Senior Associate, Corporate Issues

WSA IPG DXTRA, Inc.; United States; On-site; USD 68,000 - 78,000; Full time

Job summary

Weber Shandwick in New York is seeking a Senior Associate to join its Global Crisis and Issues Practice. You will lead research, staff projects, and coordinate with senior leadership to deliver strategic crisis counsel across industries.

You will craft materials, monitor issues with analytics, and manage client communications, including routine account materials and recaps for meetings. Strong writing and fast‑paced flexibility are essential.

Qualifications

• 2–3 years of professional experience in an agency/strategic consulting firm, political campaign or organization, law or similar setting
• Knowledge of PR skills and client service
• Fluent in Microsoft Suite and proficiency in research, media and social monitoring platforms

Responsibilities

• Supports range of complex, high‑profile corporate issues/crisis communications situations
• Drafts and reviews press releases, crisis plans, media strategies, and talking points
• Develops and reviews media materials with supervisors
• Monitors and triages client issues using industry tools
• Liaises with clients and assists in routine account management materials
• Prepares for client meetings with detailed recaps and action steps
• Partners with cross‑functional teams for flawless execution of objectives
• Leads small teams to conduct research and deliver executive summaries
• Contributes to inclusive team culture and continuous knowledge updating
• Participates in On‑Duty rotation for evening/weekend coverage

Skills

Crisis communications

Issues management

Public affairs

Social analytics

Writing skills

Attention to detail

Analytical mind

Team leadership

Deadline management

Oral and written communication

Education

BA/BS in Political Science/History/Journalism/IR

Tools

Brandwatch

Sysomos

Cision

Muck Rack

TV Eyes

LexisNexis

Job description

Agency: Weber Shandwick Job Function: Communications and PR Job Subfunction: Public Relations Job Description: Job Description

The Weber Shandwick New York office is seeking a Senior Associate in New York to join its Global Crisis and Issues Practice. The Global Crisis and Issues team, part of the Weber Advisory group, helps leading organizations across the world both manage breaking negative issues and events affecting reputation and develop the internal culture and infrastructure needed to predict, prepare, and navigate them effectively. From conspiracy theories, environmental incidents and multinational bankruptcies to executive controversies and sweeping product recalls to high‑profile litigation and fake news, we live at the front lines of media, culture, and conversation. Whether it is a program affecting internal stakeholders or an external effort to protect or defend an organization’s reputation, we work together with colleagues from around the country and globe daily, supplying crisis counsel to clients across industries and sectors, making deep curiosity a requisite for this position.

Candidate Qualities. As a Senior Associate, you will have the unique opportunity to help drive communications around these challenging and exciting projects. You will be a day-to-day leader among the team’s Associate‑level staff, working directly with senior leadership to help drive research, develop materials, staff projects, scope work, manage vendors, track budget and balance multiple shifting priorities in real‑time. The ideal candidate will have excellent writing skills and the ability to perform in a fast‑paced, deadline‑oriented environment. You will be intimately familiar with current events and news trends and be able to translate that knowledge into actionable insights for clients. This extends to social and digital communications: you must have true analytical fluency in this area. A strong academic record is necessary, and demonstrated experience in issues management in a previous position or academic setting.

Our Team

Our team is a group of smart, analytical and hardworking people who care deeply about helping lead our clients through a crisis to make a positive impact on society. We are on the front lines of some of the biggest, most complex issues – and the nature of our work requires an ability and eagerness to juggle multiple responsibilities and work on multi‑office client teams. You will have the opportunity to play a leading role in driving both ongoing client engagements and discrete projects.

What You Will Be Doing

• Serves as key team member to support a range of complex, high‑profile corporate issues /crisis communications situations (i.e., cybersecurity issues, product safety issues and recalls, natural disaster response, executive leadership changes, IPOs etc.)
• Drafts and reviews of press releases, crisis plans, media strategies, reactive media statements, talking points, FAQs, memos, crisis simulations and other deliverables as needed
• Develops and reviews media and other stakeholder materials based on outline or direction developed with supervisors
• Supports the monitoring and triaging of client issues including crisis/issues coverage reports, leveraging industry measurement and listening tools to identify opportunities for growth and strategic evolution
• Liaises with clients and assists in client communications, including developing and coordinating routine account management materials
• Prepares for and takes part in client meetings providing detailed recaps and leading action steps resulting from discussions
• Partners with cross‑functional teams to ensure flawless execution of the client business objectives
• Leads small teams to conduct pressing research on a wide range of issues, reviews and prepare executive summaries and/or analyses of information into strategic and actionable recommendations
• Serves as role model to team members, producing high quality work and continually updating manager on activity progress
• Actively builds own knowledge, contributes to inclusive team culture and consistently displays behaviors that support integration
• Participates in our A-Team's On‑Duty rotational schedule covering evening and weekend hours, to handle critical client reports, ad‑hoc research, and support emergent crises

What We Are Looking For

• Crisis communications, issues management, and/or public affairs experience
• Strong understanding of social analytics and fluency in all social/digital platforms, while keeping pace with social media / digital industry trends and developments
• Clear understanding of media relations and media landscape influencing public perception
• Ability to provide strategic and actionable recommendations based on research
• Strong writing skills and meticulous attention to detail
• Sharp curiosity and an analytical mind
• Resourceful, effective problem solver
• Highly effective oral and written communication skills
• Familiarity with corporate financials
• Ability to prioritize multiple tasks and manage deadlines in a consistent manner
• Comfortable asking for help from and providing direction to team members
• Ability to take ownership, manage and see projects through from start to finish
• Proactive self-starter and a quick learner
• Strong work ethic

Basic Qualifications

• 2-3 years of professional experience: in an agency/strategic consulting firm, political campaign or organization, law or similar setting
• BA or BS, preferably in Political Science, history, journalism, International Relations or similar fields
• Knowledge of basic PR skills and client service
• Fluent in Microsoft Suite (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, Excel) and proficiency in research, media and social monitoring platforms (e.g., Brandwatch, Sysomos, Cision, Muckrack, TV Eyes, Critical Mention, Lexis‑Nexis)

$68,000 - $78,000

Omnicom’s policy requires employees to work in the office for a minimum of three days a week, unless additional in‑office days are directed by their agency or manager. Our objective is to increase this requirement over time, and many of our agencies as well as Omnicom’s corporate group already require five days of in‑office attendance.

Omnicom is committed to hiring and developing exceptional talent. We agree that talent is uniquely distributed, and we’re focused on developing inclusive teams that can bring the best solutions to everything we do. We strongly believe that celebrating what makes us different makes us better together. Join us—we look forward to getting to know you. We will process your personal data in accordance with our Recruitment Privacy Notice. Link to Recruitment Privacy Notice: https://www.omc.com/privacy-notice

For US Job Seekers: It is the policy of Omnicom and any of its affiliates to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, ethnic origin, gender, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, disability, or any other basis prohibited by applicable federal, state, or local law. EOE/AA/M/D/V/F. At Omnicom Group, careers are designed for growth. We’ve purposefully crafted a transformative talent experience built with accountability in action — focused on community, impact, and opportunity.