We are seeking a temporary, full-time Marketing & Communications Lead (approximately 25 hours per week) to support our team from early April through the end of August, as a backfill role with potential for extension. This managerial-level position offers $40–$45/hour and is ideal for someone with experience in marketing, communications, and mission-driven work across family, health, mental health, and senior care.

About Center for the Heart

Center for the Heart is a mission-driven nonprofit offering end-of-life and grief support and caregiver education. Our work is grounded in dignity, supporting death and grief literacy and equitable access to support. We serve individuals and families nationwide through virtual programming while maintaining a strong local footprint in NJ/NY through events, partnerships, local program offerings and community engagement.

Role Summary

This role serves as the organization’s lead marketing and communications strategist during a temporary backfill period. You will maintain continuity across Center for the Heart’s marketing strategy, public communications, digital presence, event promotion, fundraising visibility and external and internal marketing- and communications-related stakeholder engagement while executing a high-priority marketing overhaul.

This is a systems + conversion + content authority role. You must be able to:

Lead strategy while also executing key work hands-on
Keep the organization oriented toward non-negotiables
Delegate effectively to contractors and interns
Operate with autonomy, granular detail and high-level vision
Maintain momentum even as priorities shift quickly

Core Responsibilities 

1) Strategic Marketing Leadership & Execution Ownership 

Own and execute the marketing strategy and implementation plan supporting the marketing overhaul
Translate organizational priorities into weekly execution plans and deliverables based on your team’s weekly hourly thresholds
Maintain clarity across shifting priorities while protecting core deliverables
Provide strategic recommendations and reporting to the COO
Ensure all marketing aligns to ethical standards, deliverability and operational readiness (no premature promotion but ready to promote once operations and program structures are in place)

Website, SEO & Content

Own and manage our Squarespace website as primary CMS administrator
Implement technical SEO fixes: metadata, images, broken links, and sitemap hygiene
Build and optimize key service and educational pillar pages
Improve user journeys for services, event registration, free downloads, and donation flows
Lead a full overhaul of our SEO resource blog — tagging, metadata, internal linking, and publication cadence
Maintain E-E-A-T standards appropriate for grief and end-of-life content

Email Marketing & Automation

Own our email marketing platform (Brevo) end to end
Build and optimize welcome sequences, donor flows, newsletter templates, and workshop follow-ups
Lead segmentation and data hygiene across contact types (clients, donors, partners, volunteers)
Implement deliverability best practices (DMARC, DKIM, SPF)
Monitor open/click performance and iterate

Fundraising & Conversion Infrastructure

Implement and optimize donation pathways through Givebutter and/or PayPal
Ensure donation pages, thank-you flows, and donor communications are functional and on-brand
Build funnels that support consult requests, workshop registrations, and paid downloads
Track conversion performance using clear KPIs

Event Marketing & Local Visibility

Lead marketing and promotion for in-person and virtual events
Create event collateral: flyers, signage, social graphics, and one-pagers
Attend and support select in-person events in the Summit, NJ area (roughly 1–2x/month)
Draft post-event recaps and follow-up communications
Track event conversions using UTM links and lead tracking

Social Media

Maintain a consistent posting cadence across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube
Repurpose existing content for social channels
Ensure events and organizational initiatives are properly promoted
Support internal subject matter experts in creating short video/reel content

Analytics & Reporting

Maintain and use GA4, Google Tag Manager, Google Search Console, and Squarespace Analytics
Track baseline KPIs and provide monthly reporting to COO

Required Qualifications

5+ years in marketing, communications, or digital growth — nonprofit, startup, or mission-driven org experience is a plus
Proven hands-on experience with CMS management (Squarespace or similar)
Strong SEO skills: technical, on-page, and content architecture
Experience managing email marketing platforms and building automations
Proven ability to build conversion funnels and track performance
Strong writing and editing skills for compassionate, high-trust communications
Comfortable working independently, managing shifting priorities, and communicating proactively
Able to attend occasional in-person events in Summit, NJ and surrounding area

Preferred Experience

Experience with donation or fundraising platforms (Givebutter, PayPal, or similar)
Familiarity with Salesforce or similar CRM
Experience building integrations and automations between website, email, and CRM systems
Paid ads experience (Meta and/or Google)
Experience improving local SEO presence (Google Business Profile, local directories)
Comfort using AI tools to accelerate marketing drafting, editing, and workflow

Systems & Platforms

You should be comfortable working in these tools or close equivalents:

Squarespace (CMS)
Brevo (email marketing)
Givebutter and PayPal (donation tools)
Canva (design)
Meta Business Suite and social platforms (Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube)
Microsoft 365 and SharePoint
GA4, Google Tag Manager, Google Search Console

Center for the Heart jobs

Marketing & Communications Lead(Temporary Backfill ~ Potential for Extension)