Sr Manager, Corporate Communications

"Vorsprung durch Technik" or, "Progress through Technology" is our company ethos and is the core belief that drives the development of every Audi vehicle. It inspires the innovative solutions, revolutionary engineering and progressive design that have become synonymous with the Audi name. And it reminds us to challenge ourselves, rewrite the rules from time to time and always fuel our pioneering spirit. The spirit that sets us apart on the racetrack and the open road. In our relentless pursuit to become the number one premium car brand in America, we need employees who share in this spirit of challenging the status quo in everything that we do.
 

Role Summary:

The Senior Manager, Corporate Communications will be responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive communications strategy to shape and protect Audi of America’s brand reputation. This includes 

The Senior Manager, Corporate Communications will be responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive communications strategy to shape and protect Audi of America’s brand reputation. This includes ownership of the strategy, development, execution, and measurement of a corporate communications plan including corporate reputation, employee communications, executive visibility, brand storytelling and issues management.

The Senior Communications Manager should be an experienced PR leader with expert media relations skills who can also serve as the day-to-day lead overseeing the internal communications function, bringing structure, strategy and strong writing skills to keep employees informed of the business.

This role will work in a highly collaborative environment, partnering with Brand Marketing, Product PR, Social, Experiential, Sales Operations, Lifestyle PR, Legal, and other internal stakeholders and executives.

A seasoned PR pro who thrives in a hands-on environment with the skill to lead a nimble team will be most successful for this position.

Role Responsibilities:

Corporate Communications (60%)

• Develop annual corporate communications plan with high-impact PR strategies that elevate Audi of America’s visibility and reputation
• Build relationships with top-tier media to tell the Audi story in compelling ways
• Architect strategic communication campaigns with compelling messaging, content and press releases to generate positive media coverage
• Lead executive communications and thought leadership programs that amplify leaders’ voices and Audi’s POV
• Execute and oversee creation of PR content including messages, press releases, talking points, briefings, and more
• Lead key corporate announcements and media milestones including sales updates, annual media conference and more
• Track and analyze performance metrics to continuously refine and enhance PR strategies
• Manage issues and crisis topics, anticipating brand reputation issues, mitigating issues in real-time via PR and managing post-crisis communications
• Leads speech writing, internal communications and media training for Audi President, executive team and all Audi spokespeople
• Monitor industry trends, current events, and potential risks to identify opportunities for proactive communication and mitigate potential crises.
• Proactively raise new trends, channels and opportunities that can be leveraged by Audi of America

Internal Communications (25%)

Develop and execute annual internal communications plan featuring key activities to share proactive and regular updates including executive communications, newsletters and company-wide team meetings

• Develop and execute annual internal communications plan featuring key activities to share proactive and regular updates including executive communications, newsletters and company-wide team meetings
• Manage projects across teams and departments to ensure internal alignment
• Develop internal materials, including memos, reports, materials, and presentations
• Advises senior leadership on communication strategies and prepares them for employee engagement opportunities

Team Leadership & Executive Stakeholdering (15%)

Lead corporate communications agency and corporate communications team

• Lead corporate communications agency and corporate communications team
• Establish strong relationships across Audi of America business units to enable buy-in, collaboration and alignment for PR activities
• Partner with global communications team to align on key themes, processes and projects
• Provide regular executive summaries to Audi of America C-Team on a variety of topics from key issues updates to activity summaries to messaging POVs

Qualifications:

• 10+ years of communications or public relations experience; agency and in-house background preferred

Education-Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, or an associated area

Skills:

Minimum 10 years corporate communications experience, in-house or agency

• Minimum 10 years corporate communications experience, in-house or agency
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Collaborative and works well across cross-functional teams
• Strong stakeholder management skills and executive partnership experience
• Ability to provide concise and specific recommendations to senior management
• Ability to lead and execute, eager to roll up sleeves and get in the work
• Previous experience in employee communications
• Skilled in problem solving and issues management 

• Agency Management Experience

• Calm Under Pressure

• Self-motivated, entrepreneurial spirit

Required Skills:

Expert media relations—ability to be an ‘on-the-record’ spokesperson with national media

• Expert media relations—ability to be an ‘on-the-record’ spokesperson with national media
• Extensive media relationships and media relationship-building skills
• Ability to communicate complex business and industry trends to internal and external audiences
• Excellent written communication skills
• Ability to write in the voice of Audi executives
• Skilled at crisis communications
• Experience in effectively staffing senior leadership for interviews and speaking events
• Experience in internal and external communications
• High degree of professional polish in working with executives
• Strategic communication planning and execution
• Savvy in working cross-departmentally to build communications platforms

Desired Skills:

• Expertise in automotive or tech sector

• Global Communications Experience

• National or global journalism experience

Work Flexibility:

25% Domestic Travel

• Some international travel may be required
• 25% Domestic travel

Volkswagen Group of America is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  We welcome and encourage applicants from all backgrounds, and do not discriminate based on race, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, color, gender identity/expression, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by applicable laws.

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