---
title: 'Senior Communications Associate at Luminary Labs'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-communications-associate-luminary-labs-new-york-r5ffjxfjb4e6'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-14'
---

# Senior Communications Associate at Luminary Labs

- **Company:** Luminary Labs
- **Location:** New York, NY
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2020-02-05
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-14
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/luminary-labs/3c1cadba-995f-42a3-bc37-0b11eb87b85f

## Job description

## About Us

We are a strategy and innovation consultancy that helps organizations thrive in the face of change. Thorny problems are our strong suit.

We’re a team of consultants who are energized by big, messy problems. We are strategists, analysts, designers, and editors who bring agility and flexibility to projects focused on stemming chronic disease, closing the skills gap, rethinking the future of work, supporting digital transformations, using data to make smart cities safer, developing sustainable business models, and making moonshot investments.

We help companies thrive in the face of change. Our clients are “innovation mavericks” — leaders inside global corporations, nonprofits, and federal agencies who are tasked with helping their organizations adapt to the technological, economic, political, and social norms of the 21st century. We’re the strategy and innovation consultants they call when there’s no playbook for the problem they’re trying to solve.

Our open innovation practice was established in 2011. We are particularly focused on open innovation for impact, making use of incentive prize mechanisms to accelerate innovations such as artificial organs (Artificial Kidney Prize), early biothreat detection (DHS Hidden Signals Challenge), access to career and technical education (the Ed Prizes challenge series), and improving our understanding of Earth’s magnetism (NGA MagQuest).

We have an equal appreciation for strategy and execution. We offer our clients the upfront thinking that goes into careful strategy development and can become partners in execution to ensure those strategies are implemented.

We believe that career choices are not binary; you can have a challenging and rewarding career as part of a high-performing team and also live your life. Our clients appreciate that we bring the highest level of excellence to everything we do, and our team appreciates that we are extraordinarily efficient so that you aren’t expected to be online later.

Please note: for employment at Luminary Labs, you must be fully vaccinated (including booster) for COVID-19 to ensure compliance with enhanced health and safety protocols.

## The Role

Luminary Labs seeks a digital-savvy communications specialist to support public-facing initiatives, including open innovation programs and accelerators, on behalf of our Fortune 500, government, and nonprofit clients. This is a unique opportunity to help our clients communicate complex problems, learn directly from senior leadership, and grow within a consulting firm as an in-house communications and marketing expert.

Please note that our team has embraced a hybrid model for our five-day work week, with two synchronous days in the office and three days wherever you work best. This role is based in New York City and will join our team in the office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays most weeks.

## About You

You’re an action-oriented marketer who is motivated by the win.

You have experience in strategic communications and marketing, either as part of an in-house team or in an agency or consulting environment. You get excited about rallying around a common goal, engaging audiences and communities, crafting high-impact messaging, exploring new technologies and media, and working with a team to form and deploy an effective communications strategy. You love driving impact through a well-run campaign. With a strong grasp of digital platforms, you look forward to checking your web and social analytics, and get excited about optimizing and iterating to achieve outcomes.

You care about the impact your work has on the world and have been looking for a career path that is both high-performance and high-impact. We’ve powered programs such as Mission Daybreak, LymeX Diagnostics Prize, and the Learning Landscapes Challenge; this role would help identify creative communications opportunities and amplify our work and our company. No matter how nuanced the topic, you are a clear communicator; you can quickly get up to speed on complex topics and connect the dots between them to tell a compelling story.

People love to have you on their team. You love to be part of a team. You are known for your high attention to detail, clear communication, and fresh thinking.

## Role and Responsibilities

- Marketing. Collaborate with a team to define audiences, set goals, and develop strategies. Identify opportunities to promote and amplify our work, and execute campaigns across channels. Keep a finger on the pulse of modern marketing and communications, and share best practices with the team.
- Analytics. Track campaign progress toward defined goals. Articulate actionable, data-informed insights. Offer recommendations for adjusting strategy and tactics to achieve outcomes.
- Audience development. Build networks and engagement. Research people and organizations, and conduct multichannel outreach. Monitor media coverage and pitch stories to relevant reporters.
- Research, writing, and editing. Quickly ramp up on new topics, filtering signals from noise. Take the lead on drafting compelling communications materials, including blog posts, press releases, email newsletters, and social media posts. Edit your own work — and your peers’ — for clarity and consistency.
- Content strategy and production. Create thoughtful content plans and materials, balancing audience needs with project or business goals. Adapt messages for different contexts, and develop content for different channels and formats.

Desired Skills and Experience

- 4-6+ years work experience in tech-savvy marketing, communications, or business development; this includes 2-3 years experience working in an agency, consultancy, startup, or with corporate clients.
- Demonstrated experience supporting large-scale integrated communications programs; this includes managing social media campaigns, direct marketing, communities, and press outreach.
- Familiarity with Google Analytics and social media analytics.
- Experience researching and identifying influencers and press/event opportunities.
- Exceptional attention to detail and organizational skills.
- Superb writing chops; experience developing multichannel content to activate audiences.
- Excellent verbal skills and a high EQ; adept at translating communications strategy to internal and client teams.
- Ability to learn new platforms and tools quickly; experience with Mailchimp and WordPress a plus.
- Familiarity with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and/or other equivalent LLM, and sound judgement when it comes to using AI tools in a client services environment.
- Strong record as a high performer in academic, volunteer, or work activities, with noted leadership accomplishments.
- High adaptability to new organizational cultures; you are agile, realistic, and practical, and thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

Does this sound like you?

Please submit your cover letter and resume. (Writing is an important part of this role, and we view cover letters as writing samples.) We know that many communications/marketing professionals specialize in a particular area, such as social media or public relations; in your cover letter, describe your strengths and how you hope to grow in your next role. Please also include three examples of marketing programs that you admire or wish you had worked on. You may also include links to your own work or thinking online. Let us know your availability for employment.

Candidates must be authorized to work in the U.S. No recruiting agencies please.

The total compensation package for this role includes a base salary in the range of $95,000 to $115,000 plus a discretionary annual performance bonus. The starting salary for this role is at the lower bound of the salary range; an individual's starting salary will depend on the individual’s relevant knowledge, skills, and experience.

## About Luminary Labs

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Luminary Labs is a New York City–based strategy and innovation consultancy that helps government, foundation, and corporate clients solve complex, high-stakes, multistakeholder problems.
- **Entity Type**: Private (funding stage not publicly disclosed; certified woman-owned business)
- **Headquarters**: New York City, United States
- **Founded**: 2009
- **Founders**: Sara Holoubek (Founding Partner) [luminary-labs.com](https://www.luminary-labs.com/team/)

## Core Business
- **Industry**: Strategy and innovation consulting, with a focus on open innovation, program design, and large-scale execution.
- **Target Customers**: B2B / B2G (government agencies, foundations, nonprofits, and large private-sector organizations, especially in regulated industries such as healthcare and pharmaceuticals).
- **Focus Areas**: Future of work and education, future of health, scientific discovery, and infrastructure.
- **Mission / Purpose**: Help clients “make it real” — translating upfront thinking into strategies, programs, and initiatives that turn great ideas into great realities. They are energized by “thorny problems” in complex, multistakeholder spaces where solutions are not obvious and impact is high. [luminary-labs.com](https://www.luminary-labs.com/careers/)

## Products & Services
- **Strategy & Innovation Consulting**: Analyze problem spaces, synthesize learnings, surface key tensions and opportunity areas, and guide collaborative decision-making.
- **Program Design & Execution**: Convene multidisciplinary stakeholders, facilitate alignment, map ecosystems, build frameworks, build scenarios, select pathways, design strategic programs, and operationalize/launch new initiatives.
- **Innovation Ecosystem / Partnership Brokerage**: Bring together best-in-class teams and partners to support client goals, especially where complex or regulated environments require careful risk mitigation. [luminary-labs.com](https://www.luminary-labs.com/about/)
- **Communications, Evaluation & Event Production**: Known for running seamless, high-quality programs across communications, innovator support, stakeholder management, evaluation, and live event production. [luminary-labs.com](https://www.luminary-labs.com/careers/)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not disclosed.
- **Key Metric**: Revenue not publicly disclosed; no public funding rounds identified.
- **Notable Clients / Partners**:
  - **Corporate**: AstraZeneca, Celgene, Janssen, Merck & Co., Inc., Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, Roche, Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
  - **Nonprofit**: Bezos Earth Fund, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Schmidt Futures, Walton Family Foundation, Planned Parenthood, TEDMED, and others.
  - **Government**: BARDA, CDC, NASA, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, NIH, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. FDA. [luminary-labs.com](https://www.luminary-labs.com/)
- **Growth Signals**: The company has stated it is growing and has open positions in New York. It has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, and books such as *The Culture Book*, *Geek Girl Rising*, *Here’s the Plan*, and *The Big Enough Company*. [luminary-labs.com](https://www.luminary-labs.com/about/) [luminary-labs.com](https://www.luminary-labs.com/what-its-like-to-work-at-luminary-labs/)

## Competitive Advantages
- **“Thorny problems” specialization**: Strong track record in complex, multistakeholder spaces where the path forward is unclear.
- **Regulated-industry expertise**: Particularly skilled at helping large, regulated organizations innovate while mitigating risk.
- **Extensive ecosystem**: Deep connections across industries allow them to convene partners, span disciplines, and move from insight to execution quickly.
- **High-quality execution**: Renowned for communications, event production, stakeholder management, and “no surprises” delivery.
- **Flexible consulting model**: Engagements adapt to client needs — from leading execution to collaborating with existing internal teams and transferring competencies.
- **Human-centered culture**: Explicitly values boundaries, trust, transparency, and investing in people — which they cite as a driver of client results. [luminary-labs.com](https://www.luminary-labs.com/careers/) [luminary-labs.com](https://www.luminary-labs.com/about/)

## Strategic Focus
- **Deepen focus areas**: Continuing to work across future of work/education, future of health, scientific discovery, and infrastructure.
- **Open innovation & “make it real” execution**: Prioritizing the design and launch of real-world programs, not just strategy decks.
- **Transferring capabilities**: Working with existing partners and internal talent to ensure client teams can sustain innovation after the engagement.
- **Investing in people and culture**: Growing the team deliberately, maintaining flexibility and high standards, and supporting professional development. [luminary-labs.com](https://www.luminary-labs.com/about/) [luminary-labs.com](https://www.luminary-labs.com/what-its-like-to-work-at-luminary-labs/)

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: “You can have a challenging and rewarding career while also living your life.” The team values thoughtfulness, efficiency, and not being expected to be online later. They describe themselves as agile, “no surprises” consultants who work closely and collaboratively.
- **Hybrid work model**: Five-day work week with two synchronous days in the office (Tuesdays/Wednesdays) and three days wherever you work best. All current openings are based in New York City.
- **Benefits**: Competitive compensation and bonus structure; health/dental/vision coverage (80% of premium covered); competitive vacation; paid family leave; 401k with matching; pre-tax transit check; cell phone reimbursement; fitness reimbursement; education stipend; charitable donation matching; mentoring opportunities.
- **Hiring note**: The team reads every application; they value original thinking and a passion for the work. They explicitly welcome candidates who use AI for research/practice, but do not advance applications that are clearly AI-generated cover letters. Being fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (including booster if eligible) is required. [luminary-labs.com](https://www.luminary-labs.com/careers/)

## Sources
1. [luminary-labs.com – Careers](https://www.luminary-labs.com/careers/)
2. [luminary-labs.com – Home](https://www.luminary-labs.com/)
3. [luminary-labs.com – About](https://www.luminary-labs.com/about/)
4. [luminary-labs.com – Team](https://www.luminary-labs.com/team/)
5. [luminary-labs.com – What it’s like to work at Luminary Labs](https://www.luminary-labs.com/what-its-like-to-work-at-luminary-labs/)

## Other roles at Luminary Labs

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