2ndWave LLC (2ndWave) is seeking a Communications Strategist and Organizational Change Management (OCM) Journeyman to provide strategic communications and change management services in support of an anticipated Federal contract in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
Position Summary
The Journeyman Communication Strategist and Organizational Change Management (OCM) specialist is experienced in the strategic process of guiding an organization through transitions by planning, communicating, and executing changes to minimize resistance, address concerns, provide support, and engage leaders, stakeholders, and diverse audiences to ensure smooth adoption of new processes, technologies, or structures within the Verification Division (VER). This is a Key Personnel position under the resulting task order.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
• Develop and execute communication strategies with clearly defined target audiences, key messages, and delivery channels, including both public-facing and executive-level communications within DHS.
• Ensure all communications adhere to Plain Language guidelines and Section 508 compliance standards.
• Develop communication strategies aligned with VER, FOD, USCIS, and DHS priorities, outlining target audiences, consistent and ongoing communications, key messages, distribution channels, and modalities.
• Advise Project Managers (PMs) and Product Owners (POs) on messaging for target audiences, including defining specific messages, identifying the most effective avenues, and optimizing the timing and sequencing of outreach and activities.
• Facilitate stakeholder engagement, awareness campaigns, and training sessions.
• Leverage Prosci, Lean Agile, and Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) methodologies for change adoption, aligning agency, division, and program objectives.
• Implement feedback and continuous improvement around change management and adoption, including retrospectives, surveys and survey data, and frequently asked questions (FAQs) to gauge and address stakeholder perception.
• Leverage best practices and leading technologies (e.g., infographics, the Adobe Suite, Microsoft Suite of products, Mural) to develop innovative communication products that drive awareness, acceptance, and buy-in of projects and products.
• Develop change management strategies for business process transitions, including identification of beta/shadowing approaches for technology insertion and development of an operational ready-line strategy tailored to each project's needs; test the strategy, collect feedback, and adapt prior to general rollout.
• Support workforce training and stakeholder engagement, including identifying and readying users to alpha/beta test specific features and conducting user acceptance testing (UAT) with documented feedback loops to refine deployments before full-scale rollout.
• Facilitate and promote enterprise-wide collaboration among VER, FOD, USCIS, and DHS objectives, expanding knowledge of USCIS and DHS offices and organizational landscape to support work within scope.
Minimum Required Qualifications
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Relations, or a related field.
• Experience: Minimum of 7 years of experience developing and executing communication strategies for federal programs.
• Certification: Prosci Change Management Certification or a similar professional certification. An advanced degree may be considered as an alternative to the Change Management Certification.
Required Skills and Competencies
• Demonstrated expertise in executive-level communications, messaging frameworks, and stakeholder engagement.
• Experience supporting organizational change management initiatives.
• Strong writing, editing, and presentation skills tailored for diverse audiences.
• Ability to coordinate across functional teams to ensure clear, consistent messaging.
• Experience drafting strategic communications in support of operational programs for DHS or USCIS.
