Senior Account Director, Public Affairs

Orchestra•Washington, DC

19h•$135,000 - $145,000•Hybrid

About The Position

As a Senior Account Director on our Public Affairs team, you'll serve as a trusted counselor to leading companies and organizations navigating complex policy, regulatory and reputational challenges. You'll design and lead integrated public affairs campaigns that influence decision-makers, shape public narratives, build coalitions and advance clients' business objectives. Working alongside a team of policy experts, campaign strategists and communications professionals, you'll develop bold strategies, provide high-level client counsel, lead high-performing teams and help grow our practice through exceptional client service and new business development. This role is available in our Washington, D.C. office on a hybrid basis. The team is in-office 3 days per week.

Requirements

7+ years of experience in public affairs and communications, including the ability to translate complex issues into simple and compelling public affairs campaigns for both general and policymaker audiences
Experience advising senior executives through complex communications, policy or reputational challenges
Strong storytelling skills and experience designing and executing multi-channel campaigns that incorporate media relations, paid marketing, events/activations and grasstops/grassroots engagement
Savviness and creativity in media relations and pitching, social media content ideation and influencer engagement with the knowledge to identify new targets and thoughtful angles until the story lands
Organized and used to a fast-paced environment with the capability to handle multiple assignments at once, work quickly and meet deadlines; strong project management skills, including experience managing both up and down across teams
Proven ability to become a savvy and nimble student of the “news” and quickly identify new media opportunities and narratives to insert our clients’ voices into the news cycle
Demonstrated curiosity and the ability to quickly become fluent in new industries, technologies and policy issues

Nice To Haves

Experience with thought leadership and executive profile raising a plus

Responsibilities

Lead the development and execution of integrated public affairs campaigns that combine communications, stakeholder engagement, coalition building, digital strategies and research to achieve client objectives
Serve as a trusted day-to-day strategic advisor to senior clients by anticipating challenges, identifying opportunities and providing thoughtful counsel
Translate complex policy, regulatory and business challenges into integrated public affairs strategies that influence key audiences and deliver measurable results
Manage a team of junior staff on each account you lead, strategically influencing deliverables’ quality and staff development by delegating, modeling smart practices and providing feedback
Work closely with senior team leaders on capacity planning to ensure that the team is running efficiently
Coordinate across internal and external teams to deploy integrated services (media relations, digital advertising, research) to meet your clients’ goals
Identify opportunities to build coalitions, activate third-party validators and engage stakeholders that strengthen clients' public affairs objectives
Drive new story angles and other media opportunities for clients, conceptualizing creative feature stories even when there is no news to announce and identify new targets across print, broadcast, radio and podcasts and trying new approaches until the story lands
Lead thought leadership programs for executives, drafting persuasive and compelling pitches and op-eds on behalf of a client; identify new opportunities to raise an executive’s visibility through awards or conferences
Contribute to business development and growth efforts