Senior Manager, Public Affairs & Issues Management

AIR Communities; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

AIR Communities is a Blackstone portfolio company and a leader in multifamily real estate, focusing on high-quality apartment communities and disciplined asset management. The Senior Manager for Public Affairs & Issues Management will lead escalated issues, mitigate risk, and protect AIR’s reputation across legal, government, communications, and operations teams.

The role requires strong judgment, structured thinking, and the ability to distill complex situations into actionable guidance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, political science, or related field.
• 8 – 10+ years of high-stakes reputation management experience with a strong public affairs lens.
• Proven experience in issues management, strategic communications, crisis management, government affairs, corporate affairs, consulting, and/or a related field, including engagement with media, government officials, regulatory agencies, community stakeholders, and other external influencers.
• Proven experience managing complex issues across legal, operational, and reputational dimensions.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the central lead on escalated, sensitive, and high-profile issues, owning the process from intake through resolution.
• Partner with AIR and Blackstone stakeholders to assess risk, align on strategy, and execute coordinated responses.
• Develop communications materials required for issue prevention, response, and resolution.
• Support training and development of new processes, protocols and issues preparedness work.
• Proactively identify patterns, vulnerabilities, and emerging risks to help prevent issue recurrence.
• Navigate issues across internal teams, third-party partners, and external audiences including media and elected officials.
• Rapidly assess complex situations, identifying key drivers, risks, and downstream implications.
• Think big picture to anticipate reputational risks and opportunities, while zooming into critical details to inform strategy and execution.
• Develop solutions that balance business objectives, operational realities, and reputational considerations.
• Navigate competing priorities and perspectives to drive alignment and resolution.
• Build strong relationships and work collaboratively across internal and external partners to ensure coordinated issue management and consistent execution.
• Collaborate with a small, high-performing cross-functional team to develop coordinated strategies, align stakeholders, and drive effective issue resolution.
• Act as a trusted advisor to internal stakeholders, providing clear, practical guidance on reputational and operational risks.
• Translate complex situations into concise, executive-ready summaries and recommendations.
• Support leadership and colleagues in making informed, timely decisions in high-pressure situations.
• Participate in a rotating on-call schedule and support high-priority issues during evenings, weekends, and other non-business hours as needed.

Skills

Public affairs

Crisis management

Strategic communications

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Bachelor’s degree in communications, political science, or related field

Job description

AIR Communities is a Blackstone portfolio company and one of the country’s leading real estate investment firms, focused on creating value through high-quality apartment communities, exceptional resident experiences, and disciplined investment and asset management. AIR is part of a scaled residential platform focused on meeting the need for high-quality, professionally managed rental housing. We create value by investing in our communities, elevating the resident experience, strengthening operations, and applying disciplined investment and asset management practices.

Today, AIR brings together the strengths of a scaled operating platform, deep multifamily expertise, and a performance-oriented investment mindset. Our purpose is simple: create exceptional living experiences for residents, provide a supportive environment where teammates can do meaningful work, and generate durable value for investors. We do that by combining centralized capabilities, data-driven decision making, strong local execution, and a culture rooted in integrity, respect, collaboration, customer focus, and performance.

Job Description

Our offices are located in LA, Chicago, Atlanta, New York, Dallas, and Denver. Candidates should be able to commute to one of these offices daily or be open to relocation to be considered for the role.

The Senior Manager role will be a critical member of our Public Affairs & Issues Management team, responsible for identifying, assessing, and resolving complex issues across the business. The individual will partner closely with cross-functional stakeholders (legal, government relations, communications, operations, etc.) at AIR Communities (a Blackstone multifamily portfolio company) and Blackstone to proactively mitigate risk, manage sensitive situations, and protect the company’s reputation.

This role requires a self-directed, solutions-oriented person who can operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment, often with incomplete information and evolving dynamics. The ideal candidate combines experience, strong judgment, structured thinking, and practical execution, with the ability to quickly understand complex scenarios, distill key risks, and drive clear, actionable outcomes – while balancing the competing priorities of diverse internal and external stakeholders.

Issues Navigation

• Serve as the central lead on escalated, sensitive, and high-profile issues (including crisis situations), owning the process from intake and initial escalation through resolution.
• Partner with AIR, and Blackstone stakeholders to assess risk, align on strategy, and execute coordinated responses.
• Develop communications materials required for issue prevention, response, and resolution.
• Support training and development of new processes, protocols and issues preparedness work.
• Proactively identify patterns, vulnerabilities, and emerging risks to help prevent issue recurrence.
• Expertly navigate issues across internal teams, third-party partners, and external audiences including media and elected officials.

Reputational Risk Management

• Rapidly assess complex and ambiguous situations, identifying key drivers, risks, and downstream implications.
• Think big picture to anticipate reputational risks and opportunities, while also zooming into critical details to inform strategy and execution.
• Develop solutions that balance business objectives, operational realities, and reputational considerations.
• Navigate competing priorities and perspectives to drive alignment and resolution.

Partner Collaboration

• Build strong relationships and work collaboratively across internal and external partners to ensure coordinated issue management and consistent execution.
• Collaborate closely with a small, high-performing cross-functional team to develop coordinated strategies, align stakeholders, and drive effective issue resolution.
• Act as a trusted advisor to internal stakeholders, providing clear, practical guidance on reputational and operational risks.
• Translate complex situations into concise, executive-ready summaries and recommendations.
• Support leadership and colleagues in making informed, timely decisions in high-pressure situations.
• Participate in a rotating on-call schedule and support high-priority issues during evenings, weekends, and other non-business hours as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, political science, or related field.
• 8 – 10+ years of high-stakes reputation management experience with a strong public affairs lens.
• Proven experience in issues management, strategic communications, crisis management, government affairs, corporate affairs, consulting, and/or a related field, including engagement with media, government officials, regulatory agencies, community stakeholders, and other external influencers.
• Proven experience managing complex issues across legal, operational, and reputational dimensions (internal and external). <*- something?*--