Senior Communications Specialist

BLN24•Ford Road Acres, MD

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

BLN24 is seeking a Senior Communications Specialist to join our team. The Senior Communications Specialist will serve as a critical communications resource within the Public Affairs Office, supporting DHA R&D-MRDC Headquarters with congressional communications, legislative situational awareness, executive-level messaging, and coordination with legislative liaison stakeholders. The position requires demonstrated experience developing strategic communications for senior leaders, preparing congressional-facing materials, and translating legislative developments into concise, actionable information for executive decision-making within a defense, federal health, military medical, or related federal environment. The Senior Communications Specialist will work closely with PAO leadership, DHA R&D-MRDC Headquarters, Army legislative liaisons, and DHA legislative affairs stakeholders to ensure congressional engagement activities are accurate, timely, coordinated, and aligned with approved organizational priorities.

Requirements

Demonstrated experience developing executive-level communications, strategic messaging, and congressional or legislative communications materials.
Experience supporting communications in a defense, federal health, military medical, biomedical research, or related federal environment.
Working knowledge of legislative affairs, congressional engagement processes, and federal coordination protocols.
Ability to synthesize legislative developments and complex program information into concise, actionable written products for senior leaders.
Strong writing, editing, research, coordination, and stakeholder engagement skills.
Ability to prepare polished, error-free deliverables under short deadlines.
Experience coordinating across public affairs, legislative affairs, senior leadership, and technical subject matter experts.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting DHA, DoD, Army, military medical research, or federal health programs.
Familiarity with congressional testimony preparation, legislative tracking, appropriations language, and committee activities.
Experience managing SharePoint or similar internal communication portals.
Familiarity with biomedical research, military medical research, or science communication.

Responsibilities

Execute congressional communications and engagement activities in support of DHA R&D-MRDC Headquarters and the Public Affairs Office.
Prepare, coordinate, and disseminate congressional communications materials for review and approval by appropriate Government leadership.
Coordinate and facilitate congressional engagements, including preparation of background materials, talking points, informational content, and engagement summaries.
Assist in developing timely and accurate responses to congressional inquiries.
Document engagement outcomes and maintain records of congressional communications activities for DHA R&D-MRDC Headquarters leadership review and approval.
Develop and maintain executive-level communication strategies to keep DHA R&D-MRDC Headquarters informed of relevant legislative activity.
Prepare concise summaries of published legislative actions, hearings, proposed bills, enacted laws, markups, policy changes, and congressional activities impacting DHA R&D-MRDC interests.
Develop targeted legislative alerts for urgent or high-impact legislative developments.
Prepare weekly legislative newsletters highlighting key legislative trends, updates, and upcoming congressional events.
Maintain legislative tracking reports on priority legislation and congressional inquiries.
Manage or support content updates on internal communication platforms, including the CACO SharePoint site, to provide leadership with real-time access to legislative updates and resources.
Provide written updates and briefings to leadership no less than bi-weekly, or as directed by the Contracting Officer’s Representative.
Prepare high quality written products for congressional engagement activities, including information papers, white papers, executive summaries, briefing materials, and talking points for senior leadership.
Ensure all written products are accurate, professionally formatted, error-free, and compliant with DHA R&D-MRDC editorial standards prior to submission or dissemination.
Write in an executive leader style appropriate for senior Government audiences, congressional stakeholders, and decision-makers.
Coordinate communications activities with Army legislative liaisons and the DHA legislative affairs office to support accurate communication of DHA R&D-MRDC equities.
Prepare messaging materials for approval and transmission to support testimony, hearings, legislative engagements, and higher-echelon communications.
Draft and coordinate the exchange of information between legislative liaisons, PAO leadership, and other stakeholders.
Disseminate approved talking points, fact sheets, background materials, and other relevant content to support leadership preparation for congressional engagements.
Communicate testimony schedules and relevant background materials in an executive-level format.
Coordinate with the Public Affairs Office to ensure all congressional-facing communications are consistent, accurate, and aligned with approved organizational messaging.
Support communications related to congressional affairs, biomedical research programs and capabilities, organizational priorities, and strategic initiatives.
Draft and coordinate congressional-facing materials that reflect approved DHA R&D-MRDC messaging.
Monitor and compile published information on congressional member interests, committee priorities, and appropriations language relevant to DHA R&D-MRDC biomedical research programs.
Synopsize and disseminate published communication materials, including summaries, reports, and informational updates.
Keep DHA R&D-MRDC leadership and stakeholders informed of congressional special interests and their potential impact on military medical research priorities, programs, funding, and organizational objectives.