Senior Communication Designer

UNAVAILABLE; McLean (VA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Steampunk is seeking a Senior Communications Designer to build an enterprise communications strategy and operating model for a large federal advisory program.

You will lead the development of a one-voice communications strategy, create personas and stakeholder maps, and design executive reports and dashboards. Apply Plain Writing Act standards and test messaging with leadership while guiding AI-assisted workflows under governance.

Qualifications

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance.
• Bachelor's degree.
• 8+ years in communications strategy or content design.
• Experience applying plain-language standards to complex content.
• Ability to build personas and segmentation for large programs.
• Experience wireframing and usability-testing with executive audiences.
• Experience measuring communications effectiveness via surveys or feedback mechanisms.
• Experience creating knowledge-transfer materials for client teams.

Responsibilities

• Deliver an Enterprise Communication Strategy.
• Stand up a “one voice” communications operating model — shared calendar, standardized templates, plain-language standards.
• Build personas and stakeholder maps segmenting executive, oversight, workforce, and public audiences to tailor communications while preserving the “one voice” standard.
• Design executive reports and dashboards, wireframed and usability-tested with the leadership audience before automation.
• Apply Plain Writing Act standards to all communications content.
• Assess communication messaging efficacy through surveys and stakeholder engagement, continuously refining dissemination approaches based on findings.
• Support piloting of AI-assisted content drafting, tailoring, and summarization under approved governance, with mandatory human review before release, and never inputting sensitive, proprietary, PII, PHI, or CUI into an AI tool without authorization.
• Build and deliver communications knowledge-transfer materials, progressively transitioning routine operation of the communications program to client staff

Skills

Security clearance

Communications strategy

Content design

Executive reporting

Plain language

Stakeholder mapping

Wireframing

Usability testing

Surveys

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Overview

Steampunk is seeking a Senior Communications Designer to build an enterprise communications strategy and operating model for a large federal advisory program.

Responsibilities

• Deliver an Enterprise Communication Strategy
• Stand up a “one voice” communications operating model — shared calendar, standardized templates, plain-language standards
• Build personas and stakeholder maps segmenting executive, oversight, workforce, and public audiences to tailor communications while preserving the “one voice” standard
• Design executive reports and dashboards, wireframed and usability-tested with the leadership audience before automation
• Apply Plain Writing Act standards to all communications content
• Assess communication messaging efficacy through surveys and stakeholder engagement, continuously refining dissemination approaches based on findings
• Support piloting of AI-assisted content drafting, tailoring, and summarization under approved governance, with mandatory human review before release, and never inputting sensitive, proprietary, PII, PHI, or CUI into an AI tool without authorization
• Build and deliver communications knowledge-transfer materials, progressively transitioning routine operation of the communications program to client staff

Qualifications

Required:

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance
• Bachelor's degree
• 8+ years of communications strategy or content design experience, including executive-facing reporting products
• Demonstrated experience applying plain-language standards to complex technical/policy content
• Experience building personas and stakeholder/audience segmentation for large, multi-audience communications programs
• Experience wireframing and usability-testing communications products with executive audiences
• Experience measuring communications effectiveness through surveys or feedback mechanisms and iterating based on results
• Experience building communications knowledge-transfer materials to enable client teams to sustain a communications program independently

Preferred:

• Federal communications experience, including familiarity with the Plain Writing Act
• Experience piloting AI-assisted content workflows under a formal governance/human-review process