Strategic Communications & Public Relations Lead 2026P-0634

12+ Months, Part-Time

Hybrid, Prince George's County, MD

Posted 1 week ago

Ascension is seeking an accomplished Strategic Communications & Public Relations Lead to serve as proposed key personnel supporting Montgomery Planning’s on-call strategic communications program.

The ideal candidate is a senior communications professional who can move comfortably between strategic planning and hands-on public relations execution. This individual will help Montgomery Planning communicate complex planning, land-use, development, engagement, and public-policy information in a manner that is clear, accurate, accessible, timely, and meaningful to residents, community stakeholders, partner agencies, elected officials, and the media.

This role is particularly important because Montgomery Planning’s communications mission is centered on transparency, equitable engagement, accessibility, plain-language communications, proactive outreach, and expanding meaningful participation in the planning process.

Ascension is seeking someone who brings not only excellent writing and communications-planning skills, but also demonstrated experience working directly with journalists, executive leaders, public officials, spokespersons, and other high-visibility stakeholders.

The successful candidate should be calm under pressure, highly responsive, politically and organizationally aware, discreet when handling sensitive information, and capable of rapidly moving from identifying a communications issue to developing a recommended message, response strategy, supporting materials, and execution plan.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Strategic Communications & Public Relations Lead will provide senior-level strategic communications and media-relations support across Montgomery Planning initiatives and individual task orders.

The contractor will support the development and execution of communications and engagement strategies that define objectives, audiences, key messages, tactical approaches, schedules, and performance indicators. The Lead will help translate complex technical and planning information into understandable narratives and actionable communications products.

The position will also lead or provide subject matter expertise for public relations activities, including press releases, media advisories, story pitches, talking points, spokesperson preparation, question-and-answer materials, media inquiry response, media monitoring, earned-media analysis, and rapid-response communications.

The contractor must be comfortable operating in an environment in which priorities can change quickly and communications may involve confidential, sensitive, controversial, or highly visible public issues.

This individual will work closely with Montgomery Planning communications staff, Planning Board personnel, Ascension’s Project Coordinator/Program Manager, researchers, designers, web specialists, engagement personnel, and other communications professionals.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is:

A strategic thinker who can translate organizational objectives into practical communications strategies.
An exceptional writer and editor capable of communicating complex subjects in clear, concise, plain language.
A seasoned public-relations professional with demonstrated experience working with journalists and responding to media inquiries.
Comfortable advising senior executives, public officials, board members, technical professionals, and subject matter experts.
Detail-oriented and organized while remaining capable of operating effectively in fast-moving environments.
Self-driven and capable of working independently with limited supervision.
Skilled at anticipating communications risks before they escalate.
Able to develop solutions quickly rather than simply identify communications problems.
Comfortable managing competing deadlines and multiple concurrent workstreams.
Highly responsive during emerging or sensitive issues.
Collaborative and capable of coordinating messages across multiple stakeholders and disciplines.
Sensitive to the communications needs of diverse communities and committed to equitable and accessible public engagement.
Trusted to exercise sound judgment and maintain confidentiality.

Day-to-Day / Task Order Activities

The Strategic Communications & Public Relations Lead will be expected to:

ADVISE Montgomery Planning staff and leadership on strategic communications, public relations, positioning, messaging, and emerging communications issues.
DEVELOP department-level and project-specific communications and engagement strategies incorporating objectives, audience insights, key messages, tactics, schedules, responsibilities, and measurable performance indicators.
TRANSLATE complex planning, land-use, policy, technical, research, and development information into clear and accessible public-facing communications.
CREATE messaging frameworks, editorial calendars, communications briefs, campaign briefs, talking points, key-message documents, executive briefing materials, FAQs, and related communications products.
RESEARCH audiences and stakeholder information to better understand communications needs, information gaps, participation barriers, preferred channels, and engagement opportunities.
ALIGN communications approaches with Montgomery Planning’s Strategic Plan, Equitable Engagement principles, established branding, positioning, and departmental messaging.
WRITE and edit press releases, media advisories, statements, talking points, story pitches, background materials, media responses, fact sheets, and related public-relations materials.
PITCH appropriate stories, initiatives, planning activities, and organizational information to relevant media outlets when authorized.
PREPARE spokespersons, executives, technical experts, Planning staff, and Planning Board personnel for interviews, presentations, difficult questions, and public-facing communications.
DEVELOP anticipated questions and answers, message maps, briefing books, interview preparation materials, and rapid-response communications packages.
RESPOND rapidly to emerging communications needs while maintaining message consistency, factual accuracy, confidentiality, and appropriate approval processes.
ADVISE Montgomery Planning and Planning Board personnel regarding media inquiries, media interest, reputational considerations, and recommended response approaches.
MONITOR relevant news coverage, public narratives, emerging issues, stakeholder conversations, and media activity.
ANALYZE earned-media results using quantitative and qualitative measures including reach, volume, sentiment, message penetration, trends, and other applicable indicators.
PREPARE earned-media reports, executive summaries, trend analyses, and recommendations based on communications performance.
COORDINATE timely and consistent messaging during sensitive, controversial, confidential, or rapidly developing situations.
COLLABORATE with research, engagement, digital, web, design, video, advertising, and analytics personnel to maintain consistency across communications channels.
SUPPORT campaign strategy, audience segmentation, messaging, content development, and communications performance measurement for promotional initiatives.
REVIEW communications products for message consistency, factual accuracy, tone, readability, brand alignment, accessibility, and audience appropriateness.
MAINTAIN message libraries, media lists, communications calendars, approval workflows, issue trackers, media-response documentation, and other communications management resources.
PARTICIPATE in project meetings, planning sessions, public-facing meetings, stakeholder discussions, presentations, and other client activities as required by individual task orders.
PROTECT confidential, sensitive, restricted, and pre-decisional information in accordance with M-NCPPC requirements.
ENSURE applicable communications products meet accessibility requirements, including ADA, WCAG 2.1 Level AA, and Revised Section 508 standards when required.
DELIVER assigned communications products within established schedules and respond effectively during accelerated or surge periods.

Tools and Processes

The successful contractor should be comfortable working with or quickly learning tools and processes supporting:

Microsoft 365
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft Word and PowerPoint accessibility tools
Adobe Acrobat accessibility review
Media monitoring and earned-media measurement platforms
Media/contact databases
Editorial and communications calendars
Communications approval workflows
Message maps and messaging frameworks
Issues and risk trackers
Audience and stakeholder analysis
KPI and communications-performance reporting
Social and digital analytics
Version control and document-management practices
Plain-language review
ADA/WCAG 2.1 AA/Revised Section 508 compliance processes

How to Apply

CLICK HERE TO APPLY & SUBMIT YOUR RESUME

Job Features

Job Category	Communications, Marketing
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS	Bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing, Public Affairs, Political Communication, English, or a closely related discipline; an equivalent combination of relevant education and significant professional experience may be considered \| Strong interpersonal skills and ability to interact professionally with senior client personnel, journalists, technical experts, community stakeholders, and multidisciplinary project teams.
REQUIRED SKILLS	Minimum five (5) years of experience providing strategic communications support, consistent with M-NCPPC's mandatory key-personnel qualification \| Seven (7)+ years of progressively responsible professional communications experience, including at least five years directly supporting strategic communications.
TECHNICAL SKILLS	Demonstrated professional experience in public relations and media relations, including development of press releases, advisories, media statements, story pitches, talking points, and media-response materials \| Demonstrated experience advising senior leaders, executives, public officials, boards, spokespersons, or other high-visibility personnel \| Experience preparing spokespersons for media interviews, including developing anticipated Q&A and difficult-question responses \| Experience supporting rapid-response, issues-management, crisis, or sensitive communications \| Demonstrated ability to communicate complex or technical information to nontechnical and public audiences \| Strong professional writing, editing, proofreading, and plain-language communications skills \| Demonstrated understanding of audience segmentation, stakeholder communications, message development, and communications planning \| Experience evaluating communications performance through media metrics, KPIs, analytics, sentiment, or similar measurement approaches \| Demonstrated ability to manage multiple communications assignments, deadlines, stakeholders, and approval processes concurrently \| Ability to work independently and exercise sound judgment with limited supervision \| Demonstrated discretion when handling confidential, sensitive, or pre-decisional information \| Proficiency with Microsoft 365, including Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint \| Ability to attend meetings, presentations, or other public-facing activities within Montgomery County and Prince George's County, Maryland, when required by a task order \| Ability to perform remote work from a private, secure location within the United States when accessing Commission systems or information.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS	10+ years of progressively responsible strategic communications, public relations, public affairs, or media-relations experience \| Direct communications experience supporting a local, county, regional, state, or federal government organization \| Experience supporting a planning agency, transportation organization, parks and recreation agency, public infrastructure organization, county government, elected body, board, commission, or similar public entity \| Familiarity with Montgomery County, Prince George's County, the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, or the regional media market \| Established working relationships with Washington metropolitan-area or Maryland journalists, news organizations, trade publications, community media, or other relevant outlets \| Experience communicating issues involving land use, planning, transportation, development, housing, environmental policy, community development, public infrastructure, or related public-policy subjects \| Demonstrated crisis-communications or issues-management experience \| Demonstrated earned-media placement and journalist-outreach results \| Experience using media-monitoring and public-relations platforms such as Cision, Meltwater, Muck Rack, Critical Mention, or comparable technologies \| Experience performing media sentiment analysis and preparing earned-media performance reports \| Experience developing communications KPIs and dashboards \| Experience supporting equitable community engagement, multilingual communications, underserved communities, or public-participation initiatives \| Experience providing media training, executive communications coaching, or spokesperson preparation. Familiarity with accessibility requirements for electronic communications, including ADA, WCAG 2.1 Level AA, and Revised Section 508 \| Experience using Microsoft accessibility tools and Adobe Acrobat accessibility checking/remediation functionality \| Master's degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Public Affairs, Marketing, or a related discipline \| Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) through the Public Relations Society of America or equivalent industry credential \| Relevant professional affiliation with organizations such as PRSA, IABC, National Association of Government Communicators, or similar professional associations.