Communications Manager

The Work

In this role, you will manage communications workstreams for clients with complex missions and diverse audiences. The work may include communications strategy, campaigns, stakeholder engagement, internal and executive communications, change communications, digital content, events, training, and public outreach. You will serve as a trusted day-to-day client partner, translate goals into practical plans, coordinate multidisciplinary teams, and maintain accountability for quality, schedule, scope, and budget. You will also remain close to the work by shaping strategies, reviewing content, facilitating decisions, and helping teams solve problems.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the planning and delivery of communications projects and workstreams from kickoff through completion.
• Serve as a primary day-to-day contact for clients, building trusted relationships and providing clear, practical counsel.
• Translate client goals, audience needs, and research into practical communications strategies, plans, messages, and activities.
• Support a broad mix of communications needs, including internal and external communications, executive communications, change communications, stakeholder engagement, public awareness, digital content, events, training, and outreach.
• Oversee the development of content and materials across channels, including web, email, social media, presentations, reports, toolkits, talking points, and event or training materials.
• Develop actionable workplans, schedules, staffing approaches, budgets, and quality-control processes; identify risks early and keep delivery on track.
• Direct and coordinate multidisciplinary teams that may include strategists, writers, designers, researchers, digital specialists, trainers, event staff, subject matter experts, and partners.
• Review deliverables for strategic alignment, accuracy, clarity, plain language, accessibility, and readiness for client review.
• Facilitate client and internal working sessions, synthesize complex input, clarify decisions, and turn discussion into next steps.
• Use performance data, stakeholder feedback, and lessons learned to recommend improvements and strengthen communications outcomes.
• Coach and mentor team members, delegate effectively, provide timely feedback, and support a collaborative, accountable team culture.
• Coordinate with ICF leadership on staffing, project performance, client satisfaction, and resolution of delivery issues.
• Support proposals, presentations, and follow-on work by contributing communications expertise and practical delivery insight.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in communications, public relations, marketing, journalism, English, or a related field or equivalent experience.
• Five or more years of communications experience, including at least two years managing complex projects, client relationships, or multidisciplinary workstreams.
• Experience developing and implementing communications strategies and producing or overseeing content for multiple channels and audiences.
• Experience managing client relationships and balancing priorities, deadlines, budgets, and dependencies across concurrent assignments.

Professional Skills

• Strong strategic judgment with the ability to connect communications recommendations to client goals, audience needs, and measurable outcomes.
• Excellent writing, editing, presentation, facilitation, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to synthesize complex or technical information and make it clear, relevant, and actionable for different audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, set direction, make decisions, and maintain momentum in a fast-paced environment.
• Sound project and financial management skills, including scope, schedule, staffing, risk, quality, and budget oversight.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and comfort learning client-specific collaboration, workflow, and content-management platforms.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience supporting federal, state, or local government communications programs or other complex organizations.
• Experience applying audience research, communications measurement, and performance data to improve strategy and execution.
• Project Management Professional certification or comparable project-management training.

Job Location and Client Requirements

This is a U.S.-based role. The work arrangement may be remote, hybrid, or client-site based depending on program needs. Some assignments may require occasional travel or the ability to meet client-specific suitability, citizenship, or security requirements. Any such requirements will be identified for the applicable assignment.