Reports to Associate Director, Associate, Strategic Communications

New York, NY · Full time · Hybrid

About the Associate, Strategic Communications (Financial Services)

Manhattan Strategies is seeking an Associate, Strategic Communications with a focus in financial services to join our team. The best-fit candidate has a foundational understanding of communications and a genuine interest in the financial services industry including the market, key sector players, regulatory landscape, and core narratives.

You are a careful writer, a quick learner, and energized by the pace of news cycles and the rhythm of client work. Given the real-time nature of communications, this role requires flexibility and responsiveness outside of standard hours when client needs arise. We are thoughtful about balance and committed to showing up for our clients when it matters most.

Key Responsibilities

• Account Support: Execute day-to-day tasks across strategic communications engagements for financial services clients, supporting senior team members with research, drafting, and project coordination.
• Content Development: Draft and edit press releases, briefing materials, social content, talking points, and supporting documents that align with client voice and objectives.
• Media Monitoring & Research: Track media coverage, industry developments, and competitor activity; build coverage reports, briefing documents, and research memos.
• Media Relations Support: Help build and maintain media lists, coordinate outreach, and support pitching efforts across financial, business, and trade press.
• Listening & Trend Analysis: Monitor developments across financial services to identify timely opportunities, emerging narratives, and competitive positioning.Use internal data to identify and execute on recommendations for account growth.
• Project Coordination: Manage timelines, status documents, and internal workflows to keep accounts moving and ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

Who Thrives in This Role

This opportunity is ideal for you if you:

• Are genuinely curious about financial services, business, and markets, and want to build deep expertise over time
• Think carefully about audiences, you ask who content is for, why it matters, and how it performs
• Take ownership of your work, you're proactive, responsive, and hold yourself to a high standard of quality and follow-through
• Thrive in a fast-paced, client-driven environment where your work is visible, timely, and directly tied to results
• Communicate clearly and collaborate well, you're comfortable working across teams, managing feedback, and knowing when to ask questions
• Are curious and experimental, you test, learn, and bring new ideas to the table without waiting to be asked
• Are comfortable managing multiple clients and deadlines simultaneously while maintaining strong attention to detail and execution quality 
• Are proactive in seeking collaboration and support across the team to ensure deliverables are completed on time.
• Bring rigor and care to your writing, you understand that in regulated industries, words matter

Qualifications

• 1-3 years of experience in strategic communications, public relations, financial communications, journalism, or related fields; agency experience preferred
• Demonstrated interest in the financial services industry and its core narratives
• Strong writing and editing skills with the ability to adapt tone across platforms and audiences
• Familiarity with communications and monitoring tools (e.g., Muck Rack, Cision, Meltwater, or equivalents) is a plus
• Collaborative, proactive, and comfortable working in a fast-paced, high-accountability environment
• Genuine interest in business, markets, and the broader financial services landscape
• Bachelor's degree preferred, but not required with relevant experience

Benefits & Compensation

• Total compensation: $61,500 per year
• Compensation includes base salary plus bonuses 
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid family leave
• Healthcare and dental insurance
• Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit options
• Hybrid work environment
• Open, collaborative office space designed for both collaboration and focused work
• Leadership that is accessible and invested in your growth
• Ongoing learning opportunities and skills development
• An environment where diverse perspectives are not just welcomed, but valued
• Pantry stocked with an array of beverages and snacks
• Scheduled team lunches, celebrations, and recognition of milestone moments and wins

About Manhattan Strategies, an Award-Winning & New-Age Consulting Firm

By 2035, the majority of CEOs and senior decision makers will be digital natives: people whose expectations will reflect a digital and visual life experience.

At Manhattan Strategies, our mission is rooted in a simple hypothesis: if you communicate visually, you maximize your power to compel action. To do it, we combine an attentive communications agency and a boldly ambitious design studio. Our work spans challenges of every size and stage, from pre-seed startups to Fortune 100 companies and from political campaigns to product launches.

Manhattan Strategies has been recognized by ADWEEK among the fastest-growing agencies and by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies in America and the best B2B public relations provider in the United States. The firm has also won dozens of awards for its design, web development, branding and video production.