Strategic Communications Subject Matter Expert, Senior Principal

Description Company Description The Clearing is a management consulting firm that helps leaders solve complex challenges by turning insight into action. We specialize in diagnosing the root causes of organizational friction across people, processes, and technology, then configuring proven solutions that accelerate meaningful, measurable progress. Our approach blends analytical rigor with human-centered design. Whether we’re enabling change, optimizing workflows, or guiding smart technology adoption, everything we do is built to scale, repeat, and deliver value. We work across public, private, and mission-driven sectors, partnering with clients to modernize how they lead, work, and deliver. Our team brings deep experience across disciplines, including change management, strategic planning, organizational design, leadership development, behavioral science, and more. What unites us is a shared belief: real progress happens when we focus on what’s not working, define what’s possible, and deliver outcomes that stick. If you're excited by purpose-driven work, energized by solving problems at their roots, and passionate about building solutions that last, we’d love to meet you. Position Overview The Strategic Communications Subject Matter Expert (SME) provides cradle-to-grave strategic communications, branding, stakeholder engagement, and organizational-adoption support to a federal client’s Front Office. The SME will help the client articulate and advance its expanding mission portfolio through cohesive internal and external communications that reach government stakeholders, Congress, partners, employees, and the public. This role requires a seasoned strategic communications leader with demonstrated experience operating in complex, high-visibility, and international environments. The successful candidate will combine strategic judgment, exceptional writing and briefing skills, brand stewardship, change-adoption expertise, and an ability to shape compelling narratives around mission priorities, organizational strategy, and public value. As the client expands its mission portfolios, strategic communication will be essential to build awareness, strengthen stakeholder confidence, enable workforce alignment, and sustain support across internal and external audiences. The Strategic Communications SME will serve as a senior advisor to the Front Office, helping leadership define communications priorities, establish an integrated brand and message architecture, anticipate stakeholder needs, and execute coordinated communications activities from strategy through measurement. The role supports communications involving internal government audiences, interagency and international partners, congressional stakeholders, external organizations, media or public-facing audiences, and the broader public, as appropriate. The SME must exercise sound judgment in a sensitive environment, work effectively with senior leaders, and ensure communications remain accurate, mission-aligned, audience-specific, accessible, and consistent with applicable policy and security requirements. Key Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior strategic communications advisor to the client’s Front Office and other designated government leaders.
• Develop, refine, and implement an enterprise strategic communications strategy that supports mission expansion, organizational priorities, leadership objectives, and stakeholder engagement goals.
• Provide cradle-to-grave communications support, including discovery, strategy development, planning, message development, content production, review coordination, distribution, feedback analysis, and continuous improvement.
• Establish and maintain an integrated message architecture that clearly communicates the organization’s mission, strategic priorities, value proposition, differentiators, initiatives, and outcomes.
• Lead development and stewardship of brand strategy, including brand positioning, visual identity, message consistency, voice, tone, narrative standards, templates, communications guidance, and campaign materials.
• Create communications plans that define target audiences, objectives, key messages, communication channels, timing, responsibilities, approval pathways, risks, and measures of effectiveness.
• Develop tailored communications for internal government audiences, senior leaders, congressional stakeholders, interagency partners, international partners, external stakeholders, and public audiences.
• Advise leadership on stakeholder perception, communications opportunities, reputational risk, emerging issues, and appropriate messaging approaches.
• Prepare executive-level products, including strategic plans, communications strategies, talking points, keynote remarks, briefing books, congressional briefing materials, presentations, decision memoranda, leadership messages, articles, fact sheets, and public-facing content.
• Support communications and outreach for congressional engagement, including developing accurate, concise, mission-aligned briefing materials and stakeholder-support products, as directed by the client and consistent with applicable rules and authorities.
• Develop and execute public-facing communications campaigns that explain complex mission activities in understandable, relevant, and compelling language.
• Lead internal communications and workforce engagement efforts that build awareness, readiness, understanding, and adoption of new organizational strategies, mission priorities, mindsets, practices, and behaviors.
• Apply organizational change management principles to help employees understand the rationale for change, the expected future state, how their work is affected, and the actions needed to support implementation.
• Develop adoption-focused products and activities, such as leader toolkits, manager communications, change narratives, FAQs, training support materials, engagement campaigns, feedback mechanisms, and reinforcement strategies.
• Plan and conduct stakeholder research, message testing, communications assessments, workforce listening activities, interviews, focus groups, workshops, and feedback reviews to inform communications and change-adoption strategies.
• Work across multiple geographic regions and international environments to adapt messaging for local context, cultural considerations, stakeholder expectations, time zones, and mission requirements.
• Coordinate communications activities with government offices, program teams, public affairs personnel, legislative affairs personnel, international partners, legal and policy stakeholders, and other internal or external organizations.
• Identify communications risks, inconsistencies, information gaps, reputational concerns, and stakeholder sensitivities; recommend mitigation strategies and escalation paths.
• Establish communications performance measures and analyze stakeholder feedback, reach, engagement, message resonance, workforce adoption, and campaign outcomes to improve future activities.
• Ensure communications products meet applicable federal accessibility expectations. Section 508 requires federal agencies’ information and communication technology, including electronic content, to be accessible to people with disabilities.
• Protect classified, sensitive, pre-decisional, proprietary, and otherwise controlled information in accordance with all client, contract, and security requirements. Requirements Minimum Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, public relations, marketing, English, international relations, public affairs, business, organizational development, or a related discipline. Relevant additional experience may be considered in lieu of a degree where permitted by contract requirements.
• At least 15 years of progressively responsible professional experience in strategic communications, public affairs, organizational communications, brand strategy, stakeholder engagement, management consulting, or a c