Managing Director of Media Engagement

Reports to: Senior Vice President of Communications
Status: Full-time; Exempt
Location : Washington D.C. This is a hybrid workplace, with Mondays and Wednesdays in the office and three days remote, as well as the occasional need to work in person for events and special projects. 
Overtime Status : Exempt 
Salary: $160K-$180K

About Groundwork Collaborative

Launched in 2018, Groundwork Collaborative is driven by the idea that We Are The Economy: when all of us are doing well, that is when our economy thrives. We fight for progressive economic policy and narrative change that builds accountable public power, breaks up concentrations of private power, and affirmatively centers people too long left out of prosperity. We understand that taken together, these actions will lead to a stronger and more resilient economy.

Groundwork’s unique structure – part strategic communications, part think tank, and part issue advocacy organization – allows us to drive narrative and policy change with credibility, expertise, and impact. We work across four core audiences – the media, policymakers, economic experts, and grasstops leaders – and use targeted policy campaigns and timely research and messaging to advance a truly inclusive economic worldview.

Position Summary

Groundwork’s impact has grown considerably in recent years, including through the launch of our Economic Speakers Bureau, which is helping diversify the expert voices shaping news coverage of the economy. Groundwork seeks a Managing Director of Media Engagement to serve as a senior leader responsible for driving Groundwork’s press and media operations and expanding the reach and influence of our economic narrative work. This is a new role within the Groundwork communications team that integrates leadership of the Economic Speakers Bureau with management of our in-house press operation to build great connectivity and increase our ability to launch and sustain surround-sound communications campaigns.

The Managing Director will report to the SVP of Communications and oversee the organization’s day-to-day press operations, translating high-level communications strategy into concrete media outcomes. They will directly manage Groundwork’s press team and oversee the Economic Speakers Bureau, ensuring Groundwork’s experts and research are consistently breaking through in the media landscape.

As Groundwork’s Managing Director of Media Engagement, you will…

• Oversee all press and earned media operations at Groundwork, ensuring a coordinated, proactive, and high-impact approach to earned media coverage across traditional, digital, and new media platforms.
• Translate Groundwork’s overarching communications strategy into targeted media campaigns, rapid response operations, and proactive press outreach efforts.
• Directly manage the press team (2-4 staff), providing editorial direction, day-to-day supervision, and hands-on support to build a high-performing press operation.
• Lead and manage the Economic Speakers Bureau, working with the ESB’s pitching and booking operation to expand and steward Groundwork’s roster of expert spokespeople, coordinate placements, provide wraparound support to experts, and track impact across media channels. This would include the ESB’s national operation as well as two initiatives launched in the past year: a cohort of bilingual experts shaping coverage in Spanish-language media, and a New York-based cohort framing local, state, and national issues in the New York media market.
• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with journalists, editors, producers, bookers, and hosts across national broadcast, print, digital, and new media outlets.
• Serve as a senior editorial voice on press materials, helping craft and edit press releases, media advisories, op-eds, statements, talking points, and briefings, ensuring they are crisp, strategic, and on message.
• Monitor and analyze the daily news cycle and evolving media landscape to identify opportunities for Groundwork experts and research to shape national economic conversations.
• Work in coordination with Groundwork’s digital strategy team to ensure seamless integration and cross-amplification between the digital and press operations to expand Groundwork’s communications footprint.
• Collaborate closely with the Policy, Advocacy, and Research and Partnerships teams to develop and execute integrated rollout plans for Groundwork reports, campaigns, major announcements, events, and partnerships.
• Advise the SVP of Communications on emerging press opportunities, risks, and trends, including shifts in the new and alternative media ecosystem.
• Represent Groundwork with media partners, coalition allies, and other external stakeholders as appropriate.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications 

• You bring 10-15+ years of progressive experience in advocacy, political or nonprofit external communications roles, with a significant portion in senior or leadership positions, with a strong track record of generating high-impact press coverage at the national level.
• You are experienced in creating infrastructure, building teams, and working in close collaboration with other teams/verticals to advance organizational objectives.
• You have deep, established relationships across the national media landscape, including with broadcast bookers and producers, print and digital reporters, editors, and emerging voices in new and alternative media.
• You bring a thoughtful approach to coaching, feedback, and professional growth, and have experience motivating teams to perform at a high level in dynamic environments.
• You are a sharp, fast writer and editor who can turn complex economic policy into compelling, accessible media content under deadline pressure.
• You are a news fanatic who closely tracks economic and political narratives across a wide range of media outlets and understands what makes a story break through.
• You are fluent in the new and alternative media space, including newsletters, podcasts, and media content creators, and have smart ideas for how to reach audiences in a fragmented information environment.
• You are a savvy strategist who anticipates the news cycle, identifies the right moments for Groundwork’s voice, and knows how to build the partnerships needed to amplify impact.
• You are well-versed in wonky economic topics like inflation, tax policy, or labor markets, and are energized by translating them into messaging that resonates with broad audiences.
• You are organized, detail-oriented, and thrive in fast-paced, dynamic environments.
• You are familiar with the progressive economic policy, think tank, and advocacy community in Washington, D.C. and on the Hill.
• You are committed to a just, inclusive, and robust economy that delivers opportunity and dignity to all.

Preferred Qualifications

• You have experience running or overseeing a speakers bureau, surrogacy program, or similar expert deployment initiative.
• You have served in a senior press or communications leadership role in an advocacy organization, political campaign, congressional office, or government agency.
• You have a deep background or expertise in economic policy issues, including fiscal policy, labor, trade, or financial regulation.
• You have strong existing relationships in new and alternative media, including with podcast producers, content creators, and influencer networks.

The salary range for this role is $160,000 - 180,000 annually. We offer a generous benefits package, including five weeks of vacation and personal leave, two week-long office closures, additional time off for floating and federal holidays, zero-premium health insurance, a generous HRA, a retirement contribution of up to 6%, up to 16 weeks parental leave, and health club and cell-phone reimbursements, among other benefits. We are a hybrid workplace, with two days a week in the office and three days remote, as well as the occasional need to work in person for events and special projects. Groundwork is a unionized workplace and is represented by the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU). This position is not in the bargaining unit.

How to apply

To begin the application process, please submit an application on our career page, including a resume and cover letter. The cover letter should describe your specific experience related to this position.