Change Management Communications Manager

The Change Management Communications Manager will report to the Director of Internal Communications within the North America Communications department supporting priorities for United States and Canada. This role will lead the design and execution of strategic, organization-wide internal communication plans to support change management initiatives across North America. The priority mission in this role is to support a successful safety culture with a multi-year roadmap and integrated communications plan. This position will be partnered with functional experts in the business, including Health and Safety, Human Resources, Operations, members of the Communications Team and others to drive change adoption, minimize resistance and barriers, and ensure awareness and readiness across key audience groups, such as Human Resources, Plant Managers, People Managers and internal colleagues.

The Communications Manager will rely on functional subject matter experts to determine the priorities and content to develop and execute comprehensive multichannel change management communication strategies, including stakeholder assessments, audience impact assessments, training plans, and communication plans for sponsors, people managers, and internal colleagues.

They will also be responsible for determining communication plan success metrics and conducting focus groups and surveys to capture regular feedback from business partners, stakeholders, and audiences to determine sentiment, trends, strengths and opportunities of the approach, and revise plans according to insights. They will measure and track adoption using metrics and data determined by sponsor partners, as well as setting and reporting on communication KPIs to ensure engagement and viewership of communications. They will also implement effective processes, systems, and cultural shifts to be able to create and sustain momentum of the safety movement across key audiences to achieve success objectives.

Examples of strategic change management communications priorities and initiatives in year one of the role include (but are not limited to): “Protect Every You” safety culture program, M&A integration priorities, and support if the global HR information systems change., Understand the change management strategy established by leaders and translate it into clear, actionable communication plans.

• Lead the planning and creation of communications plans, including messaging toolkits, editorial calendars, content and engagement activities designed to enhance awareness and adoption of changes.
• Develop initiatives to promote and strengthen employee engagement including employee events, recognition tools, internal events, town halls, and other feedback mechanisms.
• Partner with HR and Operations leaders to define requirements to improve communications skills for people managers and supervisors, to support organizational goals and objectives.

• Collaborates effectively with functional and business teams to ensure alignment and integration of internal communication campaigns and change management priorities. -Manages project plans and provides status updates and reporting to senior Communications leaders to advise and inform on progress for key projects and initiatives.

• Regular reporting and analysis of communications KPIs and employee feedback data to identify trends, improvements, opportunities and challenges.
• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of communication strategies and initiatives for continuous improvement.
• Ensure all plans are executed within assigned budget.

A minimum of 7+ years of progressive experience creating change management communication plans and managing internal communications campaigns, priorities and initiatives in large, high-matrix organization with a dispersed workforce, combined with a proven track record of development and executing successful communication campaigns and employee engagement activities.

• Exceptional writing, editing, and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently with minimal direction.
• Experience, skill and comfort communicating with senior leadership.
• Strong project management abilities.
• Strong presentation skills.
• Experience leading complex projects with internal teams and external agency partners.
• Effective communicator with the ability to foster an environment of teamwork with designated project groups.
• High degree of proficiency in using communication tools and platforms, including intranets, email marketing software, mobile apps and other digital and traditional media. Experience working with Microsoft Word and Powerpoint, Poppulo, Scala, Sharepoint, LifeRay, Canva, and Adobe Creative Suite or similar communication and design software is required.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple priorities.
• Experience working in multi-national, highly matrixed manufacturing organizations.
• Experience and certification in change management communications is required.