Strategic Public Sector Communications Lead

MITRE; McLean (VA); On-site; USD 148,000 - 222,000; Full time

Job summary

MITRE seeks a senior, public sector‑fluent communications leader to serve as the sector‑deployed communications lead for MITRE Public Sector. This role reports to the VP, Communications and External Affairs and partners with executives, subject matter experts, and sponsor‑facing teams.

The ideal candidate translates complex systems, data, technology, policy, and mission work into clear narratives that resonate with government sponsors, industry partners, and employees, strengthening government

Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 8 years with a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 5 years’ experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in communications, journalism, public relations, public affairs, public policy, political science, technology policy, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience developing and executing end‑to‑end communications strategies for complex organizations, portfolios, programs, or mission areas, including narrative development, audience strategy, channel planning, content execution, executive communications, stakeholder engagement, and measurement.
• Experience translating technical, systems, data, policy, or mission‑oriented information into clear and compelling communications for non‑technical audiences.
• Ability to understand and communicate public sector missions, federal systems, emerging technology, data, AI adoption, research insights, and mission impact in relatable terms.
• Strong writing, editing, and storytelling skills, with the ability to produce executive‑ready content under tight timelines.
• Demonstrated ability to use artificial intelligence tools responsibly and effectively to strengthen communications planning, content development, workflow efficiency, and measurement, while ensuring accuracy, sound judgment, and appropriate handling of sensitive information.
• Ability to advise senior leaders and operate with credibility, discretion, and sound judgment in executive‑level settings.
• Experience managing multiple priorities, stakeholders, and deliverables in a dynamic environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including active listening, emotional intelligence, collaboration, and the ability to build trust across technical and non‑technical teams.
• Ability to choose the right communications approach for the objective, including executive communications, internal communications, media and public affairs, digital content, events, stakeholder engagement, thought leadership, and reusable messaging assets.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively, including as a strategic lead, partner to other communicators, and hands‑on individual contributor.
• Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Secret U.S Government issued Security Clearance. Per the U.S. Government’s eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S Citizen to be considered for a security clearance.
• This position requires a minimum of 4 days a week on‑site.

Responsibilities

• Develop priority‑setting and narrative development through channel strategy, content execution, executive support, stakeholder engagement, measurement, and after‑action improvement.
• Identify the audiences most important to the MITRE Public Sector work and help design communication plans to reach those audiences through a variety of tactics.
• Shape proactive communications campaigns around a focused set of priority public sector topics and mission outcomes, including government modernization, critical services, aviation, cybersecurity, healthcare, financial systems, data‑driven decision‑making, fraud reduction, systems integration, and responsible AI adoption.
• Translate complex technical, policy, data, systems, and mission content into clear communications products, including executive messaging, talking points, briefing materials, web and social content, stories, releases, videos, fact sheets, FAQs, presentations, proof points, and plain‑language value propositions.
• Serve as a strategic communications advisor to MITRE Public Sector executives, leaders, and subject matter experts on messaging, narrative, stakeholder engagement, public affairs, media engagement, strategic visits, crisis communications, and reputational risk.
• Coordinate across Communications and External Affairs, mission communicators for each internal organization and business sector, public affairs, government relations, digital, events, protocol, executive communications, and MITRE Public Sector teams so communications are aligned, timely, consistent, and not fragmented by channel or function.
• Define and track practical measures of communications effectiveness, such as message pull‑through, stakeholder engagement, executive readiness, content reuse, audience understanding, campaign progress, and risk reduction.
• Operate as the embedded communications lead for MITRE Public Sector while connecting back to the broader Communications and External Affairs function, ensuring shared messaging, coordinated planning, consistent standards, and a unified voice across channels.

Skills

Public sector communications

Strong writing

Storytelling

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in communications, journalism, public relations, public affairs, public policy, political science, technology policy, or related field

Job description

MITRE seeks a senior, public sector‑fluent communications leader to serve as the sector‑deployed communications lead for MITRE Public Sector. This role reports to the VP, Communications and External Affairs and partners with executives, subject matter experts, and sponsor‑facing teams.

The ideal candidate translates complex systems, data, technology, policy, and mission work into clear narratives that resonate with government sponsors, industry partners, and employees, strengthening government