Corporate Communications Manager

Sakata Seed America•Woodland, CA

17h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Corporate Communications Manager reports to the Associate Director, Corporate Administration. As the organization’s first dedicated corporate communications professional, the role builds and operates the communications capabilities needed for consistent, timely, and effective communication across Sakata America, Inc. (SAI), Sakata Seed de México (SMX), and Sakata Guatemala (SGU), executing a cohesive Sakata Americas Holdings (SAH) communications strategy while accommodating local business, cultural, and employee needs. This hands-on individual contributor role combines strategy with execution, building the function’s operating model, channels, and measurement while personally producing employee and executive communications. Success requires strong judgment, exceptional writing, practical technical capability, and the ability to influence stakeholders across functions, subsidiaries, cultures, and time zones.

Requirements

Exceptional Communication: Outstanding writing, editing, storytelling, and presentation skills, with a strong command of business English.
Strategic and Hands-On Capability: Connects communications to business priorities and moves fluidly from planning and advising to writing, publishing, and measuring.
Builder’s Mindset: Creates structure, tools, and momentum where communications infrastructure is limited.
Brand Governance: Understands visual and verbal identity standards, asset control, and approval practices.
Digital Workplace Proficiency: Understands intranet and content-management platforms, information architecture, permissions, analytics, and adoption; Microsoft 365 proficiency strongly preferred.
Change Communications: Develops audience-centered change plans that address stakeholder impacts, leader readiness, and adoption.
Measurement and Analytics: Establishes meaningful metrics, interprets quantitative and qualitative data, and uses insights to improve outcomes.
Project Management: Manages multiple priorities, complex stakeholders, vendors, and firm deadlines with strong organization and follow-through.
Influence and Collaboration: Builds trust and alignment without direct authority across subsidiaries, functions, cultures, and time zones.
Judgment and Confidentiality: Exercises discretion and sound judgment, with the confidence and diplomacy to advise and appropriately challenge senior stakeholders.
Adaptability and Resilience: Learns the business quickly, remains composed under pressure, and adapts as priorities evolve.
Bachelor’s degree in communications, public relations, journalism, marketing, or a related discipline strongly preferred; equivalent directly related experience may be considered.
Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in corporate, internal, executive, or change communications, including at least 3 years leading communications programs or building communications processes, channels, or functions.
Demonstrated success in corporate, internal, executive, or change communications required; experience communicating a long-term business plan to a distributed workforce strongly preferred.
Experience in a parent, holding, or multi-subsidiary company and across countries or cultures preferred.
Professional English proficiency required; additional languages welcome.

Nice To Haves

Experience building or significantly improving a communications function, processes, or channels strongly preferred.
Practical experience evaluating, implementing, or managing intranet or employee-communication platforms strongly preferred.
Experience in agriculture, seed, manufacturing, life sciences, or another B2B environment desirable but not required.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a cohesive communications strategy across SAI, SMX, and SGU, aligning priorities, messaging, channels, and calendars while partnering with subsidiary leaders on local needs.
Establish the annual plan, editorial calendar, intake process, approval workflows, channel standards, decision rights, and content governance model.
Create templates, playbooks, and service standards that improve communication quality, consistency, and speed.
Establish a communications operating rhythm with leaders, Human Resources, Information Technology, Marketing, Legal, Safety, Sustainability and Facilities (SSF), and subsidiary contacts.
Recommend improvements aligned with the company’s evolving needs, maturity, and resources.
Develop and execute clear, timely, and actionable communication plans for enterprise priorities, organizational updates, and major initiatives.
Bring PASSION2035, the Sakata Group’s ten-year long-term business plan, to employees across SAI, SMX, and SGU.
Own end-to-end planning and execution of all-employee town halls, including cadence, agenda, speaker preparation, content, production, employee Q&A, post-event communications, and effectiveness measurement, partnering with Executive Administration, Information Technology, Human Resources, SSF, and subsidiary teams.
Write, edit, and publish leadership messages, announcements, newsletters, intranet stories, FAQs, presentations, talking points, video scripts, and town hall materials.
Partner with initiative owners to identify stakeholder impacts, sequence communications, anticipate questions, and equip leaders and managers to communicate effectively.
Develop and maintain the crisis communications plan, including protocols, approval pathways, holding statements, and notification channels.
Lead internal and external crisis messaging, including employee communications, stakeholder updates, and media statements prepared for delivery by designated executives, in partnership with SSF, Human Resources, Legal, and executive leadership.
Serve as a trusted writing partner to senior leaders, translating complex topics into concise, credible messages and preparing leaders for key communication moments.
Strengthen two-way communication through feedback mechanisms, listening practices, and follow-through.
Lead the development, implementation, and ongoing evolution of the corporate brand across SAI, SMX, and SGU, partnering with external creative agencies and internal stakeholders to translate brand strategy into practical visual and verbal standards, templates, communications materials, and employee-facing resources.
Establish brand ownership, decision rights, approval pathways, usage standards, exception processes, and compliance reviews.
Maintain brand guidelines, visual identity resources, and enablement materials for employees and approved partners.
Advise teams on brand application, review high-visibility materials, and coordinate with creative partners as needed.
Own the strategy, information architecture, content model, governance, and publishing standards of the company intranet across SAI, SMX, and SGU, in partnership with Information Technology and content owners.
Evaluate the current intranet and available solutions, and recommend and support implementation of the platform that best meets SAH’s usability, governance, accessibility, integration, and multilingual needs.
Maintain an intuitive digital environment where employees can easily access company news, leadership communications, brand resources, templates, and policies.
Own and administer the company’s enterprise communication channels, including Microsoft Teams channels and communities, shared corporate mailboxes and distribution lists, the intranet, and other designated channels, separate from the role’s individual Teams and email accounts.
Administer a centralized brand and communications library with clear navigation, permissions, naming conventions, version control, and archiving standards.
Train contributors and content owners, establish accountability for distributed content, and monitor compliance and adoption.
Define practical measures of reach, engagement, understanding, channel effectiveness, brand adoption, and platform usage, including employee understanding of PASSION2035.
Build lightweight dashboards and reporting using Microsoft 365, intranet, and platform data, supplemented by employee feedback.
Use analytics and feedback to improve content and channels, guide priorities, and demonstrate the value of corporate communications.
Build trusted relationships across subsidiaries and functions, coordinate inputs and approvals, and promote consistency while respecting local differences.
Manage the scope, quality, timelines, and budgets of external creative, technology, or production partners.
Handle executive, organizational, and employee-related information with discretion.
Remain current on internal, change, and digital workplace communications practices.
Perform other duties and special projects as assigned.