Title: Communications & Partnership Manager

Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia

Reports to: Program Director

Type: Part-time (approximately 20 hours a week), a mix of remote and in the CVW offices in Virginia Beach, some weekend days may be required.

CVW’s Mission: Clean Virginia Waterways’ mission is to enhance the health of Virginia’s water resources through pollution prevention, education, and stewardship activities involving Virginians from the classroom to the boardroom. CVW, a leader in preventing marine debris from land-based sources, was founded in 1995, and is affiliated with the Ocean Conservancy and funded in part with a grant from the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program. CVW is currently a fiscally sponsored program of United Charitable, a registered 501c(3) non-profit organization.

CVW’s projects include: implementation of the Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan; hosting the Virginia Marine Debris Summit; Keep It Beachy Clean Litter Prevention Program; Virginia’s balloon litter monitoring project; plastic pollution research and advocacy for prevention; organizing the International Coastal Cleanup in Virginia.

Overview: The CVW Communications & Partnership Manager will work closely with the Program Director and other staff and interns to advance our mission through building the Virginia Plastic Pollution Prevention Network, educating through newsletters and social media and assisting with the implementation of recent policies including the polystyrene ban and balloon release ban. This is a key position which plans, coordinates, and assures implementation of strategies included in the Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan to advance CVW’s mission.

Responsibilities:

Communications & Partnership Management

• Create and distribute CVW and VPPPN monthly newsletters to maximize output of information to partners, supporters and the public.
• Create and implement plan to increase VPPPN membership and meeting participation. Continue weekly posts to social media. Manage VPPPN website and YouTube. Work with VPPPN membership to increase public awareness of plastic pollution issues, policies and positivity (highlight members, events, accomplishments) in Virginia by creating social media posts that can be shared throughout the network. Collect successful social media posts from membership that can be shared throughout the network.
• Work with partners to support programs to educate the public regarding 5-cent bag fees. Influence reusable bag and reusable to-go container usage through a social media campaign, newsletters and blogs. Use social media to conduct local surveys regarding these issues. Interview localities with the fee and update CVW’s current data regarding successes, barriers and challenges, including how revenue from fees has made a difference in those communities. Share with communities interested in adopting the fee.
• Assist in the preparation for the ban on the use of expanded polystyrene food and beverage containers. Work with partners to create a resource hub for restaurants, suppliers and consumers. Reach out to restaurants to raise awareness of the EPS ban (Starting July 1, 2025, for chains of 20 or more stores, and starting July 1, 2026 for smaller restaurants).
• Utilize social media and newsletters to share CVW report (balloon monitoring, public perception, economic impact, etc.) results, VMDRP and voter survey videos.

Other duties

• Assist with the work of the Mid-Atlantic Marine Debris Work Group
• Assist with hosting the 2025 Virginia Marine Debris Summit
• Assist with partnership building for the Keep It Beachy Clean program
• Assist with fundraising, including grant seeking and administration
• Assist with International Coastal Cleanup

Position Preferences

• Bachelor’s degree
• 3 to 5 years of experience in environmental education and project management
• Demonstrated success in project management
• Demonstrated interest in environmental issues, especially marine debris and plastic pollution prevention
• Have a track record of collaboration and working effectively across teams
• Experience in education (formal or informal)
• General communication and public speaking skills
• Must be flexible to work occasional weekend events

Technical Skills

• Website design and maintenance (we use Squarespace and Weebly)
• Microsoft office especially Word and Excel
• Canva
• Googe Workspace
• Graphic Design skills are a plus

If you have a mix of these skills, we encourage you to apply.

The hourly wage for this position is $20 to $30 per hour based on previous experience.

This position is funded by a grant and is only guaranteed through September 2025.