Assistant Director, Corporate Communications Strategy

American Chemical Society has an exciting opportunity for a visionary people leader to establish and evolve a modern, proactive, and collaborative corporate communications function. This is a critical opportunity to shape how we connect, engage, and inspire our internal teams and how we protect our reputation in moments of risk. As we prepare for a rebrand in 2026, the Assistant Director will lead the strategy for internal communications, crisis response, and employer branding, positioning ACS as a top employer and amplifying our role as one of the world's leading scientific organizations.

We are looking for a senior strategist with exceptional leadership and storytelling abilities, someone who can assess the current landscape, align cross-functional teams, and build a corporate communications ecosystem that unites a global, distributed organization. This role requires poise, passion, and a proven ability to define and execute strategy. This role requires excellent written and verbal communication skills and comfort with juggling multiple projects and urgent deadlines. The ideal candidate will be a skilled storyteller who is accustomed to handling confidential information and has the ability to adjust communications to the audience and occasion, whether that's a presentation to the Board of Directors, a meeting of our global partners, or a staff gathering.

Here's what you'll be doing:

• Develop and lead an integrated internal communications strategy that drives connection, transparency, and alignment across ACS.
• Collaborate on the strategy and execution of our employer brand, ensuring it reflects our values and elevates ACS as a place where top talent wants to work and stay.
• Lead crisis communications planning and response, developing protocols, messaging, and playbooks to mitigate risk and maintain trust.
• Serve as a strategic and trusted advisor to the Director of Communications, executive leadership, and cross-divisional teams.
• Supervise and grow a high-performing team responsible for day-to-day internal messaging and communication planning.
• Cultivate strong relationships across HR, IT, Finance, Legal, and other divisions to align messaging and foster a cohesive employee experience.
• Advance our use of tools and channels including intranet, email, virtual town halls, webinars, and hybrid events to create more effective and engaging touchpoints.

Required Skills and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in communications, marketing, or related field.
• 8+ years of working as a people or program manager with 4+ years of supervising people is required.
• Experience with navigating privacy and compliance conversations with organizational and expert stakeholders.
• Comfort working in a busy environment, effectively prioritizing responsibilities, and meeting urgent deadlines.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and carry out strategic initiatives from ideation to implementation.
• A self-starter who builds and maintains effective relationships with stakeholders across the organization to align communications and accomplish goals.
• Comfortable interacting with diverse audiences in varied settings, from staff in casual gatherings to meetings with global staff to formal presentations to executive leadership.

• Ability to analyze data and trends to inform communication strategies.
• Strong project management skills to oversee multiple initiatives simultaneously.
• Demonstrated ability to develop effective communications strategies and implement plans, including crisis communications.
• Proven ability to engage staff and encourage their development.
• Strong decision-making and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Familiarity with and knowledge of current media and comms ecosystems.
• Ability to learn enterprise-wide software platforms and apps used for routine work. These include Microsoft Office, Teams, Asana, and internal comms/intranet platforms.

Team Player - Works well as a member of a group
Leader - Inspires teammates to follow them
Functional Expert - Considered a thought leader on a subject
Enthusiastic - Shows intense and eager enjoyment and interest
Dedicated - Devoted to a task or purpose with loyalty or integrity

Self-Starter - Inspired to perform without outside help
Ability to Make an Impact - Inspired to perform well by the ability to contribute to the success of a project or the organization