Employment Opportunities

Burness is currently hiring:

Senior Associate/Vice President

Join a dynamic and creative team of communications professionals committed to achieving social change in global development. Work on issues as diverse as the quest for a malaria vaccine, saving the world’s crop diversity, livestock production in Africa, and illegal logging. 

We are seeking an energetic, efficient, positive team player who can juggle multiple projects, go deep on substantive issues quickly, and develop and implement strong communications strategies for global nonprofits. The successful candidate will be responsible for managing and servicing global development clients around activities such as overall strategy development, and implementation of press events, media promotions, and digital media.

Experience and Characteristics Required:

  • 5 to 10 years of related work experience in communications with nonprofit organizations or in communications in global development;
  • Excellent interpersonal skills: collegial, energetic; able to develop productive relationships with clients, colleagues, and vendors;
  • Having a “nose for news”—being able to identify and develop news and feature stories out of client research and programs;
  • Ability to work in a highly-collaborative team environment across multiple time zones;
  • Ability to travel as required;
  • Demonstrated ability to generate media coverage and existing relationships with journalists in the United States, Europe and in developing country regions;
  • Excellent persuasive writing and editing skills. Experience writing for websites, blogs and/or other interactive media—samples required. Ability to synthesize and translate complicated material into clear and simple language;
  • Ability to become rapidly familiar with a wide range of substantive issues and subject areas in order to communicate effectively about them;
  • Personally motivated to support the company’s mission and goals;
  • Creative and flexible: able to handle last-minute assignments, juggle multiple priorities, and be tolerant of ambiguity and differences in approaches;
  • Able to work independently and in teams, able to inspire others to work toward achieving team goals;
  • Able to think imaginatively about opportunities in communications;
  • Strong presentation skills in small group meetings, in conference calls, in media trainings, and in more formal presentations.li>

Some specific activities outlined below (not exhaustive):

  • Client and project management from strategy to implementation across key subject areas that include global health, global agriculture, and forestry and climate change.
  • Design and implementation of effective communications strategies that achieve impact and results within a budget for nonprofit clients.
  • Writing press releases, pitches, fact sheets, talking points, media advisories, brochures, PowerPoints, blogs, and other written products. Also, editing freelance writer materials to ensure they carry news and are of high quality.
  • Management of support staff to deliver strong successes for our clients.
  • Pitching stories to media through personal email and phone calls. Creating and maintaining solid relationships with key press contacts covering key issues of concern to our clients.
  • Tracking client issue area space, web sites, and other electronic media and proactively implementing strategies that link to news.
  • Securing placements for guest blogs, op-eds and letters-to-the-editor internationally.

Burness Communications is an equal opportunity employer and offers excellent benefits, competitive salary, and a collegial work environment.

Send resumes to Katy Lenard at klenard@burnesscommunications.com. 

 

 

Strategist for BurnessDigital

BurnessDigital, the digital media division of Burness Communications, seeks a creative digital specialist to join our growing team.   As a Strategist for BurnessDigital, you will be charged with creating innovative digital strategies to advance the social change efforts of mission-driven foundations, think tanks, researchers, policy experts, and nonprofit groups worldwide.

THE JOB:

Lead digital projects for our nonprofit partners, including:     

  • Developing creative social media presences and campaigns.
  • Leading the design and development of websites, microsites, blogs, email newsletters and more.
  • Connecting regularly with journalists and bloggers via email, phone, and social media.
  •  Producing audio, video, and written content that is clear, concise and persuasive.
  •  Training and advising partners to be successful online advocates.

Strengthen the digital skills of the Burness team and expand our digital toolbox, including:

  • Advising and training staff on social media tools and strategies.
  • Working with BurnessDigital team to manage Burness’ own online social media presences and website.
  • Exploring new technologies and approaches to expand our capabilities.

EXPERIENCE:

Possess digital skills and experience, including:

  • 4 or more years of work experience in digital strategy, communications, or public relations.
  • Advanced understanding of the social media landscape and experience with developing strategies for all major social networks (Twitter, Facebook, others).
  • Familiarity with web design/development process and advanced understanding of major CMS and blogging tools such as Drupal and Wordpress.
  • Fluency with HTML/CSS, Adobe CS suite, Google Analytics, mobile apps/web apps, and consumer-level web and social media analytics tools.  Advanced knowledge of social media monitoring tools (Radian6, ViralHeat, etc.), programming languages, scripting languages, and database tools (such as JavaScript, PHP, ASP, SQL, Python) is a plus.
  • Videography and editing (Final Cut Pro a plus) experience.

SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES ARE:

  • Capable of juggling multiple projects simultaneously while maintaining attention to detail and a sense of humor.
  • Organized with excellent interpersonal skills.
  • Passionate about addressing critical issues in health, science, and public policy alongside leading non-profits in the US and abroad.
  • Dedicated to creating social change and impact through innovative online action.

BurnessDigital is the digital division of Burness Communications, a mission-driven firm advancing social change for nonprofits worldwide.  Burness offers excellent benefits, competitive salary and a friendly, collegial working environment.  Candidates should send a resume and cover letter to Marianna Sachse at digital@burnesscommunications.com.

 

Public Policy Professional

Bethesda-based, progressive public relations firm working exclusively with non-profit organizations and foundations seeks professional for public policy team.

The primary focus of work will be childhood obesity and public health. The successful candidate would: manage independent policy projects and client relationships; translate research into one-pagers, fact sheets and other materials relevant to policymakers and make recommendations regarding strategic dissemination of such products; work collaboratively as part of a team on both large and small-scale projects; and, make regular contact with Congress, federal agencies and other policy organizations.

Excellent writing, presentation and research skills are a must. Candidates should have a minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience, and solid understanding of public health issues. Capitol Hill experience required (health legislative assistant or press secretary preferred) and experience working for state legislature or city council is a plus.

Please e-mail cover letter (including salary requirements), resume, and a writing sample to jobs@burnesscommunications.com with a subject line of: Public Policy Professional. No phone calls please.

 

Health Policy Communications Coordinator

Burness Communications, a public relations firm committed to advancing social change worldwide, is seeking an enthusiastic self starter with excellent organization and research skills to join its health policy team. The ideal candidate is a recent college graduate with intern experience or one year of professional experience in public relations (or related communications activities) and a strong interest in public relations, journalism and health policy issues. Strong interpersonal skills and knowledge of social media are important for the position, as is an interest in health-related topics. Knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, FinalCut, Constant Contact, and basic HTML code is a plus.

The communications coordinator would work as part of a team, assisting mid-level and senior staff, and would perform a variety of tasks, including but not limited to: creating media lists, conducting online research on a variety of health policy topics, tracking news coverage, handling logistics for major media and stakeholder events, pitching to reporters, conducting social media outreach, and drafting needed materials.

The successful candidate would have the opportunity to work with well-known foundations, think tanks, health policy researchers, and nonprofit groups – all with an interest in improving health or health care delivery. Topic areas might range from promoting health programs aimed at children or building visibility for health care quality to raising awareness of health disparities or expanding access to dental care.

Burness Communications offers a competitive salary and benefits package. Send resume and cover letter to jobs@burnesscommunications.com.