Campaigns Communications Director

Position Summary

The Economic Security Project (ESP) is seeking a strategic and creative Campaigns Communications Director to join our team at the forefront of the highest-visibility economic fights of 2025 and beyond. Reporting to the Vice President of Communications and External Affairs and embedded in the Campaigns Team, this role offers a unique opportunity to lead bold communications strategies that drive immediate campaign goals and long-term change at the state and national levels. We’re looking for someone who loves strategy but isn’t afraid to roll up their sleeves to get it done, balancing high-level vision with hands-on execution.

In this role, you will shape messaging that cuts through the noise, using key moments like the fight over tax policies to advance a powerful economic narrative. You’ll leverage communications strategies to achieve campaign goals while driving a broader shift in how the economy is understood—highlighting who stands with the powerful versus working families struggling with high costs. You’ll ensure ESP remains a leader in the conversation by responding rapidly to new developments, such as briefing Beltway reporters on a Child Tax Credit bill or maintaining message discipline in coalition materials. Additionally, you’ll develop tactical ideas to draw attention during quieter moments and identify opportunities to secure coverage in high-priority states to advance campaign and partner goals. You will serve as the communications voice in strategy discussions, collaborating with senior campaign staff, other organizations, and subject matter experts to craft plans that influence public opinion, drive media coverage, and respond rapidly to breaking news.

We’re seeking someone with experience driving national campaigns while maintaining strong message discipline. The ideal candidate has their finger on the pulse of public debate, identifies gaps in the conversation, and works with storytellers and partners to amplify critical themes. They embrace bold, status-quo-challenging ideas that build long-term momentum for economic dignity and freedom. Strong writing skills, a diverse range of media relationships, and the ability to integrate communications into campaign strategies are essential, as is the capacity to thrive in a fast-paced environment while fostering collaboration and innovation.

We'd love to hear from you if you’re ready to advance transformative campaigns and shape a new economic narrative.

About Us

We believe in an America where everyone has the freedom and stability required to thrive. We are strongest when people are the authors of their own lives. But the inequalities in wealth and power created by bad actors, structural racism, and outdated ideas on how the economy should work have left us all more insecure and less resilient. We can make a different set of choices.

The Economic Security Project advocates for ideas that build economic power for all Americans. We legitimize bold ideas by supporting cutting-edge research and elevating champions, win concrete policy victories for the communities that need to see change now, and provoke the conventional wisdom to shift what’s considered possible. Our team of academics, organizers, practitioners and culture makers disburse grants, run issue campaigns, develop creative interventions and research products, and convene to encourage investment and action from others.

We pick our fights based on our analysis of where strategic mobilization of people and resources could turn emerging trends into concrete policies. Our current efforts include putting cash into people’s pockets with a guaranteed income and policies like the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit; and keeping corporations out of them by checking the unprecedented concentration of economic power with antimonopoly action. We believe these fights will get us closer to a world where families can pay the heating bills and make the rent with some left over, where consumers have choices and small businesses, a fighting chance. A future where we all have a chance not to just survive, but thrive with dignity.

Our Track Record

We’ve convened thousands in briefings, workshops, and marquee events to strategize and set the agenda for a more just political economy. We passed policies in over seven states to modernize the tax code, won over $1 trillion in checks for families in response to the pandemic, and spearheaded the federal fight for a guaranteed income for kids in the form of the expanded Child Tax Credit. These cash-based policies reduced poverty in the middle of a recession, in the words of one observer, “defying gravity”.

And we’ve built the field by investing over $25 million directly into groundbreaking research; pilots and task forces; coalitions and campaigns; new initiatives and organizations; and trend-setting narrative and cultural interventions to advance racial and economic justice and reset the conversation. As a result, ideas that were once considered impossible are now at the center of a vision for an economy where people are the authors of their own lives.

We’ve worked alongside thousands across the country exercising political muscle, moral imagination, and on-the-ground experimentation. It’ll take this and so much more in the years ahead; we are in a broader fight for a multiracial democracy and an economy that works for all. Our task is to deliver and we’re looking for talent to join us in the fight.

Our Team and Culture

Our successes are due in large part to the diverse team we’ve assembled from a wide range of fields – from campaigners to policymakers to activists to academics. We’re building an organization that supports and resources our staff to drive forward work that is critical to our mission. We are committed to creating a best-in-class staff experience that promotes growth and performance, which requires a culture of active problem-solving, feedback, communication, and accountability. As a fully remote organization, ESP staff can work from anywhere in the country. We actively support and encourage people taking time away from work, including two weeks of full office closures and a six-week sabbatical at 5 years of service, in addition to our standard PTO. You can find more information on our full benefits offerings below.

Our internal work is deeply rooted in our values around diversity, equity, and inclusion, ensuring that our policies and processes are equitable and informed by a wide range of lived experiences. We invest in our people’s professional development and promote regular conversations about career goals and growth opportunities. We provide opportunities to come together in person for both strategic planning and relationship-building, and we’re always up to take a game of trivia a little too seriously.

Responsibilities

Media Strategy

• Act as the primary communications voice in strategy discussions with senior campaign staff, co-developing strategies that advance campaign, narrative, and organizational goals, ensuring alignment with the broader Communications and Digital teams.
• Lead and implement high-impact communications (earned, paid, and social) media strategies for ESP national and state campaigns.
• Collaborate with the campaigns team to align messaging with political priorities, key targets, and key states.
• Develop and advance a narrative of federal tax policies’ impact and implications for economic fairness, while supporting long-term communications strategies tied to public awareness and engagement.

Media Relations and Rapid Response

• Build and maintain relationships with political reporters, independent journalists, and media stakeholders covering key beats like economic policy, tax, CTC/EITC, and corporate power, positioning ESP as a trusted source for timely insights and stories.
• Recruit and train storytellers and spokespeople, preparing them for media interviews and public speaking opportunities (panel discussions, conferences, and funder convenings) to engage with journalists, policymakers, and the public.
• Pitch and secure media coverage for ESP spokespeople, storytellers, and key issues, while managing a diverse repository of stories, examples and facts to amplify campaign narratives.
• Drive communications and digital strategy for rapid response moments for federal and state campaigns, leveraging the current news cycle and zeitgeist moments to advance key narratives.
• Work with partners in states to amplify local messengers, storytellers and narratives at key moments in state and federal campaigns.

Editorial

• Draft core campaign materials, including talking points, message guides, and strategic memos.
• Write and edit press releases, op-eds, speeches, and media advisories that translate complex policy ideas into compelling narratives.
• Ensure consistent messaging across ESP communications, editing content for diverse audiences.

Campaign Integration, Messaging, and Polling

• Align campaign communications with political priorities in close collaboration with the Campaigns team.
• Develop integrated plans incorporating message research, polling insights, and paid media strategies.
• Monitor political and policy trends and research to position ESP’s campaigns at the forefront of economic justice conversations.
• Collaborate with the research team to identify key opposition research insights and integrate them into messaging strategies for media and storytelling efforts.

Leadership and Collaboration

• Partner with external consultants, pollsters, and lobbyists to advance key narratives
• Act as the lead communications partner in campaign coalition spaces and work with coalition partners to build relationships and coordinate communications at a movement level.
• Collaborate with ESP’s digital team to deploy messaging and create content for partners, Hill offices, and online platforms.
• Work with other close state partners to seize short-term opportunities to advance our message in states.

Experience and Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in political communications, public affairs, or campaign-related roles, with a focus on national and state-level campaigns.
• Demonstrated success in developing and executing media strategies that secure prominent placements in national and regional outlets.
• Proven experience leading rapid response communications in high-pressure, fast-paced political or advocacy environments.
• Strong relationships with journalists and media outlets covering political campaigns, economic justice, and advocacy work.

Desired Attributes/Skills

• Exceptional writing skills with the ability to produce sharp, persuasive content across multiple formats, including press releases, op-eds, and speeches.
• Experience integrating communications strategies with broader campaign goals, including paid media, polling, and message research.
• Strong knowledge of the evolving media industry and how to maximize existing media contacts/relationships to advance stories.
• Collaborative leadership style with experience working across matrixed organizations and managing relationships with multiple stakeholders.
• Fast-paced & nimble - able to handle high-pressure and complicated situations with poise
• Collaborative & proactive leadership - the ability to lead and take initiative confidently while also collaborating cross-functionally in a remote-first environment
• Creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial in landing media and digital stories in a fastly changing media environment
• Familiarity with economic justice issues, tax fairness, and cash policies is a plus.
• Technical proficiency in tools like G Suite, Slack, and MuckRack.
• A commitment to building a more just and equitable economy, along with a sense of humor and a proactive approach to solving challenges.

Work Environment

The Economic Security Project is a virtual office with staff across the country. Location in the DC area is preferred; for a candidate elsewhere, experience and relationships with Beltway media will be particularly valuable.