Vice President - Corporate and Public Affairs, Financial Communications
About the job
- 10–12 years of experience in financial communications, investor relations, corporate communications, public relations, or strategic communications consulting.
- Demonstrated experience advising publicly traded and Fortune 500 companies on financial communications and business-critical issues.
- Strong understanding of public company reporting, earnings cycles, investor expectations, and financial market dynamics.
- Proven ability to develop investor narratives and executive communications that support enterprise value creation.
- Significant experience supporting or leading communications surrounding earnings announcements, Investor Days, IPOs, M&A transactions, and major corporate milestones.
- Exceptional writing, editing, and storytelling capabilities, including experience developing high-stakes communications for executive audiences.
- Experience counseling senior executives and serving as a client-facing strategic advisor.
- Strong executive presence and the ability to confidently engage with C-suite and board-level stakeholders.
- Demonstrated success leading cross-functional and multidisciplinary teams.
- Excellent project management, organizational, and client service skills.
- Ability to thrive in fast-paced, high-pressure environments while managing multiple priorities simultaneously.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to senior executives, investor relations teams, corporate communications leaders, and legal counsel on high-profile business, financial, and reputational matters.
- Counsel clients on communications opportunities and risks associated with earnings announcements, strategic transactions, executive transitions, corporate transformations, activist situations, regulatory matters, and other sensitive issues.
- Develop executive-level messaging strategies that communicate business performance, growth strategy, corporate purpose, and long-term value creation.
- Present strategic recommendations directly to C-suite leaders and board-level stakeholders.
- Contribute to the enhancement, positioning, and promotion of the specialized offering within the external marketplace and internal teams.
- Lead communications strategy around quarterly earnings announcements, investor presentations, and other financial events.
- Partner with investor relations teams to develop investor narratives for analysts, shareholders, and financial media.
- Provide strategic counsel and content development support for earnings cycles, Investor Days, capital markets events, IPOs and public company debuts, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, corporate restructurings and transformations, and shareholder engagement initiatives.
- Support clients through milestone corporate moments, including IPOs, bell-ringing events, significant listings, and other high-profile market events.
- Translate complex financial results, business performance, and strategic initiatives into clear stakeholder narratives.
- Craft narratives and messaging platforms for investors, employees, media, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
- Lead development of earnings materials, investor presentations, CEO and executive speeches, shareholder communications, employee communications, strategic messaging frameworks, crisis communications materials, and board and leadership briefing documents.
- Serve as a senior writer and editor for high-stakes communications.
- Distill complex business issues into clear, persuasive, audience-specific communications.
- Develop proactive and reactive media strategies surrounding financial news and corporate events.
- Lead external communications programs supporting business milestones, financial announcements, and corporate reputation objectives.
- Cultivate and leverage relationships with financial, business, technology, and corporate reporters.
- Advise on media engagement strategy, spokesperson positioning, and risk management.
- Support selective media outreach and pitching efforts with business, financial, and trade media.
- Lead multidisciplinary account teams across financial communications, corporate reputation, public affairs, executive communications, and crisis management assignments.
- Oversee project planning, timelines, budgets, and resource allocation across complex engagements.
- Drive collaboration among agency specialists, client stakeholders, legal advisors, investor relations teams, and executive leadership.
- Mentor and develop junior team members.
- Contribute to business development efforts, client expansion opportunities, and strategic agency initiatives.
- Prior agency experience leading complex corporate, financial, or special situations accounts.
- Established relationships with financial, business, technology, and corporate media.
- Experience advising clients in the technology, entertainment, retail, consumer, or broader Fortune 500 sectors.
- Familiarity with financial intelligence platforms and research tools such as Bloomberg, FactSet, AlphaSense, or Capital IQ.
- MBA, CFA, investor relations certification, or related financial communications expertise.
About the company
Burson is a global communications firm that uses reputation management to create value for clients. It helps clients build and protect their public image to gain competitive advantage by guiding how they communicate with audiences, stakeholders, and the market. By aligning reputation with business goals, Burson helps clients lead today and into the future. Its goal is to turn reputation into a strategic asset that supports sustainable leadership and growth.
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Headquarters
New York City, New York
Founded
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Burson bought Limbik on August 12, 2026, owning Decipher's technology roadmap.
- Meagan Fitzgerald joined Burson UK on September 1, 2026, strengthening crisis advisory.
- Ross Hall's August 2026 promotion targets EMEA retention and organic growth.
What critics are saying
- WPP hired Goldman Sachs in April 2026 to explore selling Burson.
- Senior exits hit Burson in August 2026, including Kate Hopper and David Vindel.
- Limbik integration risks product delays if Burson cannot absorb engineering and research quickly.
What makes Burson unique
- Burson's Decipher predicts message resonance across 60 markets before campaigns launch.
- Burson combines crisis counseling and AI products under Corey duBrowa's 2026 strategy.
- Burson's WPP network gives global scale across reputation, media, and creative services.
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Benefits
Training Programs
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Company News
Highwire adds Barrasso, Saleh to senior leadership team. Kona Barrasso joins as managing director of business services, while Nyla Saleh has been named executive VP, executive client partner. SAN FRANCISCO - Highwire has expanded its senior leadership team with the appointments of Kona Barrasso as managing director of business services and Nyla Saleh as executive VP, executive client partner. Barrasso will lead the development of Highwire's business services practice, with responsibility for the agency's work across B2B, financial and professional services and impact. She brings 20 years of experience across agency and in-house roles. Before joining Highwire, Barrasso held senior positions at WE Communications, Burson and Makovsky, working with clients including SAP, PwC, Accenture and Capgemini. She also previously worked in-house at Kearney. Saleh joins Highwire after most recently serving as a brand practice and North American retail sector lead at Weber Shandwick, where she was also senior client relationship lead for The Home Depot. Earlier, Saleh spent eight years at Edelman, where she led the TJX Companies business, and began her career at Ogilvy working across corporate and technology communications. At Highwire, Saleh will serve as a senior executive partner to major clients, working across the agency's strategy, creative, media and marketing capabilities. "Kona and Nyla exemplify the caliber of senior counselor that clients operating in high-stakes markets require," said Highwire CEO Michael O'Brien. "During their careers, they have earned the trust of leading brands, grown complex client relationships, and built strong teams capable of navigating today's most dynamic news cycles." Article tags News direct to your inbox The agency playbook. The PR industry's most comprehensive listing of firms from every region and specialty.
Simon Shaw moves on from Chief Communications & Marketing Officer role at King Salman Park. At King Salman Park Foundation, his remit spanned corporate and brand strategy, communications, marketing, governance, stakeholder alignment and opening readiness. Simon Shaw is moving on from his role as Chief Communications & Marketing Officer at King Salman Park Foundation in Riyadh, where he built a multidisciplinary team and strengthened the Foundation's corporate, brand, marketing and communications capabilities. His remit spanned corporate and brand strategy, communications, marketing, governance, stakeholder alignment and opening readiness, supporting one of Saudi Arabia's most ambitious Vision 2030 urban transformation projects. Having worked across the Middle East as a consultant for several years, Shaw's move to the Foundation marked a transition into full-time, in-house leadership in the region. "It was a great honour to contribute to a landmark project of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and to make Riyadh my home," said Shaw. "The experience deepened my appreciation of Saudi Arabia's rich and beautiful culture and my understanding of the ambition driving the Kingdom's transformation." He added, "With my background in strategy, creativity and architecture, the opportunity to help shape a place that brings together nature, culture and community was particularly meaningful. I leave proud of what we built: a clear direction for the brand, stronger marketing and communications capabilities, and a talented team equipped to support the Park's next stage of development. I'm excited to see what they achieve next." Shaw previously served as Global Chief Creative Officer at Burson and Global Chief Creative Strategy & Innovation Officer at Hill & Knowlton. In these roles, he advised CEOs, executive teams and marketing leaders on corporate, brand and reputation strategy, alongside communications and marketing. He also led global transformation programmes, integrated strategy, creative and content capabilities, and built international innovation hubs at the agency. His experience spans the Middle East, China, Europe, the UK and the US. As he considers his next chapter, Shaw will now move into an independent advisory role, bringing together his international consulting background and in-house leadership to advise organisations on strategy, building brand and corporate reputation, creative transformation, communications and marketing strategies. "The Middle East remains close to my heart and an important part of my plans," he concluded. "I'm enjoying applying the experience gained across consultancy and in-house leadership to new challenges and look forward to reconnecting with colleagues and exploring new collaborations and opportunities across the region and beyond." Anup Oommen is the Editor of Campaign Middle East at Motivate Media Group, a well-reputed moderator, and a multiple award-winning journalist with more than 15 years of experience at some of the most reputable and credible global news organisations, including Reuters, CNN, and Motivate Media Group. As the Editor of Campaign Middle East, Anup heads market-leading coverage of advertising, media, marketing, PR, events and experiential, digital, the wider creative industries, and more, through the brand's digital, print, events, directories, podcast and video verticals. As such he's a key stakeholder in the Campaign Global brand, the world's leading authority for the advertising, marketing and media industries, which was first published in the UK in 1968.
Burson hires NBC correspondent as UK crisis lead. Former foreign correspondent Meagan Fitzgerald joins Burson UK from NBC News to head its crisis and issues practice. LONDON - Burson has appointed former NBC News foreign correspondent Meagan Fitzgerald as UK head of crisis and issues, strengthening its offer to clients navigating geopolitical uncertainty, fast-moving reputational threats and an increasingly fragmented media environment. Fitzgerald (pictured) joins the WPP-owned agency after nearly two decades in broadcast journalism, most recently as a foreign correspondent for NBC News Worldwide. A twice Emmy-nominated journalist, she has reported from the front lines of major global events, including wars, geopolitical crises and political and economic developments. In her new role, Fitzgerald will lead Burson UK's crisis and issues team, advising clients on anticipating risk, responding under pressure and communicating clearly when scrutiny is at its most intense. "Clients are facing unrelenting pressure and continuous disruption, from geopolitical turbulence to a hyper-fragmented media landscape," said Burson UK CEO Simon Redfern. "Meagan's considerable experience provides a unique perspective on how narratives form in real time and how brands can communicate effectively when the stakes are highest. "This expertise will be invaluable in helping our clients build and protect their reputations in this new intelligence era." Redfern added that Fitzgerald's ability to distil complex issues into clear narratives across broadcast, digital and social platforms, along with her experience building high-performing teams, made her "the perfect fit" to lead the agency's crisis and issues practice. Before becoming a foreign correspondent, Fitzgerald was an anchor and reporter at NBC-owned Washington DC station WRC-TV, where she led live coverage of breaking news and produced original reporting for broadcast and digital audiences. She began her career as an investigative reporter in Louisiana. "Issues can become crises in minutes. I've seen it firsthand, reporting live as stories unfolded," said Fitzgerald. "The strongest crisis counsel starts well before that moment - helping leaders anticipate risk, make sound decisions under pressure and communicate clearly when every word matters." Article tags News direct to your inbox The agency playbook. The PR industry's most comprehensive listing of firms from every region and specialty.
Burson promotes Ross Hall to EMEA Chief Client Officer. Ross Hall, Chief Client Officer, Burson Burson, the global communications agency purpose-built to create value for its clients through reputation, has promoted Ross Hall to EMEA Chief Client Officer. This first-ever dedicated regional role brings together the agency's approach to client leadership, retention, and organic growth, with a clear mandate to strengthen its most important client relationships across EMEA. Hall will oversee the region's client leadership strategy, ensuring senior leaders maintain a razor-sharp focus on client service and opportunities for long-term partnership and growth. Working in partnership with Burson's Global Client Excellence team and market practice leaders across EMEA, Hall will focu
Agency people News in brief (august 24, 2026). New people in new roles at Burson, Finn Partners, Lucid Group, Method and Waterhouse Brands. NEW YORK - Burson has hired Molly Roenna as Americas chief people officer. Roenna joins from The Weber Shandwick Collective, where she was global chief people officer, overseeing people strategy for more than 3,500 employees across nearly 60 markets. She previously spent nearly two decades in HR roles at Weber Shandwick in North America, including serving as North America chief people officer. NEW YORK - Finn Partners has named Ernst Flach a partner in its global travel practice. Flach will focus on expanding the agency's destination representation and integrated marketing capabilities in the US and Canada. He brings more than 20 years of travel, tourism and destination marketing experience and previously worked at Destination Canada. LONDON & PHILADELPHIA - Lucid Group has named Eric Muller CEO, succeeding Rick Sannem, who is moving into a strategic advisor role with the board. Sannem was the founder of DiD Agency, which is part of Lucid Group. Muller takes the helm of the healthcare communications and commercialization agency as it continues to expand globally. SAN FRANCISCO - Method has hired Shannon Lawler as EVP of measurement, analytics & research. Lawler brings 15 years of agency experience at WE Communications, FleishmanHillard and Axicom, where she developed and managed research and measurement programs for clients including Microsoft, AMD, Cisco, eBay and Salesforce. At Method, she will focus on research and measurement across corporate, B2B and consumer communications, among other areas. SAN FRANCISCO - Waterhouse Brands has added Allison Myers as group director and Allie Nicodemo as account director. Myers, who will serve as a senior strategic partner to account teams and clients, brings more than 20 years of experience across biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and medical devices and previously held senior roles at Inizio Evoke and Fingerpaint Marketing. Nicodemo joins the agency's growing Boston team. Article tags News direct to your inbox The agency playbook. The PR industry's most comprehensive listing of firms from every region and specialty.