Sr. Director, Communications

This is a remote position available to candidates residing in ABC-approved states. 

HQ Location: Austin, TX

Our Mission

At Action Behavior Centers (ABC), we help children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reach milestone moments. Compassionate care is at the heart of everything we do, and our highly trained clinicians deliver evidence-based applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy tailored to each child’s unique needs. 

Our autism services include diagnostic support, 1:1 individualized Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI), Family Guidance, and school readiness programs across hundreds of centers in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas. Because no family should have to wait for help, ABC offers immediate access to care. 
 

Role Overview

The Sr. Director, Communications is responsible for building and leading ABC's proactive earned media and public relations strategy, and for strengthening ABC's external reputation across two critical audiences: the families and their children in our care, and the teammates who provide that care. This role will help shape and amplify the stories that differentiate ABC, recognizing that positive family-facing coverage also builds trust and pride among current and prospective teammates.

Reporting to the Chief Marketing Officer, this role partners closely with the CMO and executive leadership on reputation strategy and crisis communications, bringing communications subject matter expertise and leading execution against a shared reputation strategy. This is a hands-on leadership role for an entrepreneurial communicator who has led a communications function or owned significant PR / reputation responsibilities, is comfortable pitching press directly, and can move ABC from a reactive to a proactive posture on reputation.

The role oversees a team of two and partners closely with Marketing leadership, Recruiting, People Services, Clinical, Operations, and Legal. ABC's external digital marketing agency leads SEO, AIO, and paid media performance. This role owns PR and earned media strategy directly, partnering with ABC's existing content and creative teams within Marketing to amplify earned media wins across owned, social, and paid channels.
 

Key Responsibilities

Earned Media & Public Relations:

• Help define and continually evolve ABC’s external narrative, identifying the stories, proof points, and areas of thought leadership ABC should own within autism care and ABA therapy
• Build and lead ABC's proactive earned media strategy, identifying, developing, and pitching stories that reinforce ABC's differentiation and reputation
• Serve as ABC's primary point of contact for press inquiries and media relationships
• Develop and drive thought leadership opportunities, including speaking engagements, bylines, and media placements, with a particular focus on ABC's clinical leadership
• Identify and develop human interest stories from families and clinicians that support both family-facing and employer-facing reputation goals
• Partner with Legal and executive leadership to develop messaging and manage communications around payer dynamics, ownership structure, industry scrutiny, and other externally sensitive topics
• Partner with ABC's existing content and creative teams on press release drafting and distribution; this role does not own day-to-day content production, webinars, e-books, or organic social content, which remain owned by Integrated Marketing and Creative Services

Workplace Reputation & Employer Brand Communications:

• Own the communications strategy for ABC's workplace reputation across Glassdoor, Indeed, LinkedIn, and Reddit, setting priorities and messaging that the Communications team executes against
• Partner with Recruiting and People Services to align employer brand strategy with recruiting and retention goals, informed by ongoing sentiment and recruiting funnel data
• Monitor and interpret online sentiment, review platform trends, and social listening data to identify emerging reputation risks and opportunities
• Provide strategic recommendations on how to close gaps between ABC's intended employer brand and how it is currently experienced and discussed externally

Reputation & Crisis Counsel:

• Partner with the CMO and executive leadership on reputation risk, crisis preparedness, and issue anticipation
• Develop and maintain a crisis communications framework and response protocols in partnership with Legal and executive leadership
• Lead communications response during reputation-critical moments, coordinating across Legal, Clinical, Operations, and executive leadership as needed

Team Leadership:

• Directly manage the Director, Internal Communications, who continues to lead execution of teammate-facing content, internal event communications, and employer review platform management, and who continues to manage and direct the Video Production Specialist day-to-day
• Set shared strategic priorities for internal event communications, particularly for events with reputation or media relevance (e.g., ABCaba, Summit, Action Weeks), while the Director, Internal Communications leads execution and directs the Video Production Specialist's contributions
• Provide coaching and support to help the team operate against clear strategic goals
• Represent the Communications function in marketing leadership planning and cross-functional initiatives

Qualifications:

• 12+ years of progressive experience in public relations, corporate communications, or reputation management, including experience leading a communications team or owning a significant PR / reputation function; experience building or scaling a function is a plus
• Demonstrated ability and willingness to operate hands-on, including personally developing story angles, pitching media, securing earned media placements and managing reporter relationships
• Experience advising senior executives on reputation strategy, thought leadership, and crisis communications
• Experience in healthcare or another regulated, reputation-sensitive industry preferred
• Comfortable operating in a highly scaled, multi-location, entrepreneurial environment
• Strong people leadership skills, with experience managing and developing a team
• Excellent judgment and discretion when handling sensitive internal and external communications
• Bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, or a related field

Success Metrics:

• Volume and quality of earned media placements, with emphasis on priority national, regional, and industry outlets
• Growth in proactive vs. reactive earned media coverage
• Message pull-through on ABC’s core reputation narratives 
• Movement in employer review volume across Glassdoor and Indeed
• Growth in LinkedIn engagement and followership on employer brand and thought leadership content
• Movement in AI sentiment, including Reddit, tracked via Profound through our external agency 
• Executive and clinical leadership thought leadership placements secured
• Speed and effectiveness of response to reputation-critical moments

Our Community & Culture: 

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/actionbehaviorcenters
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/actionbehaviorcenters

See what others have said when they made the decision to grow with us!

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ABC is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws, including the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA). We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

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