How to apply for Senior Director of Communications

About American Business Immigration Coalition

The American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC) is a unique advocacy organization that mobilizes business leaders to champion commonsense immigration solutions, bridging the gap between the private sector and policymakers. Working at ABIC means being at the forefront of a high-stakes, national debate, directly influencing legislation and shaping narratives that impact the economy and millions of lives. The remote-first, campaign-style environment offers a rare opportunity to operate at the speed of politics while driving meaningful change.

About the role

As Senior Director of Communications, you will be the chief architect of ABIC's aggressive, high-velocity communications strategy, reporting directly to the CEO and serving on the Senior Leadership Team. You will lead a war-room style operation, executing rapid-response messaging, deploying spokespeople, and running paid/earned/digital campaigns to win key legislative votes and shift national narratives on immigration. This is a hands-on, campaign leadership role where you will constantly pivot to breaking news and dictate media coverage across federal and state battlegrounds.

A typical day

Your day might start with a 7 AM war-room call to review overnight developments and assign rapid-response tasks. By noon, you could be drafting a statement on a new bill, coordinating with the CEO on a media hit, and reviewing digital ad copy targeting key districts. In the afternoon, you might pivot to a strategy session on an upcoming campaign, then end the day monitoring evening news and preparing for tomorrow's news cycle.

Who American Business Immigration Coalition is looking for

• Proven experience as a campaign strategist or war-room communications leader, ideally from a political campaign, advocacy group, or Capitol Hill, with a track record of winning high-stakes votes or shaping national narratives.
• Deep understanding of immigration policy and the political landscape, including key federal and state battlegrounds, and the ability to quickly translate complex policy into persuasive messaging.
• Exceptional rapid-response skills: able to monitor breaking news, draft counter-messaging and reactive statements within minutes, and deploy spokespeople under intense deadline pressure.
• Strong leadership and management abilities, with experience building and leading nimble teams, managing cross-functional collaboration, and serving as a trusted advisor to C-suite executives.

Tips for this application

• Highlight specific examples of rapid-response campaigns you've led, including the issue, your actions, and the outcome (e.g., legislative vote won, narrative shifted). Quantify results where possible.
• Demonstrate your understanding of ABIC's mission and recent campaigns by referencing their work in your cover letter and explaining how your skills would amplify their impact.
• Showcase your experience in a war-room or campaign setting: use language that mirrors the job description (e.g., 'high-velocity,' 'rapid response,' 'battleground states') to signal you understand the pace and culture.
• Provide a portfolio or links to press releases, op-eds, or campaign materials you've produced that demonstrate your ability to craft persuasive messaging for policymakers and the public.
• Emphasize your ability to work remotely and lead a distributed team, as ABIC is a remote-first organization. Mention any experience managing teams across time zones or using digital collaboration tools effectively.

What to cover in your cover letter

["Your track record of leading rapid-response communications in a campaign or advocacy environment, with concrete examples of how you've countered opponent narratives and shaped media coverage.", 'Your strategic mindset: how you proactively frame narratives to persuade targeted policymakers and win legislative votes, not just react to news.', 'Your leadership experience: building and managing a war-room team, serving on a senior leadership team, and advising executives on communications strategy.', "Your passion for immigration reform and alignment with ABIC's business-led approach, showing you understand the unique role of business voices in this debate."]

Research before applying

• Review ABIC's website, recent press releases, and social media to understand their current campaigns, messaging, and key priorities in immigration reform.
• Research the political landscape on immigration: key federal bills, state-level battles, and the major players (both allies and opponents) to understand the context ABIC operates in.
• Study ABIC's leadership team and their backgrounds to understand the organizational culture and how communications fits into their advocacy strategy.
• Analyze media coverage of ABIC and immigration reform to identify gaps and opportunities where your communications strategy could make an impact.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• Walk us through a time you led a rapid-response effort to a breaking news story. What was your process, and what was the result?
• How would you approach crafting a messaging playbook to persuade fence-sitting lawmakers on a specific immigration bill?
• Describe your experience managing a communications team in a high-pressure, campaign-like environment. How do you keep morale and performance high?
• What metrics do you use to measure the success of communications campaigns, especially in terms of influencing policymakers and shaping narratives?
• How would you handle a situation where ABIC's position is misrepresented in the media? Outline your steps from monitoring to correction.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Avoid generic communications experience that lacks a campaign or rapid-response focus; ABIC needs a battle-tested strategist, not a traditional PR professional.
• Do not downplay the political nature of the role; if you're not comfortable with aggressive, offensive messaging and hardball tactics, this isn't the right fit.
• Avoid failing to demonstrate up-to-date knowledge of immigration policy and the current political dynamics; showing you're out of touch with the debate will be a major turnoff.