Executive Advisor, Public Affairs & Reputation

Gravity Research is hiring an Executive Advisor, Public Affairs & Reputation for our societal and reputational intelligence service.

Gravity Research, an advisory company incubated at National Journal, is a premier custom research and insights organization supporting corporate, association, and nonprofit clients. Our mission is to empower organizations to anticipate risk, spot opportunities, and rationalize reputational concerns against a backdrop of evolving public pressures.

What is Gravity Research’s Societal and Reputational Intelligence Service?

Gravity Research’s newest product is a research service that helps Fortune 500 companies make informed decisions about when and how to engage on societal issues, such as racial equity, LGBTQ+ rights, climate, and human rights. We support clients by monitoring the current conversation around these issues, benchmarking our clients’ actions compared to their peers, and analyzing the advantages and risks of engaging on specific issues.

We are looking for a strategic consultant and client executive to advise our corporate clients on how to smartly navigate society’s most important and challenging issues and represent Gravity Research in industry events and thought leadership opportunities.

The Role

The Executive Advisor is a critical member of the societal and reputational intelligence leadership team, serving as the face of our research and strategically translating our research to a wide variety of Fortune 500 executives. Gravity Research clients benefit from having an advisor on-call, able to translate the research findings to their specific contexts and brief C-Suite executives on the risks their company may need to consider when weighing in on politically-contentious societal issues.

The Executive Advisor will develop strong, consultative relationships with C-Suite executives and facilitate dinners, panel discussions, and broader events to build Gravity Research’s thought leadership in the social and reputational risk management space.

Responsibilities

Manage a portfolio of several dozen client relationships, serving as the on-call advisor for senior corporate executives.

Leverage subject matter expertise across a variety of industries and societal issues to deliver custom insights to clients to help facilitate decision-making.

Provide crisis and on-call support to C-Suite executives when debating societal issues.

Conduct virtual and in-person research briefings, including individual client briefings, broader webinars, and roundtables.

Serve as a liaison between both the research team and the revenue team, ensuring research is appropriately customized based on client needs and supporting the account renewal process.

Qualifications of the Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate will have strong familiarity with the range of contentious societal issues currently at play, a solid understanding of the media and political environment, and excellent public speaking and consulting skills. The candidate will have the ability to develop trusted relationships with corporate executives, translate complex and nuanced research for clients, and facilitate engaging discussions on societal issue risk management practices.

Specific qualifications include:

6+ years of experience in client-service roles. While all backgrounds will be considered, experience working at a strategy or management consulting firm, political consulting firm, or corporate law firm is preferred.

A highly analytic, natural problem solver, able to respond to client questions in real-time and facilitate engaging discussions.

Excellent oral presentation skills with a proven track record of hosting executive-level briefings and larger scale events, keeping audiences engaged and delivering clear insights.

Ability to highlight key insights within a complex set of data, synthesize large amounts of information, and clearly explain these insights to clients.

Earned Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred (MBA, MPP, JD).

Willingness to travel to clients (up to 25%).

An extrovert with a passion for client services and facilitating dynamic conversations.

Entrepreneurial spirit; track record of building new initiatives from conception to execution.

Prodigious work ethic and spirit of generosity.

Employment Details

Employment Type: Full-time

Compensation: $150,000–$180,000 base pay, with possibility of performance-based bonuses

Location: Washington, DC or New York City. DC employees follow a hybrid schedule (in-office Tuesday–Thursday). NYC employees work remotely with occasional travel to DC. Up to 25% travel for client engagements and events.

About Us

Across Gravity Research, the firm looks for three “pillar gifts” in every team member:

Force of Ideas: At the center of our work are the ideas themselves. We aim to bring rigor, insight, and intellectual honesty to separate the bad from the good, and give voice and argument to the latter.

Spirit of Generosity: We seek colleagues with a natural disposition toward service and selfless conduct. Our writing reflects this—critical on the merits, but informed by charity and forbearance.

Radical Responsibility: We give our people a lot of responsibility early on. Top performers embrace it, holding themselves and colleagues accountable, taking ownership, striving for excellence, and celebrating success.

Gravity Research is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
We do not discriminate against applicants based on race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable law.

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