Job Description

The Washington Post is searching for its next Chief Communications Officer (CCO), serving as a strategic advisor to the CEO and playing a prominent role on our senior executive team with broad responsibility over corporate communications, public relations, live events, and brand marketing.

Motivation

First and foremost, you possess sterling integrity and personify the highest values of The Post: truth, accuracy, quality, speed, and continuous experimentation and innovation. You have courage and the capacity to speak candidly and truthfully, even under pressure. You embody a deep commitment for building, managing, and protecting a mission-driven company's reputation. With a career path of progressively responsible positions in corporate communications, you enjoy switching between the big picture and granular details. Your energy level is high, enabling you to support, promote, and protect a fast-paced, growing, and 24/7 newsroom. You comport yourself with diplomacy, having an ability to interact with constituents inside and outside the organization of diverse backgrounds and points of view: from employees to reporters to business and government leaders to celebrities. You have an aptitude for building diverse and inclusive teams where people can do their best work. You appreciate the importance of discretion and confidentiality, and build relationships based on trust. You enjoy writing and editing, and can do so under pressure with speed and urgency. You thrive in a changing, fast-paced, high performing, and world-class organization.

Structure

The CCO role reports to the Publisher & CEO and is part of the senior executive team that leads The Washington Post in long-term strategy, planning, investment, growth, change, culture, policy, and innovation. As a trusted advisor to and member of this team, the successful candidate must build solid relationships and work effectively with leaders across the company, including news, editorial, engineering, client solutions, subscriptions, finance, legal, HR, analytics, production, circulation, and security, helping the C-suite in problem-solving and designing communication plans that directly support The Post's ongoing transformation and growth.

Requirements

• An undergraduate degree in a relevant field or higher.
• Outstanding communication, public speaking, advocacy, and writing and editing skills.
• Ability to listen carefully, connect ideas across myriad functions and stakeholders, and quickly distill complex concepts into interesting and digestible pieces.
• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in relevant positions; experience managing a mission-driven company brand is strongly preferred.
• Manage and protect The Washington Post's brand and reputation, providing leadership on how the company is positioned with all audiences, both internal and external; work closely with the CEO, the Executive Editor, and the General Counsel in these essential tasks.
• Play a central and leadership role in orchestrating media relations, executive communications, issue and crisis management, and internal communications.
• Develop relationships across our 1,000+ person newsroom and opinion/editorial functions, enabling the public relations team to effectively promote these critical areas across multiple media channels, including radio, TV, podcasts, and online.
• Lead the public relations teams, advising on industry stories and continuously promoting the company, its journalism, its talent, and its innovation.
• Lead our community relations and corporate social responsibility efforts, including The Washington Post Press Freedom Partnership, which has become a powerful platform to spotlight and advocate for journalists around the world who are under threat, have been detained, or worse.
• Lead WP Live, our dynamic and growing live events team, setting the strategic roadmap for editorial content, revenue and sponsorship opportunities, and operational effectiveness; work to grow the audience and prestige of WP Live across multiple platforms, including in-person events, live streaming, and podcasts.
• Lead the brand marketing team, acting as a brand caretaker for The Washington Post and providing innovative design work for the subscriptions team.
• Manage The Post's intellectual property strategy across television, film, and other channels.

Location

This role is based in The Washington Post's headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C. If the successful candidate is not already based in the D.C. region, relocation will be necessary. This role is based in the office five days per week.

About The Washington Post

When you join The Post, you are joining a mission to connect, inform, and enlighten those around the globe with the highest caliber, most trustworthy news and information. Our multicultural, multi-generational workforce is constantly creating and innovating, leading the media and technology industries to better solutions. We welcome all perspectives and celebrate diverse backgrounds. Whether you contribute to journalism, engineering, finance, or marketing, you are helping define the future of news. We continue to shine a light into the darkness and hope you will join us.

The Post strives to provide its readers with high-quality, trustworthy news and information while constantly innovating. That mission is best served by a diverse, multi-generational workforce with varied life experiences and perspectives. All cultures and backgrounds are welcomed.

The innovation doesn't end in the Newsroom - dozens of teams power The Washington Post. We are now hiring the next innovator - how will you Impact Tomorrow?

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