Assistant Director, Corporate Communications Strategy

American Chemical Society has an exciting opportunity for a visionary people leader to establish and evolve a modern, proactive, and collaborative corporate communications function. This is a critical opportunity to shape how we connect, engage, and inspire our internal teams and how we protect our reputation in moments of risk. As we prepare for a rebrand in 2026, the Assistant Director will lead the strategy for internal communications, crisis response, and employer branding, positioning ACS as a top employer and amplifying our role as one of the world's leading scientific organizations.

We are looking for a senior strategist with exceptional leadership and storytelling abilities, someone who can assess the current landscape, align cross-functional teams, and build a corporate communications ecosystem that unites a global, distributed organization. This role requires poise, passion, and a proven ability to define and execute strategy. This role requires excellent written and verbal communication skills and comfort with juggling multiple projects and urgent deadlines. The ideal candidate will be a skilled storyteller who is accustomed to handling confidential information and has the ability to adjust communications to the audience and occasion, whether that's a presentation to the Board of Directors, a meeting of our global partners, or a staff gathering.

Here's what you'll be doing:

• Develop and lead an integrated internal communications strategy that drives connection, transparency, and alignment across ACS.
• Collaborate on the strategy and execution of our employer brand, ensuring it reflects our values and elevates ACS as a place where top talent wants to work and stay.
• Lead crisis communications planning and response, developing protocols, messaging, and playbooks to mitigate risk and maintain trust.
• Serve as a strategic and trusted advisor to the Director of Communications, executive leadership, and cross-divisional teams.
• Supervise and grow a high-performing team responsible for day-to-day internal messaging and communication planning.
• Cultivate strong relationships across HR, IT, Finance, Legal, and other divisions to align messaging and foster a cohesive employee experience.
• Advance our use of tools and channels including intranet, email, virtual town halls, webinars, and hybrid events to create more effective and engaging touchpoints.

Required Skills and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in communications, marketing, or related field.
• 8+ years of working as a people or program manager with 4+ years of supervising people is required.
• Experience with navigating privacy and compliance conversations with organizational and expert stakeholders.
• Comfort working in a busy environment, effectively prioritizing responsibilities, and meeting urgent deadlines.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and carry out strategic initiatives from ideation to implementation.
• A self-starter who builds and maintains effective relationships with stakeholders across the organization to align communications and accomplish goals.
• Comfortable interacting with diverse audiences in varied settings, from staff in casual gatherings to meetings with global staff to formal presentations to executive leadership.

• Ability to analyze data and trends to inform communication strategies.
• Strong project management skills to oversee multiple initiatives simultaneously.
• Demonstrated ability to develop effective communications strategies and implement plans, including crisis communications.
• Proven ability to engage staff and encourage their development.
• Strong decision-making and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Familiarity with and knowledge of current media and comms ecosystems.
• Ability to learn enterprise-wide software platforms and apps used for routine work. These include Microsoft Office, Teams, Asana, and internal comms/intranet platforms.

This role is based in our Washington, DC office. The Communications Division employees work a hybrid schedule, consisting of working onsite two days (Tue/Wed) per work week, as decided by functional area. The balance of the week is open to working remotely, though employees are always welcome onsite each day if they choose.

A reasonable rate of compensation for this position is between $140,000-160,000 per year.

ACS currently provides the following benefits for this position: paid vacation leave, paid sick leave, paid holidays, health insurance, flexible spending account or health care savings account, dental insurance, life insurance, vision insurance, retirement benefits, short- and long-term disability, and 4-week work from anywhere; each benefit is subject to the terms of the applicable program. Additional benefits may apply based on skills, experience, and location.

Any actual offer of employment, reflecting the total compensation package and benefits, will be made in the sole discretion of ACS. ACS reserves the right to amend or modify its employment benefits and compensation structure at any time.

#LI-VB1

Team Player - Works well as a member of a group
Leader - Inspires teammates to follow them
Functional Expert - Considered a thought leader on a subject
Enthusiastic - Shows intense and eager enjoyment and interest
Dedicated - Devoted to a task or purpose with loyalty or integrity

Self-Starter - Inspired to perform without outside help
Ability to Make an Impact - Inspired to perform well by the ability to contribute to the success of a project or the organization