Associate, Strategic Communications

Position Summary

Vista’s Strategic Communications team is seeking a talented and ambitious communications professional to join its interdisciplinary corporate communications team in New York. The role will report to the Vice President, Strategic Communications.

About the role

Vista's Strategic Communications leads public relations and corporate communications across the firm's private equity, private credit and private wealth franchises. The team's responsibilities include media relations, external communications, internal communications, thought leadership, corporate reputation management and portfolio company communications. The Strategic Communications team also partners closely with Vista's Marketing and Capital and Partner Solutions (CAPS) teams on the firm's owned content, thought leadership and investor engagement strategies.

Responsibilities

• Media Relations: Establish and cultivate relationships with key journalists and serve as Vista spokespeople, interacting with media daily. Brief and prepare senior executives for interactions with media, including live television and podcasts. Manage incoming media inquiries and proactively secure favorable coverage in outlets that reach Vista's institutional and private wealth investors.
• Financial Communications: Lead Vista's external communications and deal communications across a broad array of transactions ranging from large 'take-private' buyouts to structured credit investments.
• Thought Leadership and External Narrative: Lead high visibility third-party thought leadership activations, including podcast and major conference speaking opportunities. Develop and align external messaging for the firm across operational and investment teams.
• Corporate Reputation: Assess, identify and mitigate reputational risks. Lead preparedness and response planning for reputational, regulatory, or market-sensitive issues.
• Portfolio Company Communications: Advise portfolio companies on certain media and PR matters alongside Vista's investment and value creation teams.
• Internal Communications: Take ownership and coordinate a cohesive and comprehensive internal communications program at Vista, refining existing processes where appropriate and identifying new opportunities to ensure Vista's employees are engaged and aligned with the firm's strategic priorities. Draft and sequence various internal messages and messaging materials across appropriate internal channels.
• Thought Leadership and Firm Narrative: Drive Vista's external thought leadership activations, including podcast appearances and major speaking engagements for senior executives at venues like Milken and SuperReturn International. Work closely with Vista's Marketing and CAPS teams and other internal subject matter experts, create centralized messaging to support content for broad dissemination to external stakeholders around key investment and thought leadership topics, with a focus on the intersection of enterprise software and AI.
• Media Monitoring and Research: Manage the creation of certain publications and projects that occur on a recurring basis, as well as other research projects that arise based on market dynamics, changes in regulation, client activity or other catalysts.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 3-5 years of experience in corporate communications in-house or at an agency; with a strong preference for direct experience in financial services and/or technology-related fields.
• Strong written and verbal communications skills and the ability to simplify complex topics into clear and persuasive messages for external and internal audiences.
• Exceptional organizational skills and a track record of personal accountability, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously, prioritize effectively, and follow through with minimal oversight.
• Confident self-starter with great relationship management skills and the ability to build strong working relationships internally and externally.
• Experience working with senior executives in a fast-moving environment, including the ability to navigate competing priorities and meet deadlines under pressure.
• Strong work ethic and flexibility to be available beyond standard hours when business needs demand.
• Comfort leveraging emerging AI tools and technology — like Claude and OpenAI — to improve team workflows and scale impact across the firm and investment ecosystem.

Pay

The annualized base pay range for this role is expected to be between $110,000-130,000. Actual base pay could vary based on factors including but not limited to experience, subject matter expertise and the applicant's skill set.