Managing Director

Overview

Penta Group is a global company providing data-driven solutions to help clients achieve their objectives in an increasingly complex stakeholder environment. We provide cutting-edge intelligence products to help clients understand what their stakeholders think, see, and hear, and then leverage that intelligence to develop and execute effective, measurable strategies.

Our global team brings decades of experience in business, government, communications, research, data science, and media. Our clients include companies across a variety of industries, including technology, financial services, energy, healthcare, and more. Penta has offices in New York, London, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Dublin, London, Brussels, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Penta is seeking a Managing Director to join our Washington D.C. office. Managing directors are senior leaders who set strategy, drive innovation, and set the bar for exceptional client service across multiple teams. The ideal candidate is a solutions-oriented professional with 15+ years of public affairs, crisis communications, or campaign management experience with a demonstrated track record of leadership, problem-solving, principal and team management, intellectual curiosity, and emotional intelligence.

Successful Managing Directors on our team understand the evolving media landscape and the changing nature of our industry and lead clients through it with confidence.

• Client Retention & Project Success: Oversee existing client work and overall project success by developing a strong, trusted relationship with client leads. The managing director is expected to maintain project profitability and integrate cross-functional teams and services where applicable.
• Client Strategy: Lead development and articulation of strategy for each client and/or project, taking client issues from problem to solution to strategy. Provide clients with confidence and structured responses to their needs as they develop.
• Team Management: Set and hold a high bar for execution and client deliverables, establishing standards, systems, and processes that ensure seamless communication and high-quality outputs. Train and provide real-time constructive feedback to teams, with a particular focus on developing directors into strong project managers. Manage upward to partners, informing them of challenges and opportunities with teams and clients.
• Public Affairs Expertise: Oversee team execution of bespoke public affairs strategies for clients that may include stakeholder mapping and engagement, media relations, event planning, message development, collateral development, and more. Maintain relationships with key reporters, producers, think tanks, academics, etc.
• Firm Leadership: Develop strong strategic relationships internally and externally. Internally, this means surfacing internal challenges related to staffing, execution, culture, and training and proposing solutions that align with Penta's culture of ownership, empathy, and innovation. Externally, this means building and maintaining strong outside relationships.

• A Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, Political Science/Government, Business, Journalism, Public Policy, or a related field
• 15+ years of professional experience in communications or policy roles in a related field: political campaign, Hill, Administration, consultancy, nonprofit or corporate enterprise; experience working in a client service environment preferred
• 10+ years leading, mentoring, and motivating multiple talented, high-achieving teams at once, empowering different types of personalities with a team-first mentality
• Significant experience in crisis or issues management, media relations, and public affairs campaigns
• Demonstrated expertise in principal or client management, adept at building long-standing relationships with executive level stakeholders
• Comfort in leading internal and external stakeholders through collaborative problem solving in high pressure environments amidst ambiguity
• Expertise and interest in a relevant policy field (ideally technology, financial services, transportation, food/agriculture, healthcare…