The Role: Account Director, Client Handler, Chicago  

Brunswick Group is seeking an Account Director to join our Chicago office. Account Directors are able to leverage their own specialized skills and backgrounds while operating in Brunswick’s generalist environment. 

About Brunswick 

Brunswick is a strategic advisory firm focused on critical issues. Our purpose is to help the great value-creating organizations of the world play a more successful role in society. 

We advise on critical issues at the center of business, politics and society, and help our clients – the leaders of large, complex organizations – understand and navigate these interconnected worlds. 

Brunswick is one firm globally, operating as a single profit center. This allows us to respond seamlessly and effectively to clients’ needs wherever they are in the world. 

The Americas  

In the U.S., we have offices in Chicago, Dallas, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. In Brazil, we have an office in Sao Paulo. We advise clients on, among other things, domestic and cross border M&A, IPOs, activism, capital markets and investor relations, public and regulatory affairs, geopolitical issues, litigation, crisis, cyber, employee engagement, digital, opinion research and on broader reputation campaigns.  

Colleagues in the U.S. are drawn from a variety of backgrounds and consist of in-depth industry and sector experts from banking, law, accounting, politics, government, journalism and the media, consulting and elsewhere. Our U.S. CEO is Nik Deogun.  

The Chicago Office  

Chicago is home to some of the world’s most iconic and well-respected companies, many of whom play a leading role on the global stage. We recognize the vibrancy of the Midwestern business community and leverage our strong network – both in the US and internationally – to help our clients better navigate the ever-evolving corporate, civic, and political landscape. 

Our team contains wide-ranging expertise, with a particular focus on supporting clients during periods of significant change, risk, and public scrutiny. This includes domestic and cross-border M&A, IPOs, and other capital markets transactions as well as broader corporate reputation campaigns and leadership communications around critical issues including crisis, litigation and activism defense. The Chicago office also serves as the global hub for Brunswick’s Employee Engagement offer, which helps leadership teams to communicate more effectively with their employees on critical business issues including leadership, talent, culture, and strategy execution. 

Background 

Founded in London in 1987, Brunswick’s global partnership has grown organically to 27 offices in 18 countries. We began as a M&A and financial communications firm and, over time, expanded our capabilities and expertise to crisis communications and communications on other business critical issues. We invested in new offices, sectors and a wider variety of offers for clients such as public and regulatory affairs, major litigation, business and society, cyber, employee engagement and digital. Our in-house creative agency, Merchant Cantos, delivers creative, visual content for clients. 

We rank number 1 in the world over the last five years by global deal value and global deal volume and were named Band 1 advisors in the U.S. and the UK earlier this year by Chambers and Partners, the legal rankings service, as one of the very top communications firms offering legal and litigation support work. 

Our CEO is Neal Wolin, based in Washington, D.C. Our Chairman is Sir Alan Parker, based in London. 

Responsibilities may include but are not limited to: 

Client Contribution & Handling 

  • Has a strong working relationship with the client and has earned their trust 
    Produce high quality client account ‘essentials’ (bios, action reports, agendas, corporate snapshots, briefing notes, media reviews, translations where necessary) 
  • Develops press releases, Q&As and key message documents 
  • Manages upwards to ensure the team are fully informed and prepared for client work 
  • Contributes to brainstorms and pitch preparation (including research and drafting) 
  • Thinks on a strategic and tactical level about client issues and account development 
  • Actively feeds through market intelligence to the client 
  • Proactively contributes to the development of the account in terms of ideas, direction and content 

Contribution to the Community 

  • Draws insights and opportunities from their networks 
  • Contributes to business development initiatives (e.g. research and analysis, meetings, action items, monitoring and distributing sector news) 
  • Actively seeks out new business opportunities with existing clients and with new clients 
  • Participates in and contributes to training sessions for interns / new joiners where appropriate 

Teamwork and Collaborative Approach 

  • Acts as the ‘eyes and the ears’ of the team, always aware of team work streams/movements/ deadlines 
  • Shares ideas, knowledge and recommendations with the wider team 
  • Goes beyond the brief 
  • Earns the respect of their peers/colleagues and treats people with respect; leads by example 
  • Where relevant, takes their ‘Buddy’ role seriously and does it well 

Communication Skills – Engagement with Media and Other Audiences 

  • Has a deep understanding of the client’s media universe and the key contacts within it 
  • Has established a network of media and other stakeholder contacts within the cultural and corporate sectors 
  • Is well-informed on all relevant sector/ client newswires and key media; proactively monitoring and sharing coverage 
  • Actively seeks to establish relationships with journalists and/or other audiences Handles difficult media issues with ease 
  • Provides input into media strategy to identify new angles and selling in stories to a range of different media 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 

  • At least 5-7 years of relevant work experience; corporate communications or agency experience a plus 
  • Familiarity with the media landscape 
  • Knowledge of Factiva, Bloomberg and other research resources 
  • Excellent writing and communication skills 
  • Ability to multitask and prioritize
  • Problem-solving abilities 
  • Ability to think strategically and creatively 
  • Exhibit discretion with confidential client matters 
  • International work experience or knowledge a plus

Ideal Candidate: 

  • A communications advisor with experience counseling clients on corporate issues (e.g. crisis, M&A, financial situations, etc.) 
  • Adept at navigating and succeeding within high-performance, entrepreneurial environments 
  • Excellent communicator with professional polish and strong emotional intelligence 
  • Entrepreneurial and collaborative spirit 
  • Terrific sense of humor 

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