Business Communications Manager
About The Position
The Business Communications Manager serves as the primary communications partner for a dedicated business unit within Animal Nutrition, Dairy Foods, or WinField United. The role provides strategic counsel, develops comprehensive communication strategies, and connects business-unit priorities to the broader enterprise narrative and reputation. Working closely with business leaders, the Manager anticipates stakeholder needs and operating realities, challenges assumptions, pressure-tests messaging, and identifies where communications can create the most value. The Manager translates business priorities and market and operational complexity into clear narratives for employees, business teams, member-owners, customers, and other external stakeholders. The role coordinates communications partners and leads disciplined execution, issue management, and measurement of communication effectiveness in support of business priorities.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, English, or a related field.
- 8–10 years of progressive corporate communications, public relations, or strategic communications experience.
- Demonstrated success partnering directly with senior business leaders.
- Proven ability to act as an early-stage strategic advisor who shapes business decisions, challenges assumptions, and navigates complex matrixed environments.
- Demonstrated ability to align business-unit priorities with corporate goals and brand identity.
- Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills.
- Proven ability to translate complex technical or commercial concepts into clear, engaging narratives.
- Demonstrated success collaborating with integrated teams across internal communications, external PR, brand marketing, and agency partners.
Nice To Haves
- Master’s degree in communications, Business Administration (MBA), or a related discipline.
- Direct industry experience in agriculture, animal nutrition, dairy foods, or broad agribusiness/manufacturing sectors.
- Prior experience operating within a dedicated business-unit-aligned communications model.
Responsibilities
- Serve as the communications partner and strategic advisor for an assigned business unit, maintaining deep understanding of its business priorities, commercial goals, stakeholder dynamics, and emerging risks.
- Engage business leaders early in strategy, planning, and decision-making to assess communications implications, sharpen priorities, pressure-test messaging, and provide strategic guidance.
- Help leaders determine which initiatives need communications support, which can be simplified, and where integrated resources are needed.
- Connect business-unit priorities to the enterprise narrative and ensure divisional plans support growth, companywide reputation, message discipline, and alignment across Communications teams.
- Develop clear, differentiated narratives that inform, align, and motivate employees, business teams, member-owners, customers, and other external stakeholders.
- Lead messaging architecture and executive communications for key business initiatives, coordinating with Enterprise & Executive Communications when broader senior-leader visibility, enterprise positioning, or reputational considerations are involved.
- Coordinate Enterprise & Executive, Member & Employee, Digital, Central Marketing, and agency partners to deliver aligned storytelling, PR campaigns, channel execution, and stakeholder engagement.
- Drive execution of priority initiatives by clarifying objectives, audiences, messages, owners, channels, and timing, and ensuring deliverables meet quality, brand, and business standards.
- Identify and escalate emerging business-unit issues; partner with Enterprise & Executive Communications and lead mitigation, response planning and execution, and business reputation protection.
- Measure communications effectiveness using quantitative and qualitative insight into reach, understanding, stakeholder response, and contribution to desired outcomes.
Benefits
- A broad portfolio of benefits for employees and their families.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
