Head of Employee Experience & Internal Communications

Simon & Schuster • New York, NY

1d • $170,000 - $200,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Simon & Schuster is seeking a hands-on strategic leader for a newly created role connecting employee communications, experiences, and change management to amplify the impact of its people and work. The role will help knowledge travel across the company, strengthen collaboration, connect colleagues with business priorities, and create opportunities to learn from one another while building on the relationships, traditions, and passion for books that define the company.

Reporting jointly to the Global Head of Communications and Marketing and the Chief HR Officer, the position partners with senior leaders, Human Resources, publishing groups, and teams across the business to develop an integrated approach to employee communications and experience. It combines strategic judgment with hands-on execution to create useful, engaging programs.

This is a global role based at Simon & Schuster’s Rockefeller Center headquarters in New York, requiring an active, regular office presence. A particular focus is making headquarters a vibrant place for collaboration, learning, and connection, while partnering with colleagues across offices and distribution centers on experiences that reflect local needs and connect the broader company.

Requirements

• 12 or more years of progressive experience in employee or internal communications, employee experience, engagement, change management, Human Resources, or a related field.
• Demonstrated success developing communications strategies and employee programs across a complex organization.
• Exceptional writing, storytelling, executive communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience translating business priorities into clear communications, practical programs, and effective change management.
• Strong planning and execution skills, with a record of creating valuable learning, community, or employee experiences.
• Ability to use employee insights and program results to set priorities, assess value, and make improvements.
• Strong relationship-building skills and ability to influence and collaborate across functions, levels, and locations.
• Strategic judgment and a hands-on approach, including the ability to advise senior leaders, develop original ideas, and manage execution details.
• Enthusiasm for publishing and appreciation for the creative and commercial work that brings books to readers.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant experience.
• Ability to maintain an active, regular presence at the Rockefeller Center headquarters in New York and build strong partnerships globally.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute an integrated employee communications strategy connecting colleagues across divisions, functions, and locations to company priorities, publishing achievements, and one another.
• Partner with the CEO and senior leaders on executive messages, town halls, leadership conversations, videos, and other communications that provide context, insight, and opportunities for dialogue.
• Translate business strategy and company developments into clear, relevant communications that help employees understand how their work contributes to the company’s success.
• Strengthen digital communication channels, including Microsoft Teams, to make information easier to find and encourage knowledge sharing and collaboration.
• Develop an employee experience agenda that supports business priorities and draws on employee perspectives and partnerships across the company.
• Design and deliver a year-round Rockefeller Center calendar combining valuable learning and collaboration with creative, enjoyable employee experiences.
• Bring employees, authors, leaders, and external experts together for conversations, skill-sharing, problem-solving, and programming that draws on the publishing community’s talent.
• Create opportunities for colleagues to understand one another’s work, exchange ideas across teams, and build relationships that support effective collaboration.
• Partner with Human Resources, Facilities, and local leaders to connect programs across locations and bring an employee perspective to onboarding and other important career moments.
• Build on employee dialogue through conversations, forums, surveys, and other feedback opportunities to inform priorities and program design.
• Partner with employees and leaders to identify practical improvements and develop solutions that address employee needs.
• Communicate how employee feedback has informed decisions, share progress, and maintain clear follow-through.
• Establish meaningful measures of program value, including usefulness, learning, collaboration, and adoption, and use insights to refine investments and activities.
• Embed diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility into employee programs and communications so colleagues across backgrounds, roles, and locations can participate and contribute.
• Partner with Employee Resource Groups and employee-led initiatives to bring different perspectives, expertise, and ideas into company programming.
• Develop partnerships that connect publishing capabilities and employees’ talents with opportunities to promote literacy, expand access to books, and inspire a love of reading.
• Collaborate with publishing teams, authors, schools, libraries, and community organizations on book donations, volunteering, mentoring, and other opportunities to give back through books and storytelling.
• Partner with business leaders, Human Resources, Technology, and project teams on initiatives that improve how employees work and help the company achieve its goals.
• Develop change plans that explain an initiative’s purpose and implications for employees, with communications, learning, and support tailored to affected teams.
• Involve employees through demonstrations, pilots, and feedback opportunities that improve solutions and build confidence before broader implementation.
• Track adoption and employee feedback with initiative owners, adjusting support so changes deliver their intended value.

Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• 401(k) plan
• Life insurance coverage
• Disability benefits
• Tuition assistance program
• PTO
• Broad Based Ownership program, which makes all employees partners in shared success

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director