Director, Communications

NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors); Arlington (VA); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus potential

Job summary

NACD, based in Arlington, VA, seeks a Director of Communications to own enterprise brand strategy, external and internal communications, and thought leadership. This senior leader partners with Marketing, Membership, and Events to ensure a unified narrative and disciplined execution, while protecting reputation and driving trust.

The role is hybrid, with weekly in-office presence. The candidate will lead media strategy, executive visibility, content governance, and crisis communications, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing, or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in communications, including team management and cross-functional influence.
• Demonstrated success building and executing brand and communications strategies that drive measurable visibility, engagement, and trust.
• Deep expertise in media relations, executive communications, thought leadership, and digital-first storytelling.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve NACD’s brand narrative, positioning, and messaging across audiences.
• Lead integrated campaigns for programs and priorities with cross-channel execution.
• Set annual communications strategy tied to enterprise priorities and manage media relations.
• Act as trusted advisor on risk, crisis communications, and executive messaging.
• Drive a year-round executive visibility program across LinkedIn, speaking engagements, and bylines.
• Oversee newsroom and content governance to support humans and AI-driven discovery.
• Own internal communications strategy and channel governance, including change messaging.
• Manage agency resources, briefs, SLAs, and budget to deliver high-quality outputs.
• Define metrics and reporting to tie visibility to enterprise outcomes.

Skills

Brand strategy

Executive communications

Media relations

Leadership

Strategic storytelling

Content governance

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Communications, PR, Journalism, Marketing or related field

10+ years of experience in communications

Job description

This is a "hybrid" role. The selected candidate will work in NACD's Arlington, VA office (Tuesdays-Thursdays) on a weekly basis.

Summary

NACD is the leading membership organization for corporate directors in the United States. The Director, Communications owns NACD’s enterprise brand strategy and communications platform, strengthening NACD’s market position, protecting organizational reputation, and increasing member and stakeholder trust. This role leads external communications (earned media, thought leadership, executive visibility, and social storytelling) and internal communications (employee and chapter communications, leadership messaging, and channel governance). As a senior leader within Marketing, the Director operates as an enterprise partner, aligning brand, growth marketing, membership, certification, events, and advisory priorities into one coherent narrative and ensuring disciplined execution with strong fiscal stewardship.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Enterprise brand strategy and positioning: define and evolve NACD’s brand narrative, positioning, messaging architecture, and brand guardrails across key audiences and segments.
• Enterprise initiative campaigns: lead integrated campaigns for signature programs and priorities (e.g., Blue Ribbon Commission, Directorship 100), ensuring clear narrative, cross-channel execution, and consistent messaging.
• Strategic communications and PR: set annual communications strategy tied to enterprise priorities; lead proactive and reactive media strategy; manage press releases, statements, and communications planning.
• Reputation and risk management: serve as a trusted counselor to executive leadership on sensitive issues; build decision frameworks and rapid response protocols; coordinate cross-functional crisis communications as needed.
• Executive visibility and leadership communications: drive a disciplined, year-round executive visibility program across LinkedIn, speaking opportunities, bylines, interviews, and internal messaging; ensure leadership voice is aligned to strategy.
• Thought leadership and content platform: oversee the newsroom/editorial approach, governance content campaigns, and strategic storytelling; ensure content supports both human audiences and AI-driven discovery.
• Internal communications: own internal communications strategy and operating cadence; improve channel discipline and message ROI; support change management for enterprise initiatives; partner with HR/Ops on employee engagement and leadership messaging.
• Creative and agency leadership: lead internal and external creative/PR resources; set clear briefs, service levels, and performance expectations; ensure creative output is on-brand, high-quality, and efficient.
• Measurement and insights: define success metrics for brand, communications, and internal comms; establish reporting cadence that ties visibility and engagement to enterprise outcomes.
• Fiscal and operational stewardship: own budgets, forecasting, vendor contracts, and spend accountability; make tradeoffs and resourcing recommendations consistent with a lean organization.
• People leadership: lead and develop a high-performing team; set clear expectations and feedback; build capability across writing, strategy, stakeholder management, and execution discipline.
• Other duties as assigned.

Education/Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing, or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in communications, including team management and cross-functional influence.
• Demonstrated success building and executing brand and communications strategies that drive measurable visibility, engagement, and trust.
• Deep expertise in media relations, executive communications, thought leadership, and digital-first storytelling (including social platforms).
• Experience leading internal communications strategy, including channel governance and change communications.
• Strong business acumen, including budget ownership, vendor management, and resource prioritization.
• Exceptional writing and editorial judgment; ability to translate complex strategy into clear, compelling messaging for diverse audiences.
• Proven ability to lead in a matrixed environment with professionalism, calm judgment, and strong stakeholder management.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in membership associations, education, or professional services organizations.
• Familiarity with corporate governance, boardroom audiences, or executive education markets.

This position description summarizes the main duties of the job. It neither prescribes nor restricts the exact tasks that may be required to carry out these duties. Management reserves the right to review and revise this document at any time.

The salary/hourly range for this position is $170,000-$185,000 plus bonus potential. Compensation is based on several factors including but not limited to education, work experience, certifications, etc.