Strategic Communications & Marketing Director

The Work-Life Group•Bethesda, MD

7h•$140,000 - $210,000

About The Position

The Director of Strategic Communications & Marketing leads the development and execution of company-wide communications, marketing, brand, and stakeholder engagement strategies for a government contracting organization. This role ensures that corporate communications and marketing initiatives support the company’s strategic growth objectives, strengthen its position within the federal marketplace, and consistently communicate the organization’s capabilities, mission, values, and differentiators. The Director serves as a strategic advisor to executive leadership and works closely with Business Development, Capture, Proposal Management, Operations, Program Leadership, Talent Acquisition, and other corporate functions to develop integrated communications strategies that support both corporate priorities and federal business development objectives. The position oversees corporate branding, executive communications, public relations, digital marketing, thought leadership, content development, internal communications, and communications support for capture and proposal activities. The Director also plays a key role in strengthening the company’s reputation among federal agencies, industry partners, employees, prospective employees, and other stakeholders.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Marketing, Public Relations, Journalism, Business, English, Government/Public Affairs, or a related field.
Minimum of 7–10 years of progressively responsible experience in strategic communications, marketing, public relations, corporate communications, or related disciplines.
Minimum of 3–5 years of leadership or management responsibility.
Experience within the federal government contracting, defense, aerospace, technology, professional services, consulting, or other government-facing environment strongly preferred.
Demonstrated experience partnering with Business Development, Capture, Proposal, or Growth organizations is preferred.
Experience developing communications for complex technical, professional services, or mission-oriented organizations.
Demonstrated experience managing external agencies, consultants, designers, writers, digital providers, or other vendors.
Experience developing executive-level communications and advising senior organizational leaders.
Experience managing communications budgets, personnel, projects, and competing organizational priorities.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Communications, Marketing, Business Administration, Public Affairs, or a related discipline.
Federal business development and capture
Federal proposal development
Government acquisition and procurement processes
Government-wide acquisition contracts and IDIQ vehicles
Agency-specific contract vehicles
Teaming and subcontractor relationships
Government-industry conferences and industry days
Federal customer engagement
Past-performance and capability positioning
Proposal oral presentations and executive briefings
Government contractor corporate communications
Federal market research and competitive positioning
Familiarity with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and general federal procurement practices is beneficial but does not require the role to serve as a contracts or compliance specialist.

Responsibilities

Develops, evaluates, and implements enterprise strategic communications and marketing strategies aligned with corporate objectives, growth priorities, and government contracting business goals.
Leads the development and management of the company’s brand, messaging architecture, corporate identity, and market positioning across all external and internal communications.
Serves as a strategic communications advisor and thought partner to executive leadership, providing counsel on corporate messaging, reputation management, stakeholder communications, employee communications, and emerging issues.
Partners with Business Development, Capture, and Proposal teams to develop compelling messaging, differentiators, value propositions, win themes, executive narratives, capability statements, presentations, and other communications materials supporting federal opportunities.
Supports strategic capture and proposal efforts by translating complex technical, operational, and mission-focused information into clear, persuasive, audience-appropriate communications.
Develops communications and marketing strategies that strengthen the company's visibility and credibility within priority federal agencies, contract vehicles, mission areas, and government contracting markets.
Collaborates with Growth and Business Development leadership to support account-based marketing, market positioning, industry engagement, and targeted communications campaigns associated with strategic federal customers and opportunities.
Maintains familiarity with the federal acquisition environment, government customer priorities, procurement trends, relevant contract vehicles, and competitive developments affecting the organization’s target markets.
Builds and protects the company's corporate reputation by proactively identifying opportunities to communicate organizational capabilities, contract successes, customer outcomes, employee expertise, and thought leadership.
Identifies emerging reputational or communications risks and develops appropriate communications strategies, executive messaging, talking points, and response plans.
Supports crisis, incident, and sensitive communications planning in coordination with executive leadership, Legal, Human Resources, Security, Operations, and other appropriate stakeholders.
Oversees communications supporting major contract awards, recompetes, new program launches, corporate initiatives, organizational changes, partnerships, joint ventures, and other strategic developments.
Develops and maintains effective communications with federal government stakeholders, industry partners, subcontractors, teaming partners, trade organizations, media, employees, prospective employees, and other relevant audiences.
Leads corporate public relations and media engagement activities, including media inquiries, press releases, executive interviews, announcements, industry commentary, and proactive media outreach.
Develops thought-leadership strategies that position company executives and subject matter experts as credible voices on issues relevant to federal missions, technology, professional services, operations, and other areas aligned with the company's capabilities.
Directs the development of corporate and marketing content, including: Corporate website content, Capability statements, Corporate and agency-specific presentations, Executive presentations and talking points, Case studies and customer success stories, White papers and thought-leadership content, Contract award announcements, Press releases, Social media content, Email campaigns, Recruiting and employer-branding materials, Conference and event collateral, Brochures and digital publications, Corporate reports and newsletters, Business development and proposal-support materials.
Oversees the company's website and digital communications ecosystem, ensuring content accurately represents corporate capabilities, contract experience, customer missions, brand standards, and strategic priorities.
Manages corporate social media strategy and other digital marketing channels, including targeted campaigns designed to increase brand awareness, employee engagement, recruiting effectiveness, and visibility within the government contracting community.
Establishes editorial standards and provides direction to ensure consistency of organizational voice, messaging, tone, visual identity, accuracy, and brand presentation.
Directs writing, editing, and quality review of executive, corporate, marketing, and business-development communications.
Works closely with Human Resources and Talent Acquisition to support employer branding, recruitment marketing, employee engagement, culture communications, and communications associated with workforce initiatives.
Supports industry conferences, government-industry events, trade association activities, webinars, speaking engagements, sponsorships, and other strategic events that strengthen corporate visibility and customer engagement.
Develops communications policies, procedures, workflows, editorial standards, approval processes, and brand governance practices.
Establishes communications and marketing performance measures and provides leadership with regular reporting on campaign effectiveness, digital engagement, media visibility, brand awareness, and other relevant metrics.
Manages external communications, marketing, creative, digital, public relations, and other vendors as needed.
Develops, recommends, and manages the Strategic Communications and Marketing budget, ensuring appropriate allocation of financial, technical, and human resources.
Leads and develops communications and marketing personnel, including work planning, prioritization, performance management, coaching, professional development, and resource allocation.
Maintains awareness of developments within federal contracting, technology, professional services, national policy priorities, industry trends, competitor activity, and government customer missions relevant to the organization.
Ensures communications involving customer, procurement-sensitive, proprietary, confidential, controlled, or contract-related information are appropriately coordinated and handled in accordance with company policies and applicable requirements.
Performs other duties as assigned in support of corporate strategy, growth, and organizational objectives.
Develops communications strategies around priority federal agencies, markets, capabilities, and contract vehicles.
Supports capture teams with customer-focused messaging and communications strategies.
Develops and refines corporate differentiators, proof points, value propositions, and win themes.
Creates agency-specific capability and marketing materials.
Supports oral presentations, executive briefings, industry days, customer meetings, and proposal presentations.
Collaborates with Proposal Management to ensure consistency between corporate messaging and proposal narratives.
Translates technical capabilities and contract performance into clear customer-oriented benefits and outcomes.
Develops communications surrounding contract wins, option-year awards, recompetes, strategic partnerships, and major program milestones.
Supports communications and positioning related to teaming arrangements, subcontracting relationships, mentor-protégé relationships, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships when applicable.
Partners with business leaders and subject matter experts to develop thought-leadership content relevant to government missions and customer challenges.
Maintains a library of approved corporate messaging, executive biographies, capability descriptions, past-performance narratives, corporate boilerplate, statistics, imagery, and related reusable content.