Senior) Associate Director, Public Affairs

APCO’s Berlin office is hiring a Associate Director/Senior Associate Director to join our fast-growing public affairs team. We are looking for an ambitious, enthusiastic and talented professional to join our team based just a few minutes’ walk from The Bundestag.

You will be self-directed, proactive and motivated to win for your clients every day. You will have experience leading teams and managing work streams while also serving as senior counsel on major projects. You will have a desire to learn and grow - both across industries/sectors and communication mediums, such as traditional media, social/digital media, issues advocacy, grassroots, and stakeholder communications. You know how to work with clients and have a positive, proactive attitude that wins the confidence of clients and inspires teams.

By joining our team, you will be working with colleagues across APCO’s international network of 32 offices who are open, collaborative, collegiate, supportive and diverse.

**Responsibilities**:

- Lead a wide range of public affairs, strategic communication and issue campaigns for our clients.
- Manage and grow client relationships including overseeing client projects, supervising project teams, allocating resources, and delegating and reviewing work effectively.
- Provide the highest level of client service on a daily basis through proactive account management, serving as the key client contact while also managing staff (both senior and junior) to successfully maintain and grow client relationships.
- Design and implement integrated public affairs campaigns to position client issues, messages and priorities with key audiences that may include politicians (national, regional and local), civil servants, media, trade associations, consumers and other key stakeholders for our clients.
- Lead strategy development and craft effective messages for both prospective clients (as a key part of the new business process) and for existing clients.
- Monitor developments in key client issue areas and flag opportunities for further client engagement.
- Identify and lead new business opportunities for APCO.

**Qualifications**:

- At least 8 years of German public affairs and strategic communications campaign experience including leading successful teams.
- Exceptional presentation, writing and analytical skills, and the ability to write both strategically and creatively under tight deadlines.
- Solid project management experience, including overseeing a team and multiple deliverables, providing clear and concise feedback to maintain high standards.
- Demonstrated success formulating and leading strategic engagements with external stakeholders.
- Intimate knowledge of German politics and a deep understanding of how connections are built, and policy forged.

**We are recognised as one of the best consultancies to work for in our industry, providing**:

- The opportunity to work on a diverse range of clients and projects with some of the industry’s best and brightest.
- A collegial and collaborative working environment, where you will work closely with colleagues from around the world.
- A competitive compensation and benefits package, including:private medical insurance and
- Monthly mobility benefit which can be utilised by either a bike leasing option or public transport ticket
- Access to our employee assistance program
- UrbanSports Club membership with financial support from APCO
- Employer contribution to your private pension
- Significant opportunities to develop professionally, with extensive training and personal development programmes.
- Commitment to continuous learning, with access to various L&D initiatives, trainings as well as our L&D platform
- A paid opportunity each year to contribute to your community as part of our APCO Gives Back scheme.Industry-leading global exchange program

**About APCO in Germany**

APCO Germany has over 45 staff across our 3 German offices and working with more than 40 clients and sits at the centre of the agency’s global operations. Thanks to a diverse and multilingual team, APCO Germany leads on many of the agency’s most dynamic global assignments. With a growing client base in the most pressing issues facing the world today such as the transition to Net Zero and access to healthcare, APCO has been a fixture of the German communication’s for many years and continues to be at the forefront of the seismic changes facing economies and societies today.

**Careers at APCO**

Through our recruitment, hiring and retention efforts, APCO is committed to building teams to bring the best possible expertise and robust perspectives to our clients. We embrace differences in experience, viewpoint and ideas, starting with our values and extending to our behaviors, policies and practices.

We aim to create a positive work experience and welcoming environment where everyone feels they belong and can thrive.