Digital Public Affairs Director

The Digital Public Affairs Director (Director) is a force multiplier who maximizes opportunities from new and existing clients with innovative solutions, exceptional client service, and a sustainable team. This role is for a strategist with 10-15 years of experience in both digital communications and public affairs. The Director is accountable for the success of all projects in their reporting structure: excellent quality, delivered on-time and on-budget, to a highly satisfied client.

Focus Areas

Strategic Advisor to Clients

The Director becomes an invaluable partner to clients by helping them internalize the value of digital, and specifically the value of Unearth, and is the best representative of Unearth strengths, approach, and processes. The Director earns this trust through:

  • Superior active listening skills to draw insights out of clients
  • Exceptional presentation and storytelling abilities to instill confidence in clients and deliver compelling, exciting narratives about Unearth’s work
  • Respectfully pushing back to clients when the agency proposes better, more effective ideas
  • Delivering bad news honestly and early, and immediately providing recommendations for solutions to get back on track
  • Creating a zero-surprises environment by setting accurate expectations and delivering on them
  • Creating collaborative client relationships where client and agency are teammates
  • Conducting crucial conversations, including regarding budgets and scopes; making clients comfortable talking about money
  • Vast knowledge of digital tools and systems, including voter mobilization; grassroots coalitions; social listening; data visualization; influencer targeting; advertising platforms; creative messaging and many more
  • Vast knowledge of public affairs and political cycles, processes and tools of the trade: polling, voter files, activations, influencers, voter contact and many more
  • Collaborate across the company. Work closely with the full Public Affairs, Product, and Innovation teams to leverage the best thinking and solutions for clients.
  • Ensure overall project success by overseeing and providing direction to in-house and contract team members, including providing technical QA and feedback and/or facilitating this feedback from other senior team members, and recommending solutions to fill any skills or staffing gaps on a project team.

New Business Leadership

The Director autonomously leads new business development and works with agency leadership and the Sales and New Business teams to achieve sign-off on budget/scope.

  • Proactively seek and shape opportunities for growth through strategic touchpoints with potential, current, and past clients. Balance the need to move quickly with the need to provide thoughtful, innovative ideas.
  • Develop and propose proprietary, original service offerings that align with agency strengths. Use deep knowledge of the public affairs industry and digital capabilities to propose innovative new strategies for achieving client goals.
  • Collaborate with high-priority partners to proactively jointly pursue proactive business development opportunities.

Team Leadership

The Director elevates the entire Public Affairs team through focused coaching of junior staff.

  • Develop training plans for direct reports; meet regularly with direct reports to coach/guide in career development; maintain a log of topics discussed and action items in the HR system.
  • Identify and cultivate relationships with high-quality contractors and vendors.
  • Ensure that all team members have an opportunity to grow through assignments that will stretch their capabilities. 
  • Design client interactions to give multiple team members opportunities to interface with clients (more experienced staff to manage projects completely and more junior staff to present their own work product and/or lead regular communications touchpoints with clients). 
  • Staff projects to ensure the team is utilized from the lowest levels up while clients are well-served.
  • Identify short-term and long-term resource needs as well as participating in recruitment and interview processes.
  • Design, implement, and measure process and system improvements across the team, such as project management systems, steps for deliverable production, service tiers, and/or others.
  • Proactively develop and document new processes and facilitate implementation across the team
  • Create and lead team-wide special initiatives
  • While it is not the desired solution, the Director may be required to perform tasks typically assigned to a more junior resource if staffing gaps exist to ensure the success of a client engagement.

Expectations  

  • Problem Solving: Mentors team to avoid problems in advance. Autonomous problem solver for most issues. Elevates high-stakes problems to the leadership team and recommends solutions.
  • Strategic and Tactical Skills: Mastery of Unearth areas of expertise, digital technologies and public affairs. Guides clients through strategic planning and messaging engagements. Recommends new, innovative strategic solutions and services, including pricing strategies that ensure profitability. Proactively seeks and pursues new business opportunities. Expert storyteller and presenter.
  • Delegation and Management: Delegates entire projects and accounts effectively. Collaborates with direct reports to ensure projects remain on-time, on-budget, and of the highest possible quality.

    Career Path  

    • The Digital Director aspires to advance to the Senior Digital Director role. This role shares the same responsibilities as Digital Director, but has demonstrated:
      • Leadership among peers
      • Consistently exceptional delivery on all aspects of role description
      • Complete knowledge of Unearth processes and culture
    • The Senior Digital Director aspires to advance to an enhanced department-level operational role with budgetary control.
    • The Digital Director aspires to advance to the Senior Digital Director role. This role shares the same responsibilities as Digital Director, but has demonstrated:
      • Leadership among peers
      • Consistently exceptional delivery on all aspects of role description
      • Complete knowledge of Unearth processes and culture

    Featured Benefits  

    • Compensation: $106,000 – $170,000 year, commensurate with experience
    • Employer-sponsored premium healthcare, dental and vision plans for employee, spouse, and dependents with optional buy-ups
    • 401k retirement plan with dollar-for-dollar employer matching up to 3% of base salary; and 50% employer match on deferrals between 3% and 5% of compensation
    • Employer-paid group disability and life insurance
    • Paid time off: Your birthday, 9 holidays, 10 vacation days and 10 sick days per year
    • Cell phone reimbursement of $75 per month, paid quarterly
    • $1,000 annual professional development budget for approved trainings, memberships, events, and resources
    • Paid parental leave based on tenure, starting with 12 weeks unpaid available immediately and increasing incrementally to 12 weeks of 100% net income after 4 years

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