Managing Director, Strategic Communications

Namati is seeking a communications visionary to lead the next era of our influence and impact. This leader will work closely with our CEO, Vivek Maru, and the rest of the Namati team to establish Namati as an unignorable voice in global conversations on democracy and climate. You'll help Namati build a movement, not just an audience, engaging everyone from labor unions to corporations, from everyday people to heads of state, and transforming them from spectators into participants in grassroots justice.

We are at a pivotal moment: we’re preparing to launch the Grassroots Justice Network Academy in 2026, entering the next phase for our global Carbon Justice campaign, and investing in an individual giving program and new earned revenue efforts to expand our impact and sustainability.

As Managing Director, Strategic Communications, you will lead a strong, growing, values-driven team to drive high-quality execution across all types of content including written, visual, and multimedia. You will be responsible for elevating Namati’s voice in public conversations on climate and democracy, generating meaningful relationships with media and global changemakers, and guiding public-facing strategy for campaigns, thought leadership, and product launches. This role requires balancing decentralized program communications with cohesive organizational storytelling that reflects our collective voice and values. The ideal candidate will bring vision, strategic clarity, and disciplined execution, anchored by direct engagement (and regular travel) with our teams and allies globally.

Our work is grounded in an ethos of partnering with communities to support them in claiming and advancing their rights. We work alongside communities, rather than working on their behalf. This way of working requires all of our team members, particularly our senior leadership, to exemplify the values of humility and solidarity that underlie our grassroots methods of action. You can read more about our cultural principles here.

Who You Are

• A strategic architect who connects the dots others can't see. Across borders, movements, and issues, you weave disparate threads into a galvanizing narrative that can move institutions, shift resources, and drive collective action at scale.

• A collaborator and coach. You lead with humility, confidence, and empathy. You bring out the best in others, and foster a culture of accountability, curiosity, and joy.

• A storyteller with moral conviction. You help us tell the biggest story possible about our work. You bring heart and clarity to complex issues and translate grassroots realities for global audiences without losing nuance. Your stories shift how people see what's possible.

• Media savvy and digitally fluent. You command a network that spans the media ecosystem.  You know what will break through the noise and what will sustain momentum across platforms and news cycles.

• A grounded strategist. You value travel for what it enables: trust building with teams, deeper insight into local realities and external opportunities, and for crafting strategy that is informed by and responsive to frontline work. You balance this with care for climate impact, making thoughtful choices about when and how to travel.

Experience & Qualifications

We anticipate the successful candidate will bring these qualifications, but they are not requirements. We're looking for vision, dynamism, and a proven track record of bold impact.

• 12+ years of professional experience, including demonstrated experience in leadership in strategic communications, campaigns, and/or media, ideally at a mission-driven organization; at least 5 years of demonstrated experience in the responsibilities outlined below. 
• Experience managing high-performing, diverse teams across wide geographies.
• Experience developing and executing media strategy to shape public discourse, proactively securing high-impact placements. You have built warm, global relationships in media and advocacy spaces.
• Experience navigating complex political, operational, and interpersonal dynamics. Bonus if you’ve led rapid-response and crisis communications.
• An established and polished writer. In addition to strong editorial judgment and expertise, you’ve held the pen on important written communications. Bonus if you’ve been published.
• Experience guiding integrated digital marketing strategy across multiple channels.
• Native or near-native fluency in English; additional languages and visual storytelling skills are a plus.
• Prior experience in legal empowerment, human rights, environmental justice, or international development is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

1. Lead a global strategy grounded in local realities

• Architect and drive a communications strategy that establishes Namati and the Grassroots Justice Network as the authoritative voice on community-led solutions to democracy and climate crises, shaping how global institutions, media, and movements understand and invest in grassroots justice.
• Set and drive bold visibility goals that position Namati and the Grassroots Justice Network as leading voices in the global democracy and climate space, including tailored strategies for key audiences such as policy makers, funders, businesses, and global institutions. 
• Develop and lead, where appropriate, strategic initiatives to grow the movement of grassroots justice advocates and its supporters, such as launching a multimedia magazine or a signature global event for grassroots justice. 
• Collaborate closely with cross-cutting and country program teams to shape the storyline, framing, and presentation of new learning and research about legal empowerment and grassroots justice, ensuring it resonates with diverse audiences and supports the Grassroots Justice Network Academy’s goals.

2. Manage a high-performing team with a strong editorial culture

• Oversee and grow a world-class, globally distributed communications team, fostering a culture of excellence, creativity, and accountability.
• Set the standard for high-impact writing, personally authoring high-stakes content such as organizational statements and the forthcoming Legal Empowerment Magazine, while guiding teams to craft effective written work that reflects Namati’s values and advances strategic goals.
• Provide high-level content leadership that elevates quality and clarity, while empowering team members to own and deliver consistently excellent work.
• Ensure that systems for collaboration, learning, and performance tracking are aligned with strategic goals–even when you are not in the weeds day-to-day.

3. Expand media relations and global visibility

• Cultivate and manage high-value relationships with journalists, influencers, high-profile advocates, and narrative leaders, leveraging your network and credibility to elevate the profile of Vivek, Namati, the Grassroots Justice Network Academy, and legal empowerment.
• Serve as a senior spokesperson for the organization, as well as coaching other colleagues – including community paralegals, program leads, and executive leadership  – to speak and write publicly with confidence and clarity.
• Lead media strategy and crisis communications, including reputational risk anticipation and response planning.
• Guide the public positioning of Namati’s CEO and executive team, including promotion of the CEO’s forthcoming book.
  

4. Drive campaigns, marketing, and strategic engagement

• Shape strategy and public narrative for time-bound campaigns and advocacy surges that command public attention, in collaboration with Namati teams and external partners.
• Partner with our Resource Mobilization team to develop content and messaging that resonates with institutional funders and individual donors, and to secure dedicated funding for strategic communications work.
• Lead audience-specific marketing strategy for the Grassroots Justice Network Academy, including marketing for income-generating products.
• Build public engagement efforts that go beyond visibility, inviting action, solidarity, and participation in the movement for grassroots justice from diverse audiences–including small donors and everyday people using the law to solve problems.
  

Here’s what you might have tackled last month:

• Secured a feature in The Guardian highlighting Namati’s carbon justice work, after weeks of relationship-building with a key journalist and coordinating interviews with frontline advocates across multiple countries. 
• Wrote the Legal Empowerment Magazine features and developed the distribution strategy, including audience segmentation, channel selection, and maximizing reach and engagement. You also advised on the best layout and platform to meet core objectives.
• Spoke on a global panel alongside climate and democracy leaders, positioning Namati as a leader in legal empowerment and generating new inquiries from media and funders. 
• Provided detailed editorial feedback on an op-ed co-authored by a community paralegal and Namati’s CEO, as part of a broader effort to elevate frontline voices in global media.
• Led a collaborative envisioning session with the Network, Strategic Engagement, Resource Mobilization, and country teams to shape the creative vision for the ‘Grassroots Justice’ magazine and set concrete next steps. 
• Provided strategic input on the global land, environment, and climate team’s private sector-facing communications campaign, highlighting the role of community leadership and rights in carbon projects. 
• Partnered with the program leads to craft a risk management plan for a major policy win in Southeast Asia, ensuring alignment with global messaging, anticipating reputational challenges, and safeguarding frontline partners. 
• Reviewed quarterly digital communications analytics and facilitated a team reflection session to draw out lessons and shape content priorities for the coming months.  
• Traveled to Freetown, Sierra Leone to align with program staff and partners on regional and global storytelling priorities and listen for emerging narratives from the field. 

Location & Travel

We’re looking for a successful candidate to be based in Nairobi, Kenya, or the Washington, DC metro area. We will also consider US applicants based in CA, CT, MA, MD, NJ, NY, or VA. Please note that US-based candidates must already be legally eligible to work in the United States to be considered for the role; Namati cannot sponsor visas.

If the successful candidate is based in/near Nairobi or Washington DC, they will follow Namati’s hybrid office policy, which calls for staff to report to the office two days per week between Tuesday and Thursday.  

The role requires up to 20% travel, including internationally. Travel requirements may change over time based on evolving priorities. The successful candidate will be expected to sometimes work non-standard hours to accommodate the various time zones of Namati’s teams.

Compensation Package 

We base our compensation on the markets where our staff operate. We work to communicate transparently with candidates (including talking about compensation very early in the process; for this position, we will send the prospective offer range for the candidate’s location when reaching out to request a screening interview). Throughout the hiring process we will seek to understand your specific skills, experience, and abilities as they will fit into our team and our job levels. We will finalize pay and responsibilities based on the qualifications, experience, and country location of the person joining. 

We also offer excellent benefits: while the exact terms vary somewhat based on location, they always include health coverage, generous paid time off, retirement or old-age plan contributions, sick leave, and parental leave. All staff also have access to funds for professional development opportunities.

How to Apply 

Please apply by completing our online application form. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, and the position will be open until filled. Application review will begin Wednesday, January 7, 2026, and applications received by this date will be prioritized.

No phone calls, please. Namati is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Namati has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The American Journal of Law and Equity, TED, DW, The Economist, Amanpour & Co., The Baltimore Sun, The Telegraph, and Open Global Rights, among other outlets. We’ve received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, the Global Pluralism Award, and the 2030 Racial Equity Prize, among other honors. Documentaries about our work have been screened at film festivals, government offices, museums, in communities, and beyond.

About Namati

Since 2011, Namati has worked to build a movement of grassroots justice advocates worldwide. We’ve grown tremendously, from a small founding group of big-hearted change-makers to a global staff of 180+ people across 12 time zones in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The Grassroots Justice Network, which we co-founded and convene to this day, has grown from 30 people in one room to the world’s largest community of justice advocates, with membership from 4,200 organizations across 175 countries. 

Since our founding, we have supported local communities to take on thousands of justice issues, directly improving the lives of over 5 million people, protecting over 3 million acres of forests and grasslands, and strengthening rights for over 155 million people. Together with communities, partners, and Network members, we’ve envisioned - and won- transformative changes, like the Customary Land Rights and National Land Commission Acts of Sierra Leone, and the world’s first Legal Empowerment Fund.