What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Manager, Communications position at W. W. Grainger?
As a leading industrial distributor with operations primarily in North America, Japan and the United Kingdom, we keep the world working by serving more than 4.5 million customers worldwide with products delivered through innovative technology and deep customer relationships. We’re dedicated to providing value for customers, fostering an engaging culture for team members, and driving strong financial results.
Our welcoming workplace enables you to learn, grow, and make a difference by keeping businesses running and their people safe. As a Great Place to Work-Certified company, we’re looking for passionate people to join our team as we continue leading the industry over our next 100 years.
Position Summary :
Grainger Canada is Canada’s leading distributor of industrial supplies, providing a wide range of products and services that make it easy for customers to keep their operations running and their people safe. Grainger offers the broadest selection of in-stock, brand name products from the world’s top manufacturers and serves customers from a Canada-wide distribution network.
Reporting to the Vice President, Communications, this role is responsible for the management of all internal and external communications activities, projects, and initiatives for the Canadian business. The Sr. Manager is responsible for developing and executing the Grainger Canada communications strategy, managing the community investment program, planning for and responding to the communications needs of the business, and overseeing the Communications Specialist and Translation Manager directly and the Translation Specialist indirectly. This role also serves as the strategic communications advisor to the Grainger Business Subsidiaries.
Job Responsibilities (You Will) :
- Serve as communications lead for Grainger Canada, with responsibility for developing the internal and external communications strategy.
- Serve as a member of the Grainger Canada leadership team, providing advice and counsel on communication strategy including broad-based strategic, change, and leader communications as well as external communications and issues.
- Oversee team of communicators and translators in Canada and provide guidance and support to communicators aligned to the Grainger Business Subsidiaries.
- Oversee communications and translation budget.
- Work closely with Translation Manager to evolve the translation program across the North American business and introduce new technology to manage the growing volume of translation needs.
- Manage requests and work with stakeholders to understand needs, prioritize requests and align to the appropriate communications channel.
- Oversee the development and distribution of daily, weekly and monthly communications.
- Oversee message development for specific audiences including weekly updates, email communications, speaking notes, key messages, and FAQs.
- Advise on and support issues management and crisis communications.
- Identify interdependencies between business initiatives to ensure clarity and consistency across all communications.
- Oversee the development and distribution of content on internal communications platforms including SharePoint intranet site and Firstup.
- Lead the strategic development and maintenance of the company’s community investment program.
- Partner with enterprise communications and manage distribution of content across relevant businesses as needed.
- Develop the strategy and oversee logistics and content for Quarterly State of the Business meeting and other large meetings.
- First point of contact for external requests including media, community giving partners, and requests for donations.
- Provide communications support to Sr. Leadership. Support external communications efforts with leaders as needed.
- Foster open, honest, transparent communications between senior leaders, mid-level managers, and non-exempt team members in ways that enhance engagement and service to customers.
- Create relevant strategic communication playbooks and templates to help leaders communicate with their teams and better scale communications resources to areas of greatest impact.
- Measure and assess the effectiveness of communications activities and improve communications channels. Use data to make decisions on future communications.
Education / Experience (You Have) :
Must be able to travel within and outside Canada; up to 5%, depending on business needs.
Rewards and Benefits :
Apply below after reading through all the details and supporting information regarding this job opportunity.
Our programs provide choice and flexibility to meet your individual needs. Check out some of the benefits available to you with Grainger (may vary based on hours worked) :
DEI Statement :
We encourage you to apply even if your experience doesn't perfectly match this job post as you may still be the right candidate for this role or others. We aspire to create a culture where everyone is comfortable being who they are, can learn and grow to realize their full potential, and is recognized and rewarded for their impact.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, or disability. Should you need a reasonable accommodation during the application and selection process, please advise us so we can provide appropriate assistance.
Pre-employment background checks are required for all external candidates. Internal candidates undergo a background check when they move from a non-driving role to a driving role.
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