Vice President, Issues and Crisis at We. Communications | District of Columbia, USA | $147K/yr – $188K/yr

Vice President, Issues and Crisis

District of Columbia, USA (Remote)

$147K/yr – $188K/yrSenior Level8+ years expFull time

Posted 2 months ago

Job Summary

Own crisis and issues management for Fortune 500s and other large organizations, guiding risk anticipation, executive communications, and cross-functional response in high-stakes scenarios.

Issues & Crisis Management: Lead high-stakes programs across cybersecurity incidents, litigation, investigations, executive issues, labor matters, and geopolitical events.
Strategic Counsel & Preparedness: Build crisis plans, escalation protocols, stakeholder engagement strategies and playbooks to prevent escalation.
Cross-Functional Campaigns: Align with legal, public affairs, HR, IR and other leaders to drive integrated communications and timely decision making.

Job Description

Responsibilities

Issues & Crisis Management: Lead high-stakes crisis programs across cybersecurity, litigation, regulatory, executive issues, labor, geopolitical events, and business transformations.
Strategic Counsel & Risk Mitigation: Advise Fortune 500s on anticipation and mitigation of emerging risks to protect reputation.
Crisis Readiness & Playbooks: Develop crisis plans, escalation protocols, stakeholder engagement strategies, and executive communications frameworks.
Crisis Simulations & Leadership Training: Run simulations, executive trainings, and scenario planning with senior leaders and cross-functional teams.
Cross-Functional Alignment: Align with legal, public affairs, government relations, investor relations, HR and business leaders for high-stakes decisions.
Integrated Communications Campaigns: Design campaigns to influence stakeholders during crises, litigation, labor issues, and reputation recovery.
Executive Counsel & Visibility: Counsel C-suite on sensitive issues and executive engagement.
Business Development Support: Contribute to thought leadership, proposals, pitches, and growth opportunities in issues management and public affairs.
Offer Shaping & Market Positioning: Help shape We.’s Issues + Crisis offerings, methodologies, tools and market positioning.
Sector Expertise & Mentorship: Serve as a subject-matter resource across priority sectors, mentoring colleagues and partnering on opportunities.

Requirements

8-10+ years in strategic communications, issues management, crisis communications or related fields with agency experience preferred and teams-led track record.
Experience counseling senior executives through complex reputation and stakeholder challenges.
Proven ability to lead issues management and crisis strategies across regulatory, legal, workforce, geopolitical, cybersecurity and reputational issues; policy/public affairs experience preferred.
Strong understanding of today’s information environment, including AI, social media, digital communities and emerging tech.
Experience using media monitoring, social listening, AI-powered intelligence and data tools to spot emerging risks and inform decisions.
Ability to identify trends, connect signals, and anticipate issues before escalation.
Experience partnering with legal, public affairs, government relations, investor relations, HR and executives during high-stakes situations.
Strong presentation, consulting and writing skills for diverse audiences.
Global-market experience, team mentorship, and fast-paced, client-service mindset.
Experience across the full business development lifecycle including thought leadership, proposals and pitches.

Preferred

Agency experience preferred
Policy and public affairs experience preferred
Experience across global markets and leading client-service teams
Experience with full business development lifecycle including proposals and pitches

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, and vision
Pre-tax accounts including HSA with company match
Generous PTO, holidays, wellness breaks, Summer Fridays and personal days
Short & Long-Term Disability paid by company
Parental Leave up to 12 weeks; caregiver leave up to 2 weeks
Community Engagement hours and wellness credits
Home office equipment assistance and monthly technology credit
401(k) with company match
Learning and development programs

We. Communications

3.2 Glassdoor

We. is a global communications agency helping brands navigate an ever-changing world. We’ve spent decades at the intersection of technology and humanity, translating new innovations into meaningful experiences that connect with people. As change accelerates and expectations evolve, we use our expertise to help brands communicate through complexity to drive connection, understanding and progress. We offer a range of solutions with this in mind, across diverse industries, audiences and stakeholders.

Founded in 1983

Bellevue, Washington, USA

1.8K employees (307 in marketing)

wecommunications.com

40% recommend to a friend

67% CEO approval