Associate Director, Internal & Change Communications (Gagen MacDonald)

About Gagen MacDonald 

Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Chicago, Gagen MacDonald is a wholly owned subsidiary of APCO, a global advisory and advocacy communications consultancy. 

Gagen MacDonald is a woman-owned, people-focused transformation consulting firm and trusted partner to the C-suite. We are dedicated to accelerating human-centered transformation and enhancing business performance by connecting strategy, structure and culture to purpose, brand and reputation.

For more than 25 years, we have been working with organizations to navigate the human struggle of change. By changing the employee experience through culture, communication, leadership and design, we unite employees across all levels of an organization around a single vision, working from the inside out.

At Gagen, we are committed to delivering on our firm’s core value, “Our cause is our clients’ success,” to help organizations build a healthier business for a better world. 

To do that, we need highly talented people for whom client service and high-quality change communication is a priority. 

About the Role 

We are seeking a Associate Director, Internal & Change Communication to develop and implement strategic communications programs that deliver business results. This is a role for someone who has passion for leading communication strategies that rally employees behind a shared purpose. 

You will be part of a  collaborative team that supports clients from the corporate office to the frontline, leveraging an organization’s brand, culture, vision and history to motivate and align employees to accomplish their business objectives. 

The job can be based at one of APCO’s U.S. offices (Chicago, NYC, DC, Raleigh) or a home office and it requires some travel to client sites and company meetings.

What You'll Do 

Join us and make a positive impact with some of the world's most admired brands using your expertise in internal communications, change management, employee engagement, crisis communication, mergers & acquisitions (M&A), business transformation and other types of large-scale organizational change. 

You'll make an impact with our clients by  

• Developing and leading client solutions and deliverables that meet highly complex project and client needs and result in successful and measurable client strategy execution, at the direction of the Account Lead.
• Managing workstreams and discrete activities in projects that are of moderate complexity, size, and scale.
• Aligning client solutions and deliverables across multiple workstreams.
• Ensuring all work product outputs and deliverables adhere to Gagen MacDonald quality standards.

You'll make an impact with our account teams by  

• Leading and supporting project planning, strategic project management, and project risk management by executing on client requirements in required timeframes.
• Supporting or leading account management activities at the direction of the Client Manager, including client onboarding, budgeting, forecasting, planning, invoice management, and account plan maintenance for accounts of moderate size.
• Anticipating client issues and elevating them to the Client Manager.

You'll make an impact at the firm by 

• Participating in business expansion, along with other leaders at the firm, by recognizing new opportunities within existing accounts; and developing new relationships with focus on Gagen's capabilities and expertise.
• Cultivating, expanding and maintaining professional working relationships with clients, prospects, and industry peers.
• Galvanizing the firm’s thought leadership position by being a driving force for case study content and development.

Key Competencies

It’s not only what we do, it’s how we do it.

Building and maintaining the firm’s reputation and contributing to business success depends on each and every one of us. It requires us to approach everything we do with the core skills and competencies that our firm has become known for in the industry. As a member of the Gagen MacDonald team, you are expected to demonstrate our six core leadership competencies. 

• Intellectual Horsepower
  Thinks things through carefully and critically before defining issues. Analyzes opportunities and problems from a broad perspective. Anticipates consequences, objections, and impacts before arriving at solutions. Shows curiosity and drive to uncover new data, root causes, new perspectives, and new solutions.