Account Director, Public Affairs

Description

Stratacomm is seeking a strategic, communications savvy and results-driven Account Director to join our Public Affairs Practice Group.  

At Stratacomm, we help our public and private sector clients advance their organization’s mission through integrated communications. This includes increasing awareness of programs and research, shaping policy, and building coalitions with stakeholders, such as policymakers, regulators, community leaders, industry and the public. 

You’re a seasoned communicator who knows how policy gets made and how to move it. You turn complex content into clear counsel that senior clients act on with legislative, regulatory, political and media dynamics in mind. You’ve built coalitions, prepared executives for hearings and interviews, and kept a steady hand through high-pressure moments. You can brief a CEO, sharpen a coalition message and coach a teammate through a high-stakes deliverable, all in a day’s work. You’re ready to own client relationships and lead a team of your own. 

As an Account Director, you’ll lead client relationships with independence, direct major public affairs programs from strategy through measurement, and take on formal supervisory responsibility for your own direct reports. Our public sector work centers on strategic communications that advance agency mission; this is not a lobbying role. 

What You’ll Do 

• Lead day-to-day client relationships as a trusted strategic counselor; manage expectations on scope, timeline and outcomes, and deliver difficult news directly when it matters. 
• Engage federal, state and local audiences with fluency; for public sector clients, lead communications that advance agency mission and public understanding. 
• Translate client policy and business objectives into integrated public affairs strategy and own the rationale behind the work across workstreams and channels. 
• Lead development of high-priority client materials, including strategic recommendations, narrative frameworks, legislative and regulatory communications, communications plans and executive presentations. 
• Prepare executives and spokespeople for stakeholder engagements, congressional hearings, public comment opportunities and media interviews. 
• Monitor the policy landscape to identify opportunities for clients and lead rapid response during fast-moving policy and political moments. 
• Design and manage coalition and stakeholder engagement programs, including third-party validator strategy, aligned partner messaging, and grassroots and grasstops mobilization. 
• Lead earned media strategy across trade, regional, national and top-tier outlets, and build thought leadership programs that position client executives as credible, authoritative voices. 
• Plan and lead stakeholder gatherings (e.g., workshops, Capitol Hill days and fly-ins). 
• Counsel clients through issues management, crisis preparedness and response, and internal and change communications. 
• Supervise, coach and develop direct reports, helping them set goals, and owning feedback and performance reviews. 
• Manage account scope, budgets, timelines and billing, along with agency partners, vendors and freelancers. 
• Identify organic growth opportunities on existing accounts, lead new business pursuits and help grow the Public Affairs practice. 
• Apply AI and digital tools with strategic judgment to raise the quality and efficiency of the work, and bring new applications back to your team. 

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, public affairs, political science, public policy, journalism or a related field. 
• Minimum of seven years of experience in public affairs or policy communications, preferably within a communications or government agency. 
• Working knowledge of the legislative and regulatory process and of federal, state and local government audiences. 
• Demonstrated experience building coalitions and running stakeholder engagement programs. 
• Proven ability to manage senior client relationships and complex, multi-workstream programs. 
• Experience supervising or mentoring team members and readiness to manage direct reports. 
• Exceptional writing and editing skills across policy, media and executive materials, with the ability to distill complex issues into compelling messages. 
• Sound judgment under pressure in rapid response and crisis situations. 
• Strong desire and ability to contribute to the firm’s growth, marketing and business development. 
• Established relationships with trade, political or sector media a plus. 
• Specialized depth in an area such as public sector communications, coalition management, legislative and regulatory communications, or rapid response a plus. 

About Stratacomm 

Do great work. Have fun. Success will follow. 

Stratacomm was founded on these principles 30 years ago. Today, it is an independently owned, full-service strategic communications agency that helps clients raise awareness, enhance reputation, shape policy and build market share. With offices in Washington, D.C. and Detroit, in recent years, Stratacomm has been named one of Washingtonian’s 50 Great Places to Work, one of PR News’ Top Places to Work in PR and one of Metro Detroit’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. We are policy communicators, coalition builders, storytellers, digital strategists, content producers, program managers, social listeners, and more. With deep expertise in transportation and new mobility, energy and sustainability, government, and social change, our reputation is built on delivering exceptional client service and measurable results. 

Our three core values, People First, Curiosity and Creativity, and Outcomes that Matter, define how we show up for our clients and for each other. 

Stratacomm offers employees a best-in-class workplace culture, competitive benefits including 401(k) matching, medical, vision, dental insurance, Open PTO, Paid Parental Leave, and a Remote-First work policy, designed to fit your needs. Employees responded with 100% agreement to the statement “Stratacomm is a great place to work” on all recent engagement surveys. 

Stratacomm is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, height, weight, or veteran status in employment.