Strategic Communications Associate-2

FirstDay Foundation•San Antonio, TX

About The Position

The Strategic Comms Associate plays an important role in advancing FirstDay Foundation’s mission and the missions of our clients (affiliate companies). This role involves daily interaction with Portfolio accounts to support impactful strategic communications. The associate will develop, plan, and execute strategic communication efforts, fostering integration across accounts within their Portfolio team. They will provide strategic recommendations to clients by leveraging industry knowledge and competitive intelligence. With direction from the Sr. Account Executive, the associate will develop and execute comprehensive Comm Plans covering media, creative, research, strategic planning, public relations, and digital, aiming for consistent messaging, increased engagement, and measurable impact. This role requires a proactive customer relations mindset, exceptional storytelling/writing skills, and detail-oriented project management in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Marketing, Public Relations, Journalism, or a related field
5 years of experience in Internal/External Communications position, account management, communications, marketing, and PR
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills and familiarity with brand messaging, content strategy, or media relations
Strong editing and proofreading abilities with high attention to detail
Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously
Professional client-facing presence and interpersonal skills
Strong positive, customer-centered interpersonal, communication skills.
Excellent project management and multitasking abilities.
Creative and strategic thinking.
Understanding of current advertising trends and platforms.
Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s Degree Preferred
Experience in an ad agency or fast-paced communications environment
Experience writing client reports, proposals, or strategic documents.

Responsibilities

Collaboration with Strat Comms team members to contribute to strategic planning efforts for clients, fostering client engagement and feedback across accounts within the assigned Portfolio team.
Develop and implement comprehensive communications plan(s) aligned with each affiliate’s organizational goals and objectives ensuring all communications collateral are clear, concise, on-brand, and aligned with client objectives with overall consistent brand voice and messaging across all platforms.
Review drafts for quality, accuracy, tone, and messaging consistency before client delivery.
Support storytelling and messaging strategy across campaigns and initiatives.
Work with clients to provide market research, and develop campaign strategies for them to successfully meet their objectives.
Support affiliates with messaging, talking points, and presentation materials.
Draft press releases and media advisories that are consistent with each affiliate.
Possess strong project management skills and working knowledge of costs and timeframes associated with completing jobs. Follow-through skills are essential.
Possess strong basic financial management and supervisory skills, and basic understanding of cost management in an advertising agency context.
Develop and disseminate supporting materials to clients as instructed, this includes weekly status reports, billing summaries, timelines, meeting agendas, meeting reports, project recaps, project estimates, and other relevant documents as needed in each project lifecycle.
Translate client goals, feedback, and revisions into actionable direction for internal teams and coordinate with the creative team to produce marketing collateral or other assets, as necessary.
Cultivate community relations awareness by staying informed of current trends and news within our region, engage with chambers of commerce, city officials, and area business councils, and attend relevant community events.
Perform additional duties as assigned.
Provide communications support for events, including collateral, signage, scripts, and social media promotion, as appropriate.
Capture event content (photo/video coordination, recaps with Junior Creative for assigned Portfolio).