2-3 days per month on average. 

 

POSITION TYPE / EXPECTED HOURS OF WORK: This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday with a 35 hour per week schedule. Occasional evenings and weekends work may be required as job duties demand.

 

AAP/EEO Statement: GSUSA is an equal employment opportunity employe

Travel Requirements

up to 20%