Communications Manager

Cushman & Wakefield•Santa Clara, CA

14d•$102,000 - $120,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Communications Manager will serve on Cushman & Wakefield’s Strategic Consulting team, leading communications and related project coordination focused on the people side of change for a client’s workplace initiatives. These initiatives may include office relocations, renovations, expansions, consolidations, closures, and organizational integrations, embedded in the client’s overall workplace change management program. The role creates communications and engagement opportunities to help employees adopt and use changes effectively and build proficiency. The manager partners with Workplace Strategy and Change Management teams and client stakeholders to plan and deliver communications, manage review and approval cycles, advise on timing and channels, address risks and resistance, and assess readiness and progress. The role also supports training, senior leader engagement, presentation development, research, and project coordination. It supports a global portfolio, is required to be on-site four days per week in the client office, and may involve 15–20% travel. Flexibility outside standard local working hours may periodically be required. The position offers compensation of $102,000–$120,000. Eligible employees may enroll in benefits that generally include health, vision, and dental insurance, flexible spending and health savings accounts, retirement savings plans, life and disability insurance, and paid and unpaid time away from work.

Requirements

Between 7 and 10+ years of experience in employee communications, change communications, corporate communications, project communications, or consulting communication.
Demonstrated experience managing multiple initiatives and complex stakeholder review processes in a fast-paced environment.
Excellent writing, editing, and proofreading skills, with the ability to write across a wide variety of formats.
Strong interpersonal communication, leadership, relationship-building, and emotional intelligence skills.
Cultural sensitivity and effectiveness in global, remote environments with diverse teams.
Experience with large-scale organizational change efforts.
Business acumen and understanding of organizational issues and challenges.
Ability to clearly articulate messages to a variety of audiences, establish strong relationships, influence others toward a common vision or goal, and work effectively at all organizational levels.
Flexibility and adaptability in ambiguous situations, resilience, tenacity, and a forward-looking, holistic approach.
Organization and a natural inclination for planning strategy and tactics.
Problem-solving and root-cause identification skills.
Ability to work collaboratively as a team player and through others.
Strong knowledge of spreadsheet and presentation software, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
A solid understanding of how people experience change and the change process.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, Marketing, Human Resources, Organization Development, Psychology, or a related field.
Real estate experience.
Experience working in a global organization.
Change management certification or designation, including Prosci Certification.
Experience with the Prosci ADKAR® Model.

Responsibilities

Lead communications planning and programming for workplace change initiatives as part of the overall change management strategy for a global client.
Partner with Workplace Strategy and Change Management teams to develop and implement communications and engagement activities that support successful, lasting change.
Gather and validate information from client stakeholders, project managers, site leads, and cross-functional partners.
Manage stakeholder review and approval cycles, reconcile feedback, maintain version control, and coordinate final delivery.
Identify missing information, unresolved decisions, dependencies, and risks that could affect communications or project timelines.
Advise client stakeholders on communications timing, sequencing, audience needs, message content, and delivery channels.
Identify and analyze anticipated resistance, prepare risk mitigation tactics, and support management of resistance as part of the workplace change management program.
Consult and coach project teams as needed and support and engage senior leaders.
Support training efforts as needed.
Evaluate and ensure user readiness.
Track and report issues.
Define and measure success metrics and monitor change progress.
Participate in developing presentation materials, ensuring they are clear, succinct, compelling, and address client questions and goals.
Create materials using Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, and other applicable presentation tools.
Manage project time, respond to team requests promptly, and meet team and project deadlines.
Participate in researching and developing white papers and industry reports.
Seek out and suggest ways to apply new industry tools and technology to current projects.
Perform other assigned duties, such as creating or updating microsites.