Client Lead (Senior Director)

About Purple Strategies

Purple Strategies is a corporate reputation and strategy firm that combines the creativity and discipline of brand communications with the speed and strategy of political campaigns to help leverage or reduce pressure on a business, brand or issue. We help build and defend reputation and brand value and serve Fortune 500 companies, associations, nonprofits and some of the most recognizable brands in the world. 

Purple helps the world’s most important organizations address their toughest challenges. We operate in a highly collaborative environment and apply integrated, team-based approaches to help clients: 

• ANTICIPATE reputation challenges and opportunities; 
• COMPEL change through business actions and transformation; and 
• NAVIGATE reputation issues, acute crises, key business choices and policy/regulatory changes to inform decision-making. 

About The Position

This is a full-time position in Purple Strategies’ Alexandria, VA or Chicago, IL office. As a member of the team, the Senior Director works to make Purple indispensable to its clients by bringing our expertise to bear in big ideas and creative thinking while making the best decisions between better choices. The Senior Director provides executive-level strategic oversight across major client portfolios. They lead complex initiatives, ensuring high-quality outcomes and sustained client satisfaction. This is a leadership role that is responsible for owning senior client relationships, cultivating trust between our clients and Purple, and building high-functioning Purple client teams. The Senior Director collaborates closely with team members across research, creative, strategy, and paid media to ensure the flawless, on-time and high impact delivery of campaign components. The Senior Director serves as an internal leader and excels at balancing driving strategic engagement with managing day-to-day deliverables. 

The ideal candidate thrives on challenges, actively seeks and applies feedback, and approaches their work with diligence, intellectual curiosity, and a deep commitment to excellence, even when it means stepping outside their comfort zone, to deliver top-quality results. 

In This Position, You Will

• Provide executive oversight on strategic communications and stakeholder engagement programs. 

• Lead and develop comprehensive strategies addressing complex, multi-dimensional client challenges. 

• Cultivate deep client relationships at the executive level, ensuring sustained trust and collaboration, and creating opportunity for organic growth. 

• Provides strategic oversight and directly contributes to the conceptualization and production of high-impact proposals that clearly communicate complex strategies and innovative campaign approaches.  

• Guides and reviews strategy decks, ensuring that insights, research, and tactical recommendations are effectively synthesized and communicated to senior client audiences.  

• Sets standards and benchmarks and establishes what success looks like for Purple and the client in the development of compelling digital content, ranging from site content and social campaigns to sophisticated advocacy calls to action and video assets.  

• Oversees the development of strategic executive communications, including sophisticated talking points, thought leadership materials, op-eds, and speeches, tailored to the voice and strategic priorities of senior-level clients and organizational leadership.  

• Drives consistency, creativity, and strategic precision across a wide array of deliverables, elevating the quality and effectiveness of internal and external strategic communications outputs. 

• Mentor and develop colleagues and team members, promoting strategic vision and leadership capabilities while supporting firm leadership in attracting, developing and retaining top talent. 

• Identify and capitalize on opportunities for firm growth with existing and new clients. 

• Serve as key contributor to organizational strategy and internal thought leadership (marketing), as well as business development. 

Qualifications and Experience You Need To Be Successful In This Role

• Advanced degree preferred, with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree required. 

• 15+ years of senior experience in consulting, public affairs, or communications. 

• Experience in political campaigns or state/federal government, strongly preferred. 

• Proven leadership of complex, high-stakes strategic engagements. 

• Exceptional client management, strategic thinking, and leadership abilities. 

• Demonstrated success in managing and leading high performing teams that are innovative, collaborative and strive for continuous improvement. 

• Exceptional creative thinker who embraces big ideas and has a particular aptitude in distinguishing root challenges from symptoms and in synthesizing a wide variety of information. 

• Familiarity with all aspects of integrated communications campaigns, from initiation, planning and activation, to measurement and reporting. 

Work Location  

This is a full-time position based in either our Alexandria, VA headquarters or our Chicago office. Purple Strategies offers a hybrid model and seeks employees who are comfortable working in the office three days a week. 

How To Apply

Please submit your resume and cover letter online at purplestrategies.com/join-our-team/   

Purple is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, age, or other legally protected characteristics.