3 steps to hire amazing comms leaders
Written by zoe ALEXIS WHITEHORN
Aaaah. Birds chirping. Sun shining. Double chocolate chip cookies in the oven.
Oh, that’s just that unmistakable feeling of relief when you finally hire and onboard a sure-to-succeed communications leader to your team.
But... Birds angry-squawking. Torrential rain without an umbrella. Your THIRD batch of burnt cookies.
Well, that’s that unmistakable sunk cost, lost-time-feeling of trying… and trying… and trying… to find amazing teammates while you and your team are already over capacity.
the cost of a neverending hunt
We know how hard you work to keep your mission moving. Most of you are running on lean teams with zero capacity to spare.
The search for a comms leader is super high-stakes…
Outsourcing the search? Often that means a steep recruitment fee for a generalist corporate recruiter. You still end up spending your own time teaching them the nuances of child and family advocacy.
Doing it yourself? The pressure is on to become an HR expert overnight. You have to design a data-backed interview process from scratch to ensure you don't get it wrong. You have to craft equitable screeners and coordinate interview schedules.
That’s time you lose doing two jobs at once.
Meanwhile, an incomplete team means your program director staying late to draft a newsletter, because the communications seat is empty. It looks like you scrolling through 400 resumes at 8 p.m.
When you don’t have the right teammates, progress stalls. You miss opportunities to connect with funders or supporters. You lose momentum on critical advocacy campaigns. And the burnout on your existing team starts to creep up.
Here’s how to get those birds chirping peacefully again.
3 steps to a successful hire
The best way to protect your team’s time and energy is to build a rigorous process before you even post the job.
It’s not *just* about the search itself. It’s about designing the screeners and interviews in a way that finds a true fit for both of you.
1️⃣ Prioritize the work before you hire. When a team member leaves, the instinct is to panic and re-hire immediately. Instead, take a moment to audit the role. Figure out what absolutely must get done and what can pause.
This clarity allows you to write a job description that focuses on truly critical outcomes rather than a laundry list of impossible tasks.
Write that JD from a place of clarity.
2️⃣ Build thoughtful screeners that test for alignment. These days, anyone can pull together a spectacular resume that magically (hello, robots!) speaks to your every need. A candidate might look perfect on paper, but miss the mark on mission alignment.
Create a screening process that asks specific (robot-proof) questions about their connection to the child and family sector early on. Lived experience, perspective and mindset matter and can contribute so much more than a discrete skill or even a degree.
This screening saves you from spending hours interviewing candidates who aren't a match for your values.
3️⃣ Root out bias and use interview questions that reveal key mindsets. Coming up with fresh questions for every candidate is exhausting and leads to bias. Without structure, it’s too easy to drift toward hiring people who fit a “like me” bias, rather than the best person for the job.
Instead, create a standard bank of questions, including behavioral ones using the STAR method, that you ask every single person.
This helps you compare apples to apples. It ensures you find someone who fits your specific needs, not just someone who interviews well. It also helps you identify the specific mindsets – like resilience and empathy – that your mission demands.
Here’s a link to some of our tested STAR interview questions to get you started.
Hiring is one of the hardest things you do as a leader. It’s also among the most important.
When you take the time to slow down and build a process rooted in equity and clarity, you reduce the risk. You protect your time. Most importantly, you ensure your mission keeps moving forward.
We are rooting for you as you plan for 2026.
