Consultant, Strategic Communications

Consultant Position at The Clearing The Clearing is seeking a consultant with expertise in strategic communications, branding, and value proposition strategy to help our project teams craft, deliver, and manage communications strategies to achieve our client's desired outcomes. Consultants at The Clearing typically lead a lane of work or serve as a Project Leader for a small, lower-complexity project, managing project financials and client relationships. Consultants regularly own tasks and create deliverables, delegating to others as appropriate. Consultants at The Clearing are expected to be growing in their understanding of project financials and business development (e.g., support business capture efforts) and contribute to proposal development. They are expected to regularly manage up with senior members of their team and leverage senior staff expertise to collaborate on deliverables. What You'll Do Manage project lanes or small projects to completion by scoping tasks and managing resources (i.e., time, budget, people) effectively; forecast and track lane/project financial performance and contribute to invoicing reviews and approvals. Partner with Project Leader to develop communications strategies and rollout plans to support client priority initiatives, ensuring that communication efforts align with the client's overall organizational goals/objectives. Assist in the design, implementation, and evaluation approaches for branding, strategic communications, and value proposition projects. Assist in the development of high-quality client-facing deliverables related to communications products (e.g., blogs, emails, newsletters, talking points, executive briefings, social media content, etc.). Tailor messaging and content as appropriate for unique audiences, such as creating tailored briefing documents for executives, managers, and staff levels. Support the design, coordination, and logistics of external and internal meetings; support knowledge capture during meetings. Facilitate client meetings to achieve identified, desired outcomes. Develop meaningful, trusted professional relationships with clients; serve as the point of contact for one or more clients within a lane or project. Support and/or lead research, data gathering, and analysis to inform the development of client solutions; synthesize and present results clearly. Showcase critical thinking skills to evaluate needs, make recommendations, and partner with team members to refine thinking and approaches to client challenges. Participate in business development and networking opportunities. Support proposal creation and coordination. Onboard, train, and develop junior team members. Compensation The projected salary range for this position is between $73,600.00 and $103,000.00 annually. Actual compensation and starting salaries are determined by various factors, including the candidate's education, experience, knowledge, skills, certifications, clearance level, and internal equity. Once at The Clearing, movement through pay bands is based on performance. Base-annual salary is just one component of The Clearing's total compensation philosophy and approach. Employees are eligible to participate in The Clearing's robust benefits programs, including our incentive compensation (bonus) programs; medical, dental, and vision insurance; supplemental health plans; disability insurance; 401(k) plan; paid leave, including parental leave; and pet insurance. Please refer to our Careers Page online for a complete list of benefits. Requirements Bachelor's degree 4+ years of relevant, professional work experience, preferably in a professional services or client-facing environment with strategic communications experience Experience developing and supporting strategic communications plans, branding strategies, and value proposition strategies Strong business writing and editing skills Strong organization and time management skills Strong critical thinking/problem solving skills Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, fast-paced, and high-stakes client environments Proficiency in spreadsheet, presentation creation tools, and internet research tools; familiarity with Google Suite is a plus Willingness and ability to travel to and work at client sites in the surrounding DC metro area, as required by the project; occasional travel outside of the region could be expected Willingness and ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Security Clearance and/or a positive suitability determination, by completing a federal background investigation, to perform client work Preferred skills, experiences, and certifications: PMP and/or Prosci certification (or similar/equivalent program/project/change management certification/s) Customer Experience (CX), and/or Organizational Design experience Physical and Mental Requirements While performing duties of this job, an employee may be required to perform any, or all of the following: Attend meetings in and out of the office, travel (sometimes extensively); Occasional evening and weekend work may be required as job duties demand; Communicate effectively (both orally and in writing); Ability to effectively use computers and other electronic and standard office equipment; Occasionally exerting up to 10 pounds to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Work is primarily sedentary and involves sitting for several hours at a time. Occasionally, walking, climbing stairs, and standing occur in this role. Additionally, this job requires certain mental demands, including the ability to exercise judgment, withstand moderate stress, and maintain attention to detail. The Clearing is committed to partnering with all candidates and employees to ensure reasonable accommodations are made to meet these requirements. EEO The Clearing is committed to providing equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, family medical history or genetic information, political affiliation, military service, or other non-merit-based factors. In addition to federal legal requirements, The Clearing complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. These protections extend to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting and hiring practices, promotions, terminations, layoffs, recalls, transfers, leaves of absence, compensation, and training and career development programs. The Clearing