Associate
Washington, DC | Full-time | Hybrid In-Person
Beam Strategy Group, a boutique strategy and advisory firm, is building a small, high-caliber team and seeks an Associate to help drive client work across a broad and evolving portfolio.
Our work spans corporate communications, public affairs, management and strategy consulting, political and campaign strategy, and executive advisory.
This is a role for a self-starter with sharp, discerning judgment who is ready to support the work we do for clients and grow. On this team everyone does the work directly – Associates and Senior Directors alike. This is a firm where collaboration and teamwork are key in order to be most effective in addressing client work.
The work sits at the intersection of business, reputation, policy, culture, and influence, because that is where the most consequential decisions are tested. We help leaders find clarity in complexity, see around corners, and turn bold ideas into action, and we believe the best advisors are close enough to understand and independent enough to challenge.
This is a hybrid in-person role based in the Washington, DC area. Client assignments are directed by firm leadership, so comfort moving across industries, issues, and client types is essential. The position requires periodic travel to support client engagements and events.
Capabilities
Associates work across the firm's full range of capabilities, contributing to and executing the right mix for each client and deepening expertise over time. We are looking for someone with exposure across these areas and real strength in one or two:
- Strategic communications: shaping message, narrative, and positioning, and building the plans that carry them.
- Advocacy: advancing client goals with policymakers, regulators, and other decisionmakers.
- Stakeholder engagement: mapping, building, and managing relationships with the audiences that shape an outcome.
- Community engagement: reaching and mobilizing local and grassroots audiences authentically.
- Executive counsel: supporting the advice given to senior leaders on their highest-stakes decisions.
Strength in one or two of these, with a genuine appetite to grow across the rest, is a strong profile at this level.
The best candidates can see the bigger picture and understand how to devise a plan to address client needs through collaborative work, which focuses on executing quickly and with precision to achieve the desired outcomes.
Responsibilities
Execution and Delivery
- Build and send daily media clips, monitor coverage of our clients, their competitors, and the issues that matter to them.
- Conduct research that informs strategy and keeps the team ahead of industry, political, and media trends, turning what you find into clear, usable summaries.
- Take notes on client and internal meetings, and circulate recaps and action items so nothing falls through the cracks.
- Coordinate and draft agendas for client and internal meetings, and coordinate logistics for meetings and events.
- Support workstreams and deliverables from kick-off to delivery, drafting first versions of client-ready work (op-eds, press releases, talking points, media pitches, one-pagers, and more) for senior review.
- Help identify relevant media and support pitches, and track KPIs so clients can see the return on their investment.
- Bring discerning judgment to the details, knowing what matters most and where to focus first.
- Keep engagements organized and on track, managing timelines, inputs, and follow-through
Client Engagement
- Support day-to-day client relationships and communication under the guidance of senior team members, and turn client feedback into action, moving the work forward with the team.
- Communicate clearly and professionally with clients, capturing needs accurately and closing the loop reliably.
- Build genuine trust with clients through responsiveness, follow-through, and consistently strong work.
Cross-Portfolio Delivery
- Take on client engagements as assigned across the full range of the firm's work, bringing the same rigor and care regardless of sector or client.
- Adapt quickly to new subject matter, ramping up on unfamiliar issues and industries with limited runway.
- Support multiple engagements at once, prioritizing well and keeping every client feeling like the priority.
Building and Growing
- Be all-in on launching the firm, contributing to the systems, processes, and standards that are still being put in place.
- Operate within, and help strengthen, the structure the firm is establishing while bringing an entrepreneurial, solutions-first mindset.
- Take on more ownership and responsibility over time as the firm grows.
Experience & Qualifications
- Up to 2 years of experience in strategy, consulting, public affairs, communications, political or campaign work, corporate advisory, or a closely related field.
- A track record as a strong executor with sharp organizational instincts, who meets deadlines, communicates proactively, and doesn't let things slip.
- Knows how to keep work moving, ideally in fast-moving or resource-constrained environments.
- Some experience in client-facing or stakeholder-facing settings, or clear readiness to step into one with support.
- Strong writing and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce polished, clear, and compelling work across formats.
- Comfort supporting multiple priorities and delivering to deadline.
- Comfort operating with ambiguity and helping build structure where little exists.
Required Competencies
- Strong execution paired with sharp, discerning judgment about what matters and where to focus.
- Solid project management skills, with the ability to keep several workstreams organized without dropping details.
- Versatility across issues, industries, and client types.
- Clear, effective writing and the ability to synthesize information quickly.
- Sound judgment and discretion, particularly on sensitive or confidential engagements.
Personal Attributes
- Self-starter and scrappy, energized by building something rather than inheriting it.
- A self-starter who takes ownership and moves, comfortable running with priorities and working with the team without waiting to be told how.
- Happy to roll up their sleeves for any client and any task, with no job too small.
- Coachable and eager to grow, taking direction and feedback from senior leadership well.
- Collaborative and genuinely invested in the team's success.
What We Offer
- Compensation: $50,000 – 60,000 per year, commensurate with experience, with bonus eligibility to be confirmed.
- Comprehensive benefits package, including health, dental, and vision insurance.
- 401(k) with company matching.
- Wellness stipend.
- The opportunity to help build a firm from its early days, working shoulder-to-shoulder with senior leadership, with real room to grow.
BSG is committed to attracting and hiring a diverse staff, one that honors employees' experience, perspectives, and unique identity. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.