Associate Vice President, Strategic Communications

Do you have a passion for communications and advocacy? Are you experienced at building stakeholder communities or developing membership around political issues? Do you see value in helping people understand issues and engage in the public policy process? Then DDC Public Affairs is looking for you.

The Associate Vice President of Strategic Communications plays a key role in helping our clients design, build, and sustain advocacy and corporate/association PAC communications programs that engage a wide range of stakeholders and allies. Part communications strategist, part community manager, part content strategist, and part membership development expert, this role is focused on helping clients educate, motivate, and build long-term relationships with supporters and stakeholders that will yield higher-quality, more credible, more intensive online and offline participation and/or increased PAC engagement. Competing successfully for voter attention and turning interest into action are not small challenges, but if you appreciate a challenge—and the fast-paced, constantly changing environment that goes along with it—then DDC may be the place for you. This position will be based in our downtown Washington, D.C., office near the McPherson Square Metro.

The successful candidate will have an understanding of how to use multiple engagement vehicles (social media, email, websites, blogs, phones, direct mail, swag, events, and field outreach) in coordinated ways to create a comprehensive advocate or PAC member experience. He or she will also have a passion for (and creative approaches to) transforming supporters who will send emails into champions who will do much more. He or she will also know how to build and sustain a true advocate community.

This position’s responsibilities include:

Serve as the primary communicator on key client campaigns, focused on advocate engagement, champion development, and/or PAC member loyalty and participation growth

Develop strategic program plans, messaging platforms, content matrices, and communications calendars, and oversee the implementation of those program elements

Collaborate with product, digital, and creative teams in the creation of content strategy, information architecture, and user experience for websites designed to support advocacy and PAC programs

Use digital analytics, email tracking results, and a range of other data to optimize advocate and PAC member experience on an ongoing basis

Collaborate on the development of content for a wide range of communication tools, from websites and social media to paid and earned media, direct mail, fact sheets and white papers, issue marketing collateral, and program branding materials

Work closely with political strategists, campaign managers, design resources, writers, technical resources, data specialists, and other team members to ensure successful execution on a day-to-day basis

Assist in company-wide efforts to apply best practices from political campaigns, marketing, advertising, and PR to the advocacy environment in innovative ways that continually enhance the quality and impact of our offerings

Assist in the company’s business development efforts as needed to develop client recommendations and inform proposals and presentations

EDUCATION REQUIRED

A bachelor’s degree in English, communications, public relations, political management, or related field. At the company’s discretion, experience working in public affairs and grassroots advocacy may be substituted for the degree on a year-for-year basis.

SKILLS/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

Minimum 5 years relevant professional experience, with at least one year spent in the public affairs/advocacy field

Experience using a variety of communication vehicles for advocacy and corporate/association PAC outreach, including digital content, issue advertising, brochures and direct mail, newsletters, earned media ghostwriting, presentations, and white papers/issue backgrounders, as well as traditional press releases and other media outreach tools

Knowledge of best practices and emerging trends in advocacy, particularly online community-building

Demonstrated ability to execute messaging strategy in a variety of online and print communication vehicles

Strong organizational, interpersonal, verbal/written communication, and project management skills, with the ability to prioritize and support multiple projects simultaneously, multi-task, maintain quality, meet deadlines, and effectively deploy messaging and audience targeting strategy

Ability to manage multiple, often-conflicting deadlines; establish and negotiate timelines; and ensure timely delivery of high-quality work

Knowledge of the political cycle, legislative calendar, and policy-making process

Experience using established policy sources/research repositories (e.g. CBO, GAO, OIG, and think tanks), as well as recognized mainstream and new media sources to support campaign messaging

Expertise in and knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite required

Basic knowledge of HTML, desktop publishing applications, social networking tools, and online communications platforms beneficial

Willingness to adapt to the fast pace and non-9:00 to 5:00 nature of public affairs work

Please submit resume, salary requirements, and two communication samples to [EMAIL]. No calls please.

DDC is the leading provider of public affairs strategy, issue campaigns, and technology solutions, and we design and support all aspects of sophisticated grassroots advocacy programs. Our clients include a large majority of the Fortune 100 and many of the nation’s largest associations. We are an innovative, growing company with outstanding benefits.