Communications Manager

Land O’Lakes

About Us:

We are a fast-growing, farmer-owned agriculture and food cooperative working to overcome the world's greatest food challenges. Our unique farm-to-fork business model works across crop inputs and insights, animal nutrition, dairy foods and sustainability to get high quality food to those who need it. Land O'Lakes provides opportunities to build a career in a vibrant industry that allows you to play a critical role in delivering on this, and by working together to advance humanity and to help communities around the world.

https://www.landolakes.com/


Position Details

Communications Manager
Job
Full-time
11/5/2019
Twin Cities Metro
Arden Hills, MN

The Communications Manager is a strategic communications professional responsible for elevating the company’s reputation through strategic communications, public relations and issues management, and works in partnership with division and function leaders and the Communications team to support the achievement of business objectives of Land O'Lakes, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

The Communications Manager gathers insights and information, translates complex topics, effectively segments audiences, crafts communications strategies and plans for complex initiatives. The Communications manager produces content for a variety of mediums and measures effectiveness and return on investment.

The Communications Manager is well-versed in implementing communications best practices while managing cross-functional relationships, and has a strong record of achievement in developing and successfully executing for highly strategic and visible initiatives. This position will work on projects and initiatives with a variety of business units and functional teams across the enterprise requiring frequent interactions with and effective presence with leaders at all levels, including executive-level leadership.

The manager will:

  • Manage relationships with diverse stakeholders, internally and externally. This includes effective partnership with Communications team, cross-functional teams and with senior leadership to thoroughly understand issues, identify communication solutions and successfully advance communication recommendations. Make connections with targeted media and cultivate effective relationships. Counsel leaders at all levels of the organization on effective communication practices.
  • Gather and apply insight. Gain deep knowledge of audience needs and attitudes--internal and external. Identify and segment audiences appropriately and tailor messaging as appropriate. Gather and apply best practices for industry and issues to strategies and plans. Creatively address the business need with engaging and effective communication approaches.
  • Develop and execute communication strategies and plans for media outreach, preparedness and reactive issues. Craft comprehensive communication strategies and plans for a variety of projects--from simple to highly complex--that contribute to improved business performance for an earned media platform and audience. Share the Land O'Lakes story in ways that compel key audiences to think and feel differently about us.
  • Develop and execute integrated communication plans related to issues, incident and crisis communications. Craft comprehensive communication strategies from simple to highly complex issues and incidents while managing risk and elevating the corporate reputation. Effectively use a broad range of both high touch and low touch tactics to meet audience needs.
  • Measure communication effectiveness. Develop and establish effective metrics, in line with industry best practice, to measure communications effectiveness and adjust approaches as needed. Demonstrate return on communication investment. Apply learnings from initiatives to future communication planning.

Requirements:

  • 4 year Bachelors in communications, business or related field required. 
  • Masters in communication or business preferred. 
  • Thorough understanding of communications principles and practices. 
  • Ten years of directly-related experience in communications. 
  • Experience working in a highly diverse, 10,000+ employee organizations with multiple locations. 
  • High comfort level and proven record of consulting, advising and collaborating with multiple stakeholders at all levels of the organization, including executive level leadership. 
  • Strong business acumen and executive presence with a demonstrated ability to counsel executives and other leadership. 
  • Demonstrated success navigating large and highly-matrixed organizations. 
  • Excellent networking and relationship building skills and confidence interacting with media, diverse work styles, levels and functions. 
  • Able to handle highly-sensitive information using discretion and integrity. 
  • Outstanding verbal, written communication and presentation skills; able to clearly articulate complex issues and formulate recommendations to a wide variety of audiences. 
  • Strong conceptual thinker able to think beyond the boundaries of his/her immediate responsibilities, function and business to those of the entire enterprise. 
  • Strong organizational and project management skills that support delivering multiple priorities.


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