Hi Joady,

Thank you for publishing this. Overall I like this draft. I would like to
offer two comments.

1. My impression is that WMF Communications is largely used to support
fundraising, readership, and sometimes legal or advocacy topics. The
department seems to be externally focused. I would like to see work by WMF
Communications and/or WMF Community Engagement on developing a systematic
"internal" communications system among content contributors and WMF
departments. There are currently many internal communications flows, and
while I think that there have been some noticeable improvements over the
past few years (I particularly want to acknowledge the WMF Community
Liaisons), there is a long way to go in systematizing and optimizing these
communications flows. So instead of looking for a chief communications
officer whose main strength is in marketing, sales, PR, or other forms of
external communication, I would encourage WMF to seek a chief
communications officer who has a track record of facilitating long-term
improvement of internal communications in complex and diverse environments.

2. For the line in the JD draft which currently reads "A clear, effective
communications style, including experience guiding messaging for major
organizations, political candidates, or movements", I would encourage
considerable caution about hiring someone into this role who has had a
background in political campaigns. I would prefer that the individual have
no affiliation with any political party. I can think of some organizations
which are not aligned with a specific political party and which support
civil rights issues which are likely to be largely compatible with WMF's
mission, but I would still be very cautious about hiring someone who has
any background in politics. Keeping in mind WMF's recent and controversial
annual report, I think it is particularly important to hire a chief
communications officer who can guide communications and the WMF
organization away from involvement in political matters to the maximum
extent possible while still supporting freedom of expression in the limited
circumstances in which constraints on freedom of expression would impede
Wikimedians' ability to communicate freely about matters of important
public interest.

Thank you,

Pine
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