Director, Political Special Projects (Fixed Term)

Position description

Bryson Gillette is a Washington, D.C. and California-based, minority-owned, intentionally-diverse strategic communications and public affairs firm dedicated to serving the needs of its clients and delivering results. With expertise in strategic communications, media relations, crisis communications, and political consulting, we develop tailored strategies that shape narratives around the issues that matter to clients and address their most pressing communications needs.

We work with political candidates, progressive organizations, major companies, and nonprofits. Our partners and vendors are also leaders in their fields. We are primarily based out of Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, and are currently working in a hybrid work environment in these locations.

We are also a fun, smart, collaborative group who care about the world around us and seek to make positive change at home and across the country. We are experts without egos and creatives without control issues. Come work with us and you’ll learn a lot, make an impact, and have fun doing it.

We are an equal opportunity employer. We value a diverse workforce. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, and/or veteran status.

Who You Are

You are a smart, kind, and friendly individual who works hard and well with others. You are an exceptional communicator who produces excellent, strategic, and creative work, while also bringing a lot of heart to everything you do. People describe you as a self-starter and problem-solver, who multitasks well and thrives in a fast-paced environment. You bring a diverse perspective to every conversation, while also listening and empathizing. Above all, you want to leave a lasting, positive impact on the world around you. You’ll join an amazing campaign season cohort where you’ll be able to leverage your skills, build new ones, all while making an impact for the 2026 election cycle.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and run campaigns: We pride ourselves on providing excellent service to our clients. You will serve on different client teams, often as the client-facing point person, ensuring that long and short term goals are achieved and deadlines are met. You will manage multiple campaigns at once, overseeing scheduling, workflow, approvals, and troubleshooting to ensure that no balls are dropped. You will discover and understand the needs and goals of each type of campaign and create a tailored approach for each. To be successful, you’ll need to stay exceptionally organized and be comfortable managing up, laterally and down. You will need to manage a combination of staff, vendors, and client-side points of contact. You’ll need to be able to serve the needs of an individual client, or a client-team with many moving parts.
• Assist in the Development of Media Strategy: You will work with client teams and our media buyers to create paid advertising programs for a variety of candidates and causes. We pride ourselves on creating bespoke campaigns; we want you to be creative, responsive, and a strategic partner. You will work on all types of political and advocacy campaigns, assisting the next generation of candidates or issue leaders execute smart campaigns on-the-ground, online, and over the airwaves. You know what makes a good story and how to turn leaders into champions on critical issues, which is something you hopefully have done in a previous role. You appreciate the impact of in-person, retail politics, and understand the need for a digital equivalent in all of the engagement we do. Ideally, you have a strong understanding of political campaigns and have experience working on or managing one, whether for a candidate or an advocacy organization.
• Oversee Ad Production & Placement: It will be important for you to build relationships with clients, team members, and vendors, and to do so in a remote environment. You will own media and production timelines, coordinating shoots and post production with the Paid Media & Production Operations team to ensure timely spot delivery and quality control, and platform-ready assets. Building rapport in the virtual and the real world is crucial. Upholding a strict level of confidentiality, while establishing and maintaining trusting and warm relationships both internally and externally is key.
• Oversee Reporting & Analysis: The person in this role will be responsible for ensuring campaigns and candidates have full visibility into every dollar of their media investment. This will include compiling reports and maintaining dashboards that deliver data-driven insights into the performance of our advertising campaign—tracking key metrics such as impressions, video completion rates, engagement, and geographic reach. You will work with the client team and vendors to understand what messages and content are working, what other advertising spending is happening, and adjust media strategy accordingly.
• Be a team player and grow: We are currently a mid-sized team but are continually growing. We have an all-hands-on-deck approach in a remote working environment. To be successful in this role, you should be responsive to emails, texts, and calls from clients, team members, and vendors, and be willing to work some nights and weekends as campaigns near critical deadlines.

What Skills and Experiences You’ll Bring

• At least 5-10 years of work experience in political campaigns, communications and/or political consulting firms or in government
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills; an ability to communicate complex information succinctly.
• Self-starter, ability to prioritize, multi-task and meet changing deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Excellent attention to detail and organized; comfortable managing multiple projects simultaneously
• Strong client service instincts; able to manage up, anticipate needs, and communicate clearly under pressure.
• Sound political judgment and strong interest in the news, politics, and campaign strategy.
• Strong team player with the ability to work effectively with diverse senior management, clients and colleague
• A growth mindset

What Would Be Great to Bring

• 4+ years of political campaign experience (campaign, IE, advocacy, or consulting), including direct experience with paid media.
• Familiarity with ad production processes (shoots, post-production workflow) is a plus.
• Experience working with high-level clients or individuals, including briefing, media prep, and staffing
• Experience working in a political or advocacy capacity in several states
• Experience working on issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and/or social or racial justice advocacy
• Experience as a digital staffer for a campaign or organization a plus
• Experience interacting with media vendors as a campaign manager, committee staffer, or organization staffer a plus
• Spanish speaker and writer and/or experience with multicultural media outlets
• Good sense of humor
• Located in the D.C. area, Los Angeles, or New York preferred; other locations for the right person

Compensation & Benefits

• This position is for a fixed term, through November 13, 2026, with the possibility of extending based on strong performance and needed capacity.
• The salary range for this position is an annual salary of $90,000 – $120,000. For clarity, this is the starting range for the position.
• Bryson provides insurance coverage for employees and their dependents, which includes fully paid monthly premiums for PPO health plan, dental, and vision coverage.
• Flexible Time-Off policy

Application instructions

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