Principal, Communications, MITRE Public Sector

The MITRE Corporation•McLean, VA

4d•$147,500 - $221,500•Onsite

About The Position

At MITRE, your passion fuels work that impacts our nation and improves lives. This is where your skills strengthen national security, cybersecurity, health, transportation, and citizen services. We’re a nonprofit engineering, applied research, and advanced technology organization working in the public interest. With objectivity and integrity at our core, we lead federally funded research and development centers for U.S. government agencies – collaborating with industry and academia to deliver integrated, high-impact solutions that advance our nation’s health, security, and prosperity. Our people tackle the toughest technical challenges, supported by competitive benefits, meaningful career development, and a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence. Choose MITRE for a career with purpose — and help shape the future. The MITRE Communications and External Affairs organization helps MITRE communicate with clarity, consistency, and impact across the audiences that matter most to our mission. The organization leads mission and enterprise communications, external affairs, executive communications, public affairs, stakeholder engagement, events, digital channels, and reputation management in support of MITRE’s public-interest mission. It embeds domain-fluent communicators with MITRE’s mission sectors to shape the narratives, campaigns, content, and stakeholder engagement that advance MITRE’s impact. MITRE Public Sector (MPS), one of our mission sectors overseeing five of MITRE’s FFRDCs. MPS strengthens and secures the systems essential to U.S. safety, security, and prosperity—from aviation and cybersecurity to financial networks and healthcare. MPS provides systems expertise and data-driven solutions help government improve efficiency, reduce waste and fraud, accelerate responsible AI adoption, and improve federal missions and critical services. Through an objective, government-wide view, deep technical expertise, systems integration, and research insights, MPS delivers outcomes that benefit the American public.

Requirements

Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 8 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 5years’ experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
Bachelor’s or master’s degree in communications, journalism, public relations, public affairs, public policy, political science, technology policy, or a related field.
Demonstrated experience developing and executing end-to-end communications strategies for complex organizations, portfolios, programs, or mission areas, including narrative development, audience strategy, channel planning, content execution, executive communications, stakeholder engagement, and measurement.
Experience translating technical, systems, data, policy, or mission-oriented information into clear and compelling communications for non-technical audiences.
Ability to understand and communicate public sector missions, federal systems, emerging technology, data, AI adoption, research insights, and mission impact in relatable terms.
Strong writing, editing, and storytelling skills, with the ability to produce executive-ready content under tight timelines.
Demonstrated ability to use artificial intelligence tools responsibly and effectively to strengthen communications planning, content development, workflow efficiency, and measurement, while ensuring accuracy, sound judgment, and appropriate handling of sensitive information.
Ability to advise senior leaders and operate with credibility, discretion, and sound judgment in executive-level settings.
Experience managing multiple priorities, stakeholders, and deliverables in a dynamic environment.
Strong interpersonal skills, including active listening, emotional intelligence, collaboration, and the ability to build trust across technical and non-technical teams.
Ability to choose the right communications approach for the objective, including executive communications, internal communications, media and public affairs, digital content, events, stakeholder engagement, thought leadership, and reusable messaging assets.
Ability to work both independently and collaboratively, including as a strategic lead, partner to other communicators, and hands-on individual contributor.
Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Secret U.S Government issued Security Clearance. Per the U.S. Government’s eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S Citizen to be considered for a security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in or with FFRDCs, federal agencies, civil government organizations, public sector technology programs, critical infrastructure organizations, or other mission-driven technical environments.
Domain knowledge or communications experience in aviation, cybersecurity, healthcare, financial systems, government modernization, fraud reduction, data analytics, AI adoption, systems engineering, critical infrastructure, or other public sector mission areas.
Experience supporting technical leaders, systems experts, researchers, or senior executives in communicating complex work to government, industry, media, employee, or public audiences.
Experience supporting strategic visits, executive engagements, public affairs, government affairs, congressional or administration-facing engagement, or policy-sensitive communications.
Experience building reusable messaging infrastructure, such as message frameworks, proof-point libraries, executive briefing packages, FAQs, talking points, and stakeholder-ready materials.
Experience measuring communications outcomes, not just activity or output.
Active Secret clearance

Responsibilities

Develop priority-setting and narrative development through channel strategy, content execution, executive support, stakeholder engagement, measurement, and after-action improvement.
Identify the audiences most important to the MITRE Public Sector work and help design communication plans to reach those audiences through a variety of tactics.
Shape proactive communications campaigns around a focused set of priority public sector topics and mission outcomes, including government modernization, critical services, aviation, cybersecurity, healthcare, financial systems, data-driven decision-making, fraud reduction, systems integration, and responsible AI adoption.
Translate complex technical, policy, data, systems, and mission content into clear communications products, including executive messaging, talking points, briefing materials, web and social content, stories, releases, videos, fact sheets, FAQs, presentations, proof points, and plain-language value propositions.
Serve as a strategic communications advisor to MITRE Public Sector executives, leaders, and subject matter experts on messaging, narrative, stakeholder engagement, public affairs, media engagement, strategic visits, crisis communications, and reputational risk.
Coordinate across Communications and External Affairs, mission communicators for each internal organization and business sector, public affairs, government relations, digital, events, protocol, executive communications, and MITRE Public Sector teams so communications are aligned, timely, consistent, and not fragmented by channel or function.
Define and track practical measures of communications effectiveness, such as message pull-through, stakeholder engagement, executive readiness, content reuse, audience understanding, campaign progress, and risk reduction.
Operate as the embedded communications lead for MITRE Public Sector while connecting back to the broader Communications and External Affairs function, ensuring shared messaging, coordinated planning, consistent standards, and a unified voice across channels.