Careers

Manager, Rapid Response 

New York, NY 

The Manhattan Institute (MI) is a community of scholars, journalists, activists, and civic leaders united by a shared commitment to advancing economic opportunity, individual liberty, and the rule of law in America and its great cities. 

About the Role 

MI is seeking a Manager, Rapid Response to help drive our presence in fast-moving media cycles, policy debates, and online conversation. This role works closely with Communications, Marketing, and MI’s corps of scholars and journalists to create content that can be shared across multiple platforms. This employee will focus on monitoring the news and debates relevant to MI’s core policy priorities, and creating compelling digital content in response. The staffer will also engage with influential figures online, ensuring that MI’s work and scholars are at the forefront of news and opinion coverage. 

The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-paced environment, is fluent in social media culture, and understands the intersection of media, politics, policy, and digital storytelling.  Broad alignment with MI’s mission is also a high priority. 

This position involves dual reporting lines. The position will report to the Director of Media Relations (Communications Department), with a secondary report to the Director of Content Strategy (Marketing Department). The employee will work especially closely with policy teams, individual scholars, Marketing, Communications, and External Affairs. Effective cross-team communication and collaboration, along with an eagerness to help junior, peer, and senior colleagues, are imperative. 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Social Media Monitoring & Analysis: Maintain close familiarity with MI’s media relations and government affairs efforts and priorities. With those priorities in mind, work to track online conversations, identify viral debates, and surface opportunities for MI and its scholars to weigh in or lead. 
• Digital Content Creation: Quickly respond to opportunities, working in support of scholars and Marketing to clip strong media hits, generate punchy copy for social posts, and create short-form videos for individual and institutional feeds. Posts should always aim to drive engagement, expand audience, and enhance MI’s relevance and credibility in traditional and digital media domains.  
• Digital Asset Bank: Create and maintain a bank of existing broadcast and video materials, searchable by topic and scholar, that can be used by Communications, Marketing, and scholars to quickly find and extract clips that respond to current events and the policy discourse on social media. 
• Influencer Engagement: Identify aligned influencers online who can expand MI’s reach, and find ways for MI and its scholars to collaborate with them. Contribute to the Communication Department’s efforts to pitch MI and its scholars for broadcast, podcast, and digital media hits that can be clipped and shared across multiple platforms. 
• Issue Tracking & Thought Leadership Positioning: Ensure MI remains ahead of the curve in public policy discussions by anticipating where debates are heading and preparing responses 

Qualifications:

• 4+ years of experience in journalism, media relations, digital communications, public affairs, or a related field—preferably within policy, political campaigns, government, or think tanks. 
• Deep understanding of public policy debates and the political/media landscape, with a keen eye for what breaks through. 
• Demonstrated ability to generate smart, compelling content across platforms. 
• Willingness to do on-camera work (experience a plus).  
• Experience with social video production (Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, YouTube, etc.)  
• Sharp writer and editor with excellent judgment and attention to detail. 
• Commitment to protecting the MI brand and the credibility of its work and scholars. A readiness to seek input from Marketing, Legal, or other stakeholders when risks to the institute’s brand and reputation arise. 
• Fast, creative, and self-directed-able to move quickly without sacrificing quality. 
• Exceptional team player, works well across teams and consistently strives to build and maintain trust. 
• Deep familiarity with MI's mission and a passion for seeing it through. 

Compensation and Benefits 

Salary range: $70,000-$105,000/year, based on experience and skills. 

MI offers generous benefits, including four weeks paid vacation, a Summer Fridays program, paid paternity/maternity leave, medical and dental coverage with HSA options, medical and dependent-care FSA, mental health benefits, remote medicine, a paid company cell phone, life insurance, and a 401(k) with a company-funded match. MI staff also benefit from the opportunity to collaborate with prominent scholars and policymakers in our space. 

For exceptional candidates, remote work options will be considered. 

To apply, please fill out the form below. Be sure to include a resume and cover letter explaining both your interest in MI and your qualifications for the role. A strategy memorandum may eventually be required, with specifics to be determined during the initial interview.