Strategic Communications Director

M&C Saatchi World Services is a full-service marketing company renowned for using commercial advertising to solve the worlds toughest challenges. World Services is a specialty branch of M&C Saatchi Group and we provide strategic communications behavior change and marketing support to Public Sector clients with special emphasis on the US Federal Government and State Local Tribal & Territorial leaders.

M&C Saatchi seeks a Strategic Communications Director to serve as the lead subject matter expert for enterprise-wide communications strategy within a large federal and DoD-aligned mission environment. This role ensures unified messaging across directorates drives strategic communications planning advises leadership on narrative direction and ensures alignment with mission priorities and stakeholder needs.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

The Senior Communications Strategist plays a central leadership role in shaping the enterprise communications posture harmonizing cross-functional messaging and guiding the long-term communications roadmap to support mission outcomes.

This is a hybrid role; however the ideal candidate will live in either the greater New York City area or the greater District of Columbia Maryland and Virginia (DMV) region.

What youll do:

• Oversee enterprise-wide strategic communications planning and execution.

• Serve as the lead SME on integrated communications strategy and narrative cohesion.

• Provide strategic counsel to leadership on communications posture message risks and alignment opportunities.

• Lead cross-directorate messaging coordination to ensure synchronized communications across all mission areas.

• Develop enterprise messaging frameworks strategic guidance and communication playbooks.

• Ensure consistency and accuracy of messaging across all digital print and stakeholder-facing channels.

• Support policy-related communications leadership briefings and enterprise announcements.

• Coordinate with UX content visualization and technical teams to produce mission-aligned communication products.

• Oversee communication analysis sentiment insights and performance reporting.

• Partner with outreach engagement and program teams to ensure integrated stakeholder communications.

• Maintain compliance with accessibility standards federal communications guidance and branding policies.

Youll bring:

• Candidate must possess a Tier 2 Moderate Risk Public Trust (from any federal agency) or an active Secret clearance or higher.

• Bachelors degree in Communications Journalism Public Affairs Strategic Communications Marketing or a related field.

• Proven experience in communications public affairs strategic messaging or enterprise communications leadership.

• Experience supporting federal or DoD strategic communications efforts.

• Demonstrated success leading integrated communications initiatives across multiple organizations.

• Experience advising senior leaders on communication risks priorities and strategic direction.

• Experience guiding message development and alignment across digital and traditional channels.

• Strong understanding of enterprise communications strategy narrative development and stakeholder engagement.

• Familiarity with federal communication requirements branding guidance and accessibility standards.

• Experience supporting multichannel communication workflows and governance.

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills suitable for senior leadership.

• Strong executive communication and narrative-shaping abilities.

• Ability to lead cross-functional messaging alignment efforts.

• High emotional intelligence and diplomacy in stakeholder environments.

• Analytical skills for evaluating communication effectiveness and strategic impact.

• Strong attention to detail and commitment to accuracy consistency and clarity.

Bonus points if you have:

• Experience with sentiment analysis communication metrics or engagement analytics.

• Experience contributing to cross-functional digital strategy (web UX content social).

• Strategic communications public affairs or related certifications.

• Project management certifications (PMP Agile).

WHAT YOU GET

We offer a competitive salary ($140000-$165000) and a benefits package designed to support your health family life financial wellbeing and growth.

Family & parental support

• 12 weeks full pay for Primary Carers and 6 weeks for Secondary Carers (after one year of service; return requirements apply for subsequent leave)

• Applies to birth adoption and surrogacy

• Up to 10 days paid fertility leave per year (5 per cycle)

• 2 days paid leave for new grandparents

• $2500 annual interest-free parental loan

• $6000 interest-free fertility treatment loan

Healthcare & wellbeing

• Three medical plans (HSA at $0 cost; EPO 75% employer funded; PPO 65% employer funded)

• $0 employee-cost dental and vision

• 10 days health leave per year (mental and physical)

• 24/7 mental health support through Self Space

• Wellhub subscription

Financial & practical support

• 401(k) match (3% after 3 months; 4% after 1 year)

• Pre-tax commuter benefits

• 10 days paid military leave

• Full pay for jury duty (state/city payments declined)

• Uber/taxi home after 9:30pm

Time off & flexibility

• 23 days PTO (with 3 discretionary carryover days; CA/CO policies follow state mandate)

• 10 federal holidays plus the day after Thanksgiving

• Option to swap 2 federal holidays (excluding Thanksgiving and the day after)

• Office closed between Christmas and New Year

• 10 days special emergency leave (including bereavement)

• 10 days volunteering leave (5 paid 5 unpaid)

• Half-day for blood donation

• Work from anywhere for up to 2 weeks per year (subject to approval)

Culture & development

• $300 annual cultural stimulation allowance (accrued monthly; available after 90 days)

• Weekly Thursday happy hour

• Mentorship and Buddy programmes

ABOUT MC SAATCHI WORLD SERVICES

M&C Saatchi World Services is a specialist division of MC Saatchi Group the worlds largest independent communications network. Our specialists work in office hubs across six continents grounding our global expertise in local nuance.

We offer award-winning commercial communications capabilities which are utilized by global organizations to address the worlds most complex problems across defence development diplomacy homeland and national security law and order health education and the environment.

We work with clients that want to help the hardest-to-reach hardest-to-influence audiences. This includes a range of Western Government departments such as DOS and USAID; partner governments including the U.K. and Australia; and prominent IGOs/NGOs such as the U.N.

We are a comms agency that works on behaviour change projects typically focused on issues related to Security Defence and Stabilization. Whether its producing critically acclaimed feature films in Africa to TV shows in the Middle East to pop music videos in Asia we have a record of leveraging creativity to access communities anywhere in the world.