DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS RESUME EXAMPLE

Published: Dec 2, 2024 – The Director of External Affairs oversees the development and execution of strategies to enhance organizational values, brand, and mission through impactful external communications across multiple platforms. This position manages and motivates a high-performing team, fosters professional growth, ensures operational efficiency, and builds relationships with stakeholders to drive organizational growth and reputation. The director implements data-driven approaches to monitor KPIs, execute crisis communication plans, and produce compelling content to strengthen corporate presence and advocacy efforts.

Tips for Director of External Affairs Skills and Responsibilities on a Resume

1. Director of External Affairs, Greenfield Solutions, Denver, CO

Job Summary: 

  • Cultivate relationships with patients, staff, agencies, foundations, corporations, and government entities.
  • Develop and implement fundraising, marketing, and branding measured by development and marketing analytics that comprise key performance targets of the External Affairs performance dashboard.
  • Develop an organizational fundraising plan in collaboration with the CEO
  • Raise revenue of more than 25% of the costs of this functional unit within 12 months, 75% within 24 months, and over 100% within 30 months
  • Ensure timely publication of the company newsletter to include relevant content and staff participation.
  • Coordinate audio-visual production in concert with Information Technology leadership.
  • Increase grant development, proposal output, and solicitation of prospects.
  • Identify new revenue sources via public and private grants, sponsorships, and collaborations.
  • Coach and mentor development and marketing staff toward unified and collaborative practices
  • Serve as a liaison between funding agencies for deliverables, meeting state regulations, and compliance mandates.
  • Collaborate with the CEO to develop an organizational giving and fundraising environment.


Skills on Resume: 

  • Relationship Building (Soft Skills)
  • Fundraising Strategy (Hard Skills)
  • Marketing Analytics (Hard Skills)
  • Grant Writing (Hard Skills)
  • Staff Mentoring (Soft Skills)
  • Project Management (Hard Skills)
  • Compliance Knowledge (Hard Skills)
  • Stakeholder Collaboration (Soft Skills)

2. Senior Director of External Affairs, Horizon Consulting Group, Phoenix, AZ

Job Summary: 

  • Lead proactive and reactive communications strategies for external audiences
  • Manage the flow of news about the company and enhance the company's reputation through communications channels.
  • Develop proactive communications strategies and programs designed
  • Increase visibility and enhance public image with employees, patients, opinion leaders, the media, and other decision-makers.
  • Drive strategy and conversation with media at a local and national level.
  • Develop and maintain appropriate relationships with media and other key groups.
  • Monitor industry news about the company and competitors, identify emerging issues, and anticipate conversations.
  • Support senior management with the development of speeches and presentations.
  • Anticipate and plan reactive communication efforts related to brand-impacting events such as clinic-level crises, corporate compliance, lawsuits, settlements, and investigations.
  • Collaborate fiercely with other departments to help craft and articulate stories that support the business objectives.
  • Take responsibility for delivering measurable results.
  • Serve as an inspiring and effective team leader.


Skills on Resume: 

  • Communication Strategy (Hard Skills)
  • Reputation Management (Soft Skills)
  • Media Relations (Soft Skills)
  • Crisis Communication (Hard Skills)
  • Stakeholder Engagement (Soft Skills)
  • Speech Writing (Hard Skills)
  • Industry Monitoring (Hard Skills)
  • Team Leadership (Soft Skills)

3. Director of External Affairs, Summit Innovations, Raleigh, NC

Job Summary: 

  • Oversee the activities of the External Affairs staff
  • Select, motivate, train, and retain staff while providing opportunities for professional development
  • Individual performance management, including regular appraisals and any improvement and/or discipline processes and terminations
  • Identify and implement opportunities to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency and increase engagement of the staff
  • Develop, oversee, and execute an external affairs strategy that amplifies company values, brand, and mission in a manner that resonates with diverse audiences and ultimately drives sales and organizational growth.
  • Build and maintain ongoing relationships and engagements with external stakeholders, community influencers, businesses, civic organizations, and media outlets 
  • Execute external communications strategy via multiple communication platforms and media (print, digital, and social), including earned media.
  • Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) for advancing lead generation through earned media and influencer efforts, along with a process for tracking and monitoring regularly.
  • Develop speakers bureau, compelling media-focused content, ranging from press releases and written pitches to the media
  • Oversee organizational sponsorships and presence at local events to establish brand and product awareness.
  • Identify opportunities to write brand-building, cutting-edge content to enhance corporate reputation and healthcare advocacy.
  • Manage communication plans to appropriate audiences and channels for complex, fast-paced, and unexpected communications, including crisis communications
  • Collaborate with subject matter experts and teams across organizational departments to understand organizational efforts that align with external affairs strategy, and produce compelling and impactful content to communicate these efforts.


Skills on Resume: 

  • Staff Management (Soft Skills)
  • Performance Management (Hard Skills)
  • External Affairs Strategy (Hard Skills)
  • Stakeholder Engagement (Soft Skills)
  • Media Strategy (Hard Skills)
  • Content Creation (Hard Skills)
  • Crisis Communication (Hard Skills)
  • Cross-Department Collaboration (Soft Skills)

4. Director of External Affairs, Peak Strategies, Boise, ID

Job Summary: 

  • Identifies opportunities to enhance the college's relationship with its external markets and constituents.
  • Makes connections between external constituents and internal stakeholders.
  • Serves the college by advancing and maintaining the college’s institutional image in the community.
  • Makes public presentations within Johnson County to increase public understanding of college programs and initiatives.
  • Represents School in various community organizations and at functions related to education, local government, charity, and/or community-based.
  • Proactively identifies opportunities to promote the vision within the community.
  • Develops and maintains contacts within the public and private sectors to broaden the community’s awareness of the college district to increase private contributions to the college.
  • Represents School through community involvement and service.
  • Identifies, researches, and implements strategies to cultivate external funding prospects including individual, foundation, corporate, and government funding sources for all academic and student support areas.
  • Works with academic officers and faculty to determine goals, objectives, scope, feasibility, and funding needs for School programs.
  • Serves as the primary point of contact for external constituents and donors in Johnson County.
  • Works directly with the Vice President of External Affairs to educate the public as to the college’s mission, vision, goals, and opportunities to support the college.
  • Works with the Board of Regents, advisory boards, foundation boards, and other volunteer leadership on fundraising and partnership initiatives


Skills on Resume: 

  • Relationship Building (Soft Skills)
  • Public Speaking (Soft Skills)
  • Community Engagement (Soft Skills)
  • Fundraising Strategy (Hard Skills)
  • Stakeholder Collaboration (Soft Skills)
  • Strategic Planning (Hard Skills)
  • External Communications (Hard Skills)
  • Leadership in Fundraising (Soft Skills)

5. Director of External Affairs, Crestwood Technologies, Albany, NY

Job Summary: 

  • Manage daily operations, create long-term vision and goals, and intentional strategies for the company’s revenue-generating and communications initiatives.
  • Direct innovative high-level fundraising efforts that enable the organization to raise significant gifts from new and existing donors and prospects.
  • Advance and execute the MTC’s overall development strategy to meet short-term and long-term fundraising goals.
  • Enhance the company’s major-donor cultivation, including individuals, foundations, corporate partnerships, and government relations.
  • Play a key role in Board relations and engagement.
  • Play a strong leadership role in integrating development considerations and effort into all areas of the company including artistic programs, community events, and education.
  • With key staff, oversee the creation and execution of marketing and communications plans.
  • Enhance the audience, donor, and community experience.
  • Further, the theatre’s efforts to reach and engage new and more diverse audiences.
  • Grow and analyze data-driven research to help inform fundraising and marketing initiatives to drive revenue growth through donations, memberships, and ticket sales.


Skills on Resume: 

  • Strategic Planning (Hard Skills)
  • Fundraising Leadership (Soft Skills)
  • Donor Cultivation (Soft Skills)
  • Board Engagement (Soft Skills)
  • Program Integration (Soft Skills)
  • Marketing Strategy (Hard Skills)
  • Audience Engagement (Soft Skills)
  • Data Analysis (Hard Skills)

6. Director of External Affairs, Redwood Global Partners, Salt Lake City, UT

Job Summary: 

  • Lead the development and implementation of the corporate communications and government relations strategy
  • Manage, coordinate, and oversee its contracted government relations firms for federal, state, and local affairs
  • Engage federal policymakers to directly represent AUI’s interests on select high-priority matters, in particular, VLA (The Next Generation Very Large Array) and other major radio astronomy initiatives
  • Maintain positive, trusted working relationships with policymakers and other stakeholders in the astronomy and spectrum policy arenas
  • Communicate important issues and developments to the AUI President, the leadership team, and the Board of Trustees
  • Oversee preparation and serves as co-PI of a full proposal to NSF’s Spectrum Innovation Initiative for the SII-Center award
  • Organize broad national collaboration from academia, NRAO, national labs, and industry, with AUI as the central honest broker and convener
  • Build and operate unique, best-in-class research infrastructure, and sufficient pass-through funding to help drive technology choices and R&D priorities
  • Serve as the primary face of and spokesperson for the Center in Washington, engaging all relevant stakeholders, with primary responsibility to represent the scientific use of the spectrum
  • Lead development of the NRDZ concept, including stakeholder identification and consultation, concept definition, and communication, culminating in an NRDZ conceptual design deliverable for the NSF
  • Oversee the development of facilities and corporate expertise to position AUI as a leading organization in spectrum-efficient technologies and regulatory evaluations
  • Identify other potential new revenue streams to further the AUI mission in this arena
  • Oversee the preparation of internal and external project reviews and reports
  • Effectively communicate project and program status with funders, keeping all interested parties in the project informed of progress and any issues that may arise


Skills on Resume: 

  • Communications Strategy (Hard Skills)
  • Government Relations (Soft Skills)
  • Stakeholder Engagement (Soft Skills)
  • Proposal Development (Hard Skills)
  • Research Infrastructure Management (Hard Skills)
  • Leadership and Collaboration (Soft Skills)
  • Revenue Generation (Hard Skills)
  • Project Reporting (Hard Skills)

7. Director of External Affairs, Bridgewater Solutions, Portland, ME

Job Summary: 

  • Research, track, manage, and continually refine direct mail lists to increase awareness of the School and grow the number of prospective students entering the enrollment pipeline.
  • Interface regularly with the Director of Enrollment Management and the Assistant Director of Admissions
  • Serve as a collaborative partner to the Director of External Affairs on messaging strategies, demographic targeting, and outreach execution.
  • Lead the cross-functional coordination and production process necessary to launch a comprehensive, annual publication at the School that serves as a prospectus, giving report, and school magazine.
  • Manage content calendar strategy, alignment, and realization across print and digital channels in close collaboration with the Director of External Affairs and the Manager of Marketing and Communications.
  • Work with vendors and internal stakeholders to expand outreach, sponsorship, and event opportunities that grow awareness of the School among educational, legal, and psychological professionals and their professional associations.
  • Establish and implement best practices and processes for fundraising at School through oversight of The Raiser’s Edge database and database processes, gift entry and acknowledgment, reconciliation, data analysis, imports and exports, appeal and proposal tracking, and information and file management.
  • Drive planning for future capital campaigns associated with the second and third phases of the school’s master plan, up to and including the creation of campaign infrastructure—committees, staffing needs, collateral, budgets—and the selection and management of external consultants necessary to understand the feasibility and realize success.
  • Support the Director of External Affairs in setting and adjusting annual expense and revenue budgets using data that is regularly personalized.
  • Collaborate with the Director of External Affairs to develop and realize a strategic communications plan for annual and campaign fundraising that meets expected timelines and stays within budget.
  • Train the Manager of Marketing and Communications in best-in-class practices around gift entry and acknowledgment, donor prospecting, and donor research to create redundancies within the External Affairs Department.
  • Plan, implement, and assess 20 annual engagement events for donors and prospective donors, current and past families, alumni, and prospective families, including the annual Community Celebration and Auction, in close collaboration with the Director of External Affairs and other key organizational stakeholders.
  • Serve as a representative of the School at events, advancing the School’s mission to all audiences in a manner that reflects the standard of excellence to which all members of the school community hold themselves.
  • Design, maintain and regularly prepare compelling reports and meeting materials for External Affairs presentations to the Board of Trustees and Advancement Committee.
  • Serve alongside the Director of External Affairs as a primary institutional representative to the Parent Community Association (PCA) and the Community Celebration and Auction Committee.
  • Serve alongside the Director of External Affairs as a primary institutional representative to the Capital Campaign and Advancement Committees.


Skills on Resume: 

  • Direct Mail Management (Hard Skills)
  • Collaboration and Coordination (Soft Skills)
  • Content Strategy (Hard Skills)
  • Fundraising Best Practices (Hard Skills)
  • Event Planning (Soft Skills)
  • Database Management (Hard Skills)
  • Budgeting and Financial Planning (Hard Skills)
  • Report Creation and Presentation (Hard Skills)