• Director of Communications

    ABM Industries (New York, NY)


    Overview

     

    Title: Director, External Communications & Media Relations

     

    The Opportunity

     

    ABM is seeking a strategic, hands-on Director of External Communications & Media Relations to elevate our brand, reputation, and visibility. This enterprise role sets the external communications strategy, leads ABM’s media engagement and external storytelling, and oversees our social media presence—partnering across business lines, with in-market teams in the UK and Ireland, and alongside our internal communications team.

     

    As a trusted advisor to senior executives, you will shape ABM’s narrative for clients, prospective clients, shareholders, team members, and industry audiences. The ideal leader brings strong judgment, executive presence, and a track record of delivering measurable outcomes across earned, owned, and social channels—while managing agencies, budgets, and governance.

     

    What You’ll Do

     

    Media Relations & Thought Leadership

     

    Serve as ABM’s lead media strategist and on-record spokesperson, cultivating top-tier, trade, and regional press relationships.

     

    Build proactive storylines, secure coverage, and drive consistent message pull-through.

     

    Oversee development of press releases, statements, op-eds, award submissions, and executive bios.

     

    Lead executive media readiness (briefing docs, Q&As, talking points, and coaching).

     

    Advance the executive visibility program (bylines, conference keynotes, panels, and awards).

     

    Crisis & Reputation Management

     

    Own enterprise issues/crisis communications in partnership with Legal, HR, Operations, and senior leadership; rapidly assess risk and orchestrate cross-functional responses.

     

    Serve as lead point of contact for media during incidents; ensure accurate, timely responses.

     

    Maintain playbooks, escalation paths, and scenario exercises to increase preparedness.

     

    Social Media Leadership

     

    Set the enterprise social strategy, editorial calendar, and measurement framework.

     

    Segment channels by audience (clients, investors, talent, team members) and tailor content accordingly.

     

    Monitor conversations; respond to opportunities and risks in real time; evaluate emerging platforms.

     

    Partner with platform teams (e.g., LinkedIn, Meta) to optimize presence and performance.

     

    Align with TA Marketing on employer brand and recruitment-focused social campaigns.

     

    Marketing & Campaign Alignment

     

    Partner with Marketing to integrate PR with paid/owned programs and major campaigns.

     

    Co-lead trade show activations (topics, content, spokespeople prep for sessions/panels).

     

    Develop narratives that connect ABM’s offerings to industry issues and client priorities.

     

    Executive & Investor Communications Support

     

    Partner with the VP, Communications to develop thought leadership and social content for senior executives.

     

    Support Investor Relations communications (IR site content, quarterly earnings preparation).

     

    Collaboration, Leadership & Operations

     

    Lead and develop a direct report; provide dotted-line leadership to TA Marketing partner.

     

    Guide UK/Ireland PR/social teams for global consistency with local relevance.

     

    Establish and manage external agency relationships and own relevant budget(s).

     

    Collaborate with Internal Communications, Legal, HR, IR, and Operations to align messaging with business goals.

     

    Measurement & Continuous Improvement

     

    Define KPIs for earned and social (share of voice, coverage quality, message pull-through, engagement).

     

    Deliver regular dashboards and insights to Communications and senior leadership.

     

    Stay current on best practices and introduce tools/process improvements to scale impact.

     

    Who You Are

     

    Education: Bachelor’s degree required (e.g., Communications, Business, Technology, Organizational Development, or related field)

     

    10–15 years of progressive PR/media relations experience (B2B services, infrastructure, utilities, real estate, or related sectors preferred).

     

    Proven success as a primary spokesperson and in securing top-tier/trade coverage.

     

    Demonstrated leadership in crisis/issues management with sound, executive-level counsel.

     

    Strong digital communicator with expertise in social strategy, channel segmentation, and analytics.

     

    Exceptional writer/editor/storyteller who simplifies complex topics for broad audiences.

     

    Collaborative leader effective in complex, matrixed environments; skilled at executive partnership.

     

    Experience leading teams and agencies and managing budgets.

     

    Comfortable partnering across Marketing, Legal, HR, Investor Relations, and Operations.

     

    A mentor/coach who develops talent and builds high-performing teams.

    REQNUMBER: 135093

    ABM is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer qualified applicants without regard race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran or any other protected factor under federal, state, or local law. ABM is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you have a disability and need assistance in completing the employment application, please call 888-328-8606. We will provide you with assistance and make a determination on your request for reasonable accommodation on a case-by-case basis.