• Reports to: Director of Communications
• Status: Exempt (Salary), Full-time, Temporary, In-person, March - December 2026 (leave coverage)
• Contact: Director of Communications
• Pay Scale: $85,000 - $95,000/annualized, Commensurate with Experience

To Apply:  Please submit your cover letter, resume, and a list of all previous school or educational institution employers, including city and state, in accordance with CA SB 848 to the hiring team at hiring@cate.org.

Job Summary

Cate School seeks a seasoned Interim Senior Communications Officer to lead the School’s communications function on a temporary basis from March through December 2026. This temporary role will involve project management experience, strong editorial judgment, and an ability to operate independently within a dynamic school environment. The Interim Senior Communications Officer will serve as the lead Communications staff member during the Director’s parental leave period (May-October) and will oversee the day-to-day communications needs of the School before and after the leave (March-December).

Essential Job Functions

The responsibilities of this position will include, but not be limited to the following:

• The Cate Bulletin - Spring/Summer & Fall 2026 Edition
  • Oversee the final stages of the production of the Spring/Summer edition of the School’s community magazine, The Bulletin.
  • Coordinate content development related to Commencement, collaborating with freelance writers and external creative agency as needed.
  • Ensure deadlines, approvals, and content quality align with Cate’s standards.
  • Begin development of the Fall Bulletin with the Inquiry Question as the theme. Support content development and initial stages of production.
• Project Oversight
  • Manage annual updates to the Cate School website, www.cate.org/, on a WordPress platform in collaboration with the Assistant Director of Digital Content.
  • Supervise a summer student employee to tag all 2025-2026 media on SmugMug and Vimeo.
  • Create an organized archive for easy reference to relevant media for future use.
• Communications Calendar Development
  • Using the previous year’s calendar as a baseline, draft the 2026-2027 Communications Calendar.
  • Collaborate with Admissions, Advancement, and the Head of School’s office to map out timing for significant annual projects for the upcoming year.
  • Create a preliminary budget for the CommuniCATE parent newsletter in collaboration with the Director of Parent Engagement.
• Internal & External Communications
  • Draft, edit, and distribute communications to students, families, faculty, staff, and other stakeholders as needed, including the CommuniCATE newsletter.
  • Oversee freelancers and vendors in photo, video, writing, and livestream as needed.
  • Respond to day-to-day communications requests from departments across campus as needed.

This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. An employee may also perform other reasonably related business duties as assigned.

Job Benefits

This position comes with full benefits that include robust Health/Dental/Life insurance, Retirement and PTO.

All Cate Employees live up to the following Essential Expectations:

1. Overtly support and act according to the school’s mission and values.
2. Foster a safe, predictable, and supportive environment for employees and students.
3. Interact with colleagues in a respectful and collegial manner that fosters a healthy culture for living, learning, and working together.
4. Demonstrate commitment and courage in service of building our school culture where diversity is affirmed and supported.
5. Demonstrate appropriate planning and preparation to meet the complex and evolving needs of your role.
6. Uphold professional standards of predictable presence, reliable responses, and relational trust.
7. Appropriately steward strategic and special projects associated with role or team.
8. Honor the confidentiality of School, student, and family information.
9. Comply with policies and procedures as articulated in the School's Employee Handbook.
10. Authentically engage in self-reflection in service to professional growth and adapting to the evolving needs of the school.

At Cate, we often talk about the deep sense of community that attends the “spirit of this place.” While the “spirit” manifests in many ways, it is rooted in the full recognition of the dignity of each person. We encourage all members of the Cate community to share their background, interests, identities, and beliefs so that we can collectively work to broaden our perspectives, deepen our capacity for empathy, and strengthen our resilience. In doing so, we can continue the daily work of creating and building community

Physical Requirements

• Ability to lift 50 pounds, using proper lifting techniques
• Ability to sit, stand, and/or move around the applicable working environment as needed
• Ability to travel safely and comfortably around our campus
• Ability to use a keyboard (or an alternative input device) and other office equipment
• Ability to read information in printed material, on a computer screen, and/or on a mobile device/laptop for extended periods of time

Equal Employment Opportunity Policy

Cate School is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition including genetic characteristics, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender, gender identity, genetic information or any other category protected under federal or local law.

About Cate School

For over a century, Cate School has been blending together the tradition of the East Coast with the innovation of the West Coast in the service of a dynamic, diverse, and close-knit community. A four-year college preparatory school with a low student-to-faculty ratio, small class sizes, and inviting residential spaces, Cate’s inquiry-based program is designed to challenge, inspire, and support boarding and day students whose interests, abilities, characters, and aspirations make them individually and collectively exceptional. Join a professional community that is celebrated for its transformational pedagogy that fosters curiosity. Here, our faculty thrives within a dynamic culture driven by an unwavering dedication to the greatest growth possible, a spirit of innovation and progress, and a core of care and support for each member of this community.

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