Project Manager, Strategic Communications

Pantheon Data • Washington, DC

1d • Onsite

About The Position

Pantheon Data is hiring a Project Manager, Strategic Communications to oversee the day-to-day execution of a communications support team embedded with a Navy headquarters organization in Washington, DC. This team is responsible for public affairs, congressional affairs, visual information and multimedia, and technical library and legislative analysis for senior Navy leadership. The role requires an individual who can take ambiguous tasks and develop plans, take ownership, and produce initial drafts. The Project Manager will be responsible for the plan, tempo, and follow-through for a multidisciplinary team including writers, graphics and video professionals, analysts, event and exhibit staff, and web and social media managers. The position also involves contract administration duties such as workload management, monthly reporting to the Government, deliverable tracking, and budget discipline. The goal is to improve the team's efficiency, clarity, and client interaction, ensuring high-quality deliverables.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in English, Communications, or a related field and a minimum of four (4) years of relevant professional experience; OR a bachelor's degree in a field related to this work and a minimum of six (6) years of relevant professional experience.
• Demonstrated experience managing multiple concurrent projects to deadline in a fast-moving environment with competing priorities.
• Demonstrated experience leading or coordinating a team of professional staff across more than one discipline.
• Strong writing and editing skills, with the ability to review others' communications products for quality, accuracy, and style compliance.
• Experience producing recurring management reports (labor, cost, personnel, and deliverable status) accurately and on time.
• Ability to structure an unfamiliar problem, form a point of view quickly, and communicate it in plain language to senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to work with minimal direction and to make and defend judgment calls in the absence of complete guidance.
• Demonstrated record of high-frequency, low-friction communication with clients: short turnarounds, direct answers, and proactive notice of problems.
• Ability to adapt to changing priorities and no-notice requirements while maintaining quality and attention to detail.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365, including Outlook, Word, Excel, SharePoint, Teams, and PowerPoint.
• Ability to work effectively remotely in cross-functional teams.
• Ability to meet deadlines and produce quality work.
• Secret Clearance is required for continued employment.
• Must maintain a favorable background investigation at the Secret level for the duration of the assignment.
• Must execute a non-disclosure agreement within 15 days of hire.

Nice To Haves

• Working knowledge of NAVSEA, the Navy, the Department of War, and Congress.
• Experience supporting a DoW or other federal headquarters communications organization.
• Experience supporting senior military or civilian executives in a high-tempo environment.
• Familiarity with visual information and multimedia production workflows: photography, videography, graphic design, digital signage, web, and social media.
• Experience on a federal services contract, including CDRL tracking, labor and cost reporting, and subcontractor coordination.
• Demonstrated use of AI and automation tools to reduce manual work in a professional setting.
• Active Secret clearance is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Manage communications and creative output (campaigns, products, and events) from concept through production, including the people, processes, and technologies involved.
• Plan and execute across multiple concurrent workstreams including public affairs, congressional affairs, multimedia, events and protocol, and analysis support.
• Transform ambiguous or late-breaking taskers into clear plans with assigned owners, due dates, and initial drafts before client follow-up is needed.
• Present two viable courses of action with a recommendation and tradeoffs when the path forward is unclear.
• Facilitate project kickoffs and brainstorming sessions, foster collaboration for a shared vision, and present concepts and ideas to clients and leadership.
• Maintain a deliverables list (item, due date, assigned person) and produce agendas and minutes from strategic planning meetings and events.
• Provide workload management and oversight of contract personnel, balancing capacity against surge and no-notice requirements.
• Assign tasks to the appropriate team members and rebalance workloads proactively when deadlines are at risk.
• Support training and professional development to ensure the team stays current with industry standards in storytelling, design, and multimedia production.
• Conduct quality reviews of public affairs products to ensure clear and logical communication of complex information, including presentations, press releases, briefs, communications plans, photography, and video editing.
• Directly support product development through review, editing, problem-solving, and occasional production.
• Contribute expertise in at least one communications discipline to product development, not just scheduling.
• Act as a credible reviewer in your discipline, raising the standard for team output and coaching others.
• Assist with product creation during surge periods, coverage gaps, or when urgent tasks arise.
• Stay informed about industry trends in storytelling, design, and multimedia, and integrate useful advancements into team practices.
• Recommend strategies to improve client communications and content creation based on practical experience.
• Develop, submit, and present monthly labor summaries, contract cost and performance reports, and personnel reports to the client.
• Track cost and hour expenditures against the budget and identify variances early.
• Monitor all contract deliverables through submission and acceptance, including the status of outstanding items and resolution of open issues.
• Coordinate travel approvals, onboarding, non-disclosure agreements, and personnel in-processing.
• Liaise with company leaders and third-party vendors, and coordinate activities across teams.
• Identify and address bottlenecks, dropped handoffs, and recurring manual work by implementing improved processes or tools.
• Eliminate inefficient processes.
• Establish an operating rhythm (recurring syncs, intake, prioritization, information flow) to keep the client informed without creating unnecessary overhead.
• Utilize AI tools for research, drafting, analysis, and internal execution, and guide the team in redesigning workflows around them.

Benefits

• Competitive salaries and benefits
• SmartBenefits through the Washington Metro Area Transportation Authority
• Tuition assistance may be available for continuing education expenses and certifications

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level