Director | Echo Communications Advisors

Overview

Echo Communications Advisors is looking for a Director who will serve as the main day-to-day point of contact for a portfolio of clients — someone who knows the energy and climate policy world, who can craft a smart strategy and turn it into results.

The Director will lead day-to-day account work, drive earned media placements, mentor junior staff, and support new business efforts.

This is a senior, hands-on role at a small, growing firm. Directors at Echo craft creative strategies to help clients achieve their most important goals, then lead the execution of those strategies. They don’t just take direction: they provide strategic counsel, help clients see around corners, and anticipate needs before they’ve been articulated. The right candidate can set the plan and also write the pitch, the op-ed, and the briefing memo themselves.

We’re looking for someone who knows how to place a story, not just send a pitch, and who understands what resonates with members of Congress, state lawmakers, regulators, and investors. Experience on Capitol Hill, on campaigns, at a public affairs firm, at an advocacy organization or in journalism is preferred — but no specific path is a requirement for the right person.

While the Director’s priority will be delivering for clients, the right person will be interested in helping the firm continue to grow through developing new business and finding opportunities to expand our service offerings. This position reports to the Senior Vice President and is based in Washington, D.C.

About Echo Communications Advisors

Echo Communications Advisors is a specialized firm dedicated exclusively to clean energy, climate, and conservation. By focusing entirely on these sectors, we eliminate ramp-up time with new clients and accelerate policy, regulatory, and funding results for them.

Operating in Washington, D.C., and state capitals nationwide, we deliver targeted strategies for persuading federal and state decision-makers. Led by veterans of U.S. Senate leadership, major political campaigns, national newsrooms, and multi-state coalitions, Echo turns sharp political insight into actionable communications campaigns. We partner with clean energy companies, advocacy groups, coalitions, foundations, trade associations, think tanks, and prominent leaders to shape policy and drive measurable impact.

For more information, visit echocomms.com.

Key Responsibilities

Account Leadership
Serve as the main day-to-day point of contact for a portfolio of client accounts, owning the strategy, results, and relationship for each. Build communications plans with clear goals, run client meetings, turn decisions into action items, and report progress to clients.

Client Counsel
Provide strategic counsel and guidance to client leadership, working independently to anticipate and meet their needs. Help clients see around corners on policy and news developments, and lead crisis communications and rapid response when the moment demands it.

Earned Media & Press Relations
Maintain and leverage relationships with top-tier reporters, editors, and producers across national, D.C., and trade press. Shepherd complex stories from pitch to publication, ensuring clients’ viewpoints are represented and their voices are heard. Prepare client spokespeople with briefing memos, message training, and practice ahead of interviews.

Writing & Editing
Draft pitches, press releases, op-eds, statements, and briefing memos quickly, and sharpen the work of the junior team so that everything that lands in a client’s inbox meets the highest standard of quality. Translate technical energy policy into language that reaches reporters, policymakers, and the public.

Digital & Content Strategy
Oversee content across accounts, including newsletters, LinkedIn thought leadership, and paid social, ensuring consistent voice and strategic relevance. Identify opportunities to elevate client profiles through owned channels alongside earned media.

Media & Policy Monitoring
Keep a finger on the pulse of the media and the policy landscape — tracking new hires, reporter moves, trends in coverage, and emerging issues — and use that insight to counsel clients and pivot strategies in real time.

Business Development
Identify opportunities for new business and for expanding existing engagements, and assist leadership in drafting proposals, scoping work, and participating in pitches. Represent Echo at conferences and industry events and help build the firm’s network in clean energy.

Technology & Efficiency
Embrace and help integrate AI tools and other emerging technologies to work smarter and deliver more value to clients. Be a model for the team in identifying where new tools can sharpen output or save time.

Qualifications

Experience

• Six to eight years of communications experience, with a proven track record of leadership in high-pressure environments like Capitol Hill, political campaigns, public affairs firms, major advocacy organizations, or news outlets.
• Demonstrated success leading client accounts or campaigns and serving as a trusted advisor to senior executives or political leaders.
• Experience managing or mentoring junior staff.

Energy & Policy Knowledge

• Keen grasp of the clean energy, climate and conservation issues at center stage on Capitol Hill and in the states.
• Understanding of how federal and state energy policy is made, and of what resonates with members of Congress, state lawmakers, regulators, and investors.
• Ability to master technical policy subjects quickly and translate them into accessible, compelling narratives.

Communications Skills

• Strong writer and stronger editor — crisp, persuasive, and fast across formats, with strong attention to detail.
• Proven ability to place stories, staff interviews, and shape coverage so that it reflects a client’s point of view.
• Experience managing crisis communications and rapid response.
• Highly organized, with the ability to manage multiple assignments at once and prioritize to meet deadlines.
• Experience with beehiiv and newsletters, paid social and digital campaigns, especially on LinkedIn, is a plus.

Media Relationships

• Strong relationships with top-tier national and trade reporters, with examples of coverage you’ve earned.
• An understanding of the news business and a proven ability to cultivate new media relationships.
• Connections within the clean energy and climate advocacy communities are a plus.

Character

• High integrity, good judgment, and a commitment to confidentiality and discretion.
• Team player who enjoys collaborating but is also self-motivated and can work independently.
• Calm under pressure and comfortable with the pace and ambiguity of a small, growing firm.

Travel
Occasional travel for client work and events, and periodic night and weekend work, as needed.

Location
Echo Communications Advisors is based in Washington, D.C. Our team works in our downtown office four days a week, with some flexibility for remote work as circumstances arise.

Salary and Benefits

The base salary range for this position is $100,000–$130,000, not including significant new business bonus opportunities. Echo Communications Advisors offers a generous benefits package including: more than 30 days of paid time off (vacation, sick, personal, and federal holidays); 100% employer-paid health insurance; dental and vision insurance; a retirement plan with employer matching; professional development support; parental leave; and new business bonuses.

How to Apply

Please submit a resume and cover letter to jobs@echocomms.com. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Echo Communications Advisors is an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage and seek applications from women, people of color, including bilingual and bicultural individuals, as well as members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. Applicants shall not be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, color, marital status, or medical condition.