Vice President, Public Affairs & Policy Communications (Healthcare)

Orchestra; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

BerlinRosen, part of Orchestra, seeks a Vice President in Public Affairs to guide comprehensive communications strategies across earned, owned, and paid media. You will lead senior client engagements, mentor staff, and drive day-to-day account management in a fast-paced environment.

You will work with senior leaders on capacity planning, business development, and delivering compelling messages that influence health policy and public audiences. Hybrid work in New York or Washington, D.C.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in strategic communications in health, government, electoral politics, media, or journalism; PR agency experience preferred.
• 2+ years of experience managing teams.
• Strong storytelling with demonstrable news moment creation.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of integrated communications strategies across earned, owned, and paid media.
• Manage junior staff on each account and oversee day-to-day workflow.
• Coordinate with internal and external teams to deploy services and meet client goals.

Skills

Strategic communications

Leadership

Public affairs

Media relations

Storytelling

Team capacity planning

Business development

Regulatory understanding

Effective written communication

Crisis communications

Job description

Location: New York, N.Y. or Washington, D.C. (Hybrid)

About BerlinRosen

BerlinRosen is part of Orchestra, a strategic communications and marketing company built for today’s complex and fragmented world. From decoding audiences to designing bold strategies, Orchestra integrates people, platforms, and stories that stick to help clients build lasting influence. The company offers programs that span from the highest level strategic business counsel through to tactical execution. Orchestra brings together 700+ people with experience across consumer and lifestyle, technology, nonprofit and philanthropy, real estate, sports, travel, hospitality, and more. Made up of leading firms BerlinRosen, Civitas Public Affairs Group, Derris, Glen Echo Group, Inkhouse, M18, Message Lab, Onward and Small Girls PR. It also launched Brightmode, a talent acquisition firm for communications professionals, and Versus Media Group, a strategy-first political media team. Learn more at www.orchestraco.com.

People of all backgrounds and abilities are strongly encouraged to apply. Orchestra is committed to building and maintaining a diverse staff, and recognizes that its continued success depends on hiring and retaining high-quality creative professionals with a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Opportunities for advancement exist, and we are committed to helping all staff develop and grow.

About The Public Affairs Team

Our Public Affairs team is a group of strategists, campaign managers and communications experts who help clients navigate high-stakes political, regulatory and reputational challenges. We lead integrated campaigns across media, stakeholder engagement, advocacy, research and paid media, coordinating seamlessly across internal teams and external partners to drive outcomes for clients across healthcare, nonprofits, technology, land use, education, infrastructure and other sectors. The team works on fast-moving state and national campaigns across a wide range of issues, collaborating with a strong network of advisors, consultants and local partners in markets across the country.

About This Role

BerlinRosen is seeking an experienced communications, media relations and public affairs strategist to join us as a Vice President. In this role, you will counsel clients across our practice through comprehensive communications strategies that engage stakeholders and public audiences across integrated communications channels–including earned, owned, and paid media–to drive direct impact on the health industry and the stakeholders impacted by policy and regulatory changes. You will work with a team of expert colleagues and lead the day-to-day account flow by managing junior staff and client relations.

You will work with a team of expert colleagues and lead the day- to-day account flow by managing junior staff and client relations. As a core leader of the team, you should thrive in a fast-paced environment, demonstrate thoughtfulness in creating a collaborative culture, and have expertise in team capacity planning and business development.

Role location: This role is based in our New York, N.Y. or Washington D.C. office on a hybrid basis. The team is in-office 3 days per week.

Accountabilities And Qualifications

As a Vice President on the Public Affairs team, you will…

• Lead the development of integrated communications strategies including earned, owned, and paid media to meet clients’ objectives
• Drive high-touch, daily client communications with the same client leads: brainstorming, flagging concerns and problem-solving
• Manage a team of junior staff on each account you lead, strategically influencing deliverables’ quality and staff development by delegating, modeling smart practices and providing feedback
• Coordinate across internal and external teams to deploy integrated services (media relations, digital advertising, research) to meet your clients’ goals
• Drive new story angles and other media opportunities for clients, conceptualizing creative feature stories even when there is no news to announce and identify new targets across print, broadcast, radio and podcasts and trying new approaches until the story lands
• Lead thought leadership programs for executives, drafting persuasive and compelling pitches and op-eds on behalf of a client; identify new opportunities to raise an executive’s visibility through awards or conferences
• Work closely with senior team leaders on capacity planning to ensure that the team is running efficiently
• Contribute to business development and growth efforts
• At least 8 years of experience in strategic communications in relevant health industries, government, electoral politics or media or journalism covering relevant sectors; PR agency experience preferred
• At least 2 years of experience managing teams
• Strong storytelling skills and demonstrated ability to create news moments, with the ability to provide examples that clearly demonstrate these capabilities
• Experience in designing media and marketing programs to reach stakeholder audiences
• Savviness and creativity in media relations and pitching, social media content ideation and influencer engagement with the knowledge to identify new targets and thoughtful angles until the story lands. Experience with thought leadership and executive profile raising a plus.
• Experience engaging and maintaining strong relationships with relevant reporters and handling rapid response and long lead stories
• Fluency in legislative and regulatory processes, with an ability to translate complex developments into clear and compelling messages
• Ability to communicate clearly and confidently, both verbally and in writing, with staff, clients, and the media.
• Organized and used to a fast-paced environment, with the capability to handle multiple assignments at once, work quickly, think on their feet and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Proven ability to become a savvy and nimble student of the “news” and quickly identify new media opportunities and narratives to insert our clients’ voices into the news cycle

WORKING AT ORCHESTRA

Salary range (commensurate with experience and skills): $140,000-$150,000

Vice Presidents are eligible for end-of-year bonuses based on firm, team, and individual performance.

Orchestra is the first communications company built for today’s media landscape. Since 2022, it’s acquired nine firms, including: BerlinRosen, Civitas Public Affairs Group, Derris, Glen Echo Group, Inkhouse, M18, Message Lab, Onward and Small Girls PR. It also launched Brightmode, a talent acquisition firm for communication professionals. Learn more at: www.orchestraco.com.

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