NEW YORK—SpecOps Communications, a media and digital communications firm founded by former Lippert Heilshorn managing director Adam Handelsman, has hired media relations veteran Jonathan Zaback (pictured) as chief communications officer.

Zaback was most recently a partner and global media director at Finn Partners, and he previously served as director of media relations for Emanate PR and manager of the US media practice at Burson-Marsteller.

Handelsman was principal and managing director at Lippert Heilshorn for four years before founding SpecOps in September of last year. Before that, he was an executive vice president and national director of strategic media relations at Cohn & Wolfe, a partner at 5W Public Relations and head of his own agency, Handelsman Public Relations.