Associate, Corporate Issues

Associate  

Weber Shandwick’s Global Crisis team helps leading organizations across the world both manage breaking negative issues and events affecting reputation and develop the internal culture and infrastructure needed to predict, prepare, and navigate them effectively. From conspiracy theories, environmental incidents and multinational bankruptcies to executive controversies and sweeping product recalls to high-profile litigation and fake news, we live at the front lines of media, culture, and conversation. Whether it is a program affecting internal stakeholders, managing expectations around financial data and results, or an external effort to protect or defend an organization’s reputation, we work together with colleagues from around the country and globe daily, supplying crisis counsel to clients across industries and sectors, making deep curiosity a requisite for this position.   

Candidate Qualities   

As an Associate, you will have the unique opportunity to help drive communications around these challenging and exciting projects, with the opportunity to work on Issues and Crisis situations as well as Capital Markets financial communications projects. You will be a day-to-day leader among the team’s Associate-level staff, working directly with senior leadership to help drive research, develop materials, staff projects, build media lists, scope work, support new business, manage vendors, track budget and balance multiple shifting priorities in real-time. The ideal candidate will have excellent writing skills and the ability to perform in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented environment. You will be intimately familiar with current events and news trends and be able to translate that knowledge into actionable insights for clients. This extends to social and digital communications: you must have true analytical fluency in this area. The ideal candidate would also follow markets and financial news with an understanding of business risks. A strong academic record is necessary, and experience in issues management or financial communications is a bonus – but candidates of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.  

Our Team 

Our team is a group of smart, analytical and hardworking people who care deeply about helping lead our clients through a crisis to make a positive impact on society. We are on the front lines of some of the biggest, most complex corporate reputation and financial issues – and the nature of our work requires an ability and eagerness to juggle multiple responsibilities and work on multi-office client teams. You will have the opportunity to play a leading role in driving both ongoing client engagements and discrete projects.  

  

What You Will Be Doing    

• Serves as key team member to support a range of complex, high-profile corporate issues /crisis communications situations and financial transactions (i.e., cybersecurity issues, product safety issues and recalls, mergers and acquisitions, executive leadership changes, IPOs, spin-offs, divestitures, etc.)   

• Supports development of press releases, crisis plans, media strategies, reactive media statements, talking points, FAQs, memos, crisis simulations and other deliverables as needed;  

• Supports monitoring and triaging of client issues   

• Conducts pressing research on a wide range of issues, review and prepare executive summaries and/or analyses detailing clear and concise findings, distill complex and substantial amounts of information into concise summaries and insights; begin to propose strategic and actionable recommendations   

• Provides input during development of projects based on insights and knowledge of client preferences   

• Prepares for and takes part in client meetings, including accurately capturing notes, agenda action items, call recaps, updating trackers, timelines and status documents  

• Serves as role model to team members, producing high quality work and continually updating manager on activity progress  

• Actively builds own knowledge, contributes to inclusive team culture and