Director of External Communications & Thought Leadership

Sunrise Senior Living; McLean (VA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 219,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

Retirement Savings Plans

Employee Assistance Program

Discount Program

Paid time off

Holiday pay

Tuition Reimbursement

myFlexPay

Job summary

Sunrise Senior Living is seeking a Director of External Communications to lead corporate communications, media relations, thought leadership, and reputation management. This strategic leader will shape Sunrise’s market narrative, strengthen brand awareness, position executives as industry authorities, and support strategic growth, business development, M&A, and investor communications.

The role requires a proven track record in managing external communications programs, crisis management, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in communications, journalism, marketing, PR, or related field.
• 10+ years of progressive corporate communications, PR, media relations, or strategic comms experience.
• Demonstrated success developing external comms strategies and shaping corporate narratives.
• Strong experience with media relations, thought leadership, crisis comms, executive comms, and reputation management.
• Experience with financial and investor communications and communicating complex business and financial information.
• Exceptional writing, editing, presentation, and executive communication skills.
• Experience managing PR agencies, vendors, budgets, and strategic communications programs.
• Strong analytical and business acumen with experience measuring communications effectiveness and ROI.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute an integrated external communications strategy aligned with growth objectives.
• Lead media relations, earned media, thought leadership, and executive positioning across business, industry, and financial media.
• Build relationships with journalists, analysts, industry influencers, and key external stakeholders.
• Lead crisis communications, issues management, reputation management, and rapid-response strategies with Legal and leadership.
• Partner with Finance on financial and investor communications, acquisitions, and market-moving initiatives.
• Develop executive thought leadership, including op-eds, speaking opportunities, and industry recognition.
• Support Development, Growth, Marketing Communications, and M&A initiatives with strategic messaging.
• Manage PR agencies, communications vendors, budgets, KPIs, and program performance.
• Establish analytics and reporting to measure media coverage, brand perception, stakeholder engagement, investor sentiment, and ROI.

Skills

Media relations

Crisis communications

Executive communications

Writing & editing

Strategic thinking

Public relations

Education

Bachelor's degree in Communications, Journalism, Marketing, Public Relations, or related field

Tools

Cision

MS Office

Job description

Sunrise Senior Living is seeking a Director of External Communications to lead corporate communications, media relations, thought leadership, and reputation management. This strategic leader will shape Sunrise’s market narrative, strengthen brand awareness, position executives as industry authorities, and support strategic growth, business development, M&A, and investor communications.

The role requires a proven track record in managing external communications programs, crisis management, and