WHAT DOES A SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER DO?
Published: August 6, 2024 - The Senior Communications Manager tackles complex, rapidly evolving communication challenges with a high level of professionalism and acute judgment. This role demands the ability to distill intricate messages into clear, accessible content while managing simultaneous projects under tight deadlines. Moreover, the position involves leading the development and execution of comprehensive communication strategies, ensuring consistent messaging that aligns with and reinforces business priorities.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Senior Communications Manager
1. Senior Communications Manager Duties
- Influence: Influence leaders and partners to drive compelling and relevant storytelling that builds connections to the overall company strategy, mission, purpose, and values and brings the Expedia Group narrative to life.
- Strategy: Develop and implement strategic internal communications plans and collaborate with the external communications team for alignment.
- Management: Manage a broad range of proactive and reactive communications activities that include finding and utilizing creative ways to tell stories to employees, managers, top leaders, and external groups.
- Collaboration: Work closely with the broader communications team, and Social Impact and Inclusion and Diversity partners on cross-functional projects around multi-dimensional topics.
- Content Creation: Drive content creation and other curated materials tied to the broader Expedia Group communications strategy, narrative, and editorial calendar.
- Leadership: Lead the end-to-end development of employee-focused content strategy for global, business-critical initiatives, and implement this strategy to create content that attracts, engages, and informs employees.
- Prioritization: Manage and resolve multiple, sometimes conflicting priorities, to maximize the impact of employee communications across Expedia Group overall.
- Compliance: Ensure all content is approved, on-brand, and follows style and tone of voice.
- Analytics: Develop methods to collect employee communications and engagement metrics, sharing results with relevant team members to acknowledge progress and inform decision-making.
2. Senior Communications Manager Details
- Channel Management: Manage internal news channels, including the editorial calendar, SharePoint Newsroom site, all-company newsletter, and all-company distribution lists.
- Priority Management: Manage multiple communications priorities and collaborate with stakeholders on requirements, timelines, content, and performance.
- Collaboration: Collaborate with business and functional partners to develop content that engages colleagues and supports the company priorities.
- Writing: Write, proofread, and edit a wide variety of internal and external communications.
- Facilitation: Facilitate proper communications reviews and approvals using workflow tools and working closely with compliance and legal teams.
- Brand Compliance: Develop communications in keeping with brand and style guidelines, and with an eye for visual appeal, layout, and readability.
- Translation: Translate complex information into clear, conversational language.
- Evaluation: Evaluate current communications channels and strategies for opportunities to improve engagement, impact, and efficiency.
3. Senior Communications Manager Responsibilities
- Tool Management: Manage Breakthrough’s external communications tools, including email marketing, websites, social media, and presence on public sites.
- Strategy Development: Develop and implement an innovative social media and community content strategy to engage and build community, tracking hashtags and trending topics, and moderating and responding to comments in order to drive dynamic conversation.
- Content Curation: Daily content curation on topics such as gender, race, immigration, and other intersectional social justice issues, ensuring a consistent tone and voice across platforms.
- News Monitoring: Stay on top of breaking news and develop Breakthrough’s immediate response.
- Visual Design: Create and curate engaging visual elements, using Adobe Photoshop and other visual design tools, for social media that highlight Breakthrough's media, arts, and tech approach.
- Calendar Management: Manage and update the editorial calendar, collaborating with staff to ensure a robust communication plan to meet organizational goals.
- Web Management: Manage content updates, build basic web and landing pages as needed, monitor engagement opportunities, and partner with a developer for more complex changes.
- Email Management: Craft e-blasts, track performance, and maintain and update lists.
- Ad Management: Manage Breakthrough’s Google AdWords and Analytics accounts, ensuring optimization of Breakthrough’s AdGrant account.
- Partnership Development: Identify opportunities for social media and campaign partnerships.
- Campaign Support: Support the program team in developing and implementing social media campaigns, email marketing, and web content management.
4. EMEA Senior Communications Manager Accountabilities
- Project Leadership: Work with global and local communications and public affairs colleagues to develop and lead a range of external communications projects on a regional level.
- Strategy Leadership: Lead the development and implementation of the external communications strategy key projects including sustainability (Healthy Lives Mission) in EMEA, working closely with the EMEA Sustainability Director and Public Affairs team.
- Storytelling: Work closely with Public Affairs, Franchise, and R&D to tell the story of the brands, through the science behind company products, to customers and consumers.
- Spokesperson Management: Oversee a bench of regional spokespeople and prepare executives for external and media opportunities.
- Content Development: Develop corporate social media content and leadership communication.
- Issue Management: Manage regional issues and provide support and advice as needed for local teams.
- Stakeholder Liaison: Liaise with key stakeholders to create reactive communications for diverse audiences.
- Database Management: Manage regional messaging database.
- Media Monitoring: Oversee media monitoring for EMEA.
- Data Analytics: Design and implement a data-driven approach to measure, steer, and optimize campaigns, platforms, and tools.
- Relationship Management: Proactively manage relationships with media contacts and external partners, agencies, and vendors.
5. Senior Communications Manager Functions
- Crisis Management: Manage complex, fast-moving, and unexpected communications challenges with high judgment and professionalism.
- Simplification: Translate complex messaging into simple and easy-to-understand content.
- Deadline Management: Work effectively under tight deadlines to prioritize and manage multiple situations simultaneously.
- Communication Management: Write, develop, and manage approvals of Amazon-to-DSP communications in a strategic and timely way that earns trust with stakeholders.
- Executive Management: Manage executive communications on the platform.
- Strategy Development: Develop and execute an insight-driven, end-to-end program communications strategy.
- Framework Implementation: Develop and implement the framework, channels, rhythm, and feedback loops.
- Messaging Leadership: Lead, develop, and implement the delivery of consistent messaging to reinforce business priorities.
- Leadership Development: Build leader capability and communication skills at all leadership levels.