Crisis & Issues Management (50%)
Drive crisis/issues preparedness communications planning, execution, and response; work closely with cross-functional partners including Legal, Human Resources, brand teams, and senior leadership to ensure readiness and alignment.
Oversee global reputation and media monitoring and measurement, including deriving actionable insights from data to support preparedness and proactive corporate brand-building efforts that support business objectives and continuity.
Develop communications materials for event-driven milestones/issues (reactively and proactively), including tactical communications plans, key messaging, and stakeholder communications/materials (internal and external).
Maintain trusted and professional relationships with key third-party partners (e.g., industry associations) to support communications and corporate affairs strategies.
Coordinate cross-functional reviews and approvals of communications plans and effectively project manage the tactical execution of approved plans.
Provide counsel around key issues to communications partners in the company’s business segments in markets around the world, as needed.
Develop and maintain up-to-date library of position statements and playbooks that align to the company’s business goals, values and purpose.
Operate with integrity and handle sensitive matters with professionalism, sound judgement, and care—care for our consumers, customers, partners, communities in which we operate, and employees.
Media Relations (35%)
Develop and execute global media relations strategy for the enterprise, including identifying and developing signature storylines that further strengthen corporate reputation, support business goals and advance purpose.
Write compelling media pitches for strategic top-tier media, proactively pitch journalists, coordinate media interviews, prepare briefing materials and messaging; coordinate with communications partners and/or directly with company spokesperson on scheduling and preparation, as needed.
Manage reactive media inquiries and coordinate with cross-functional partners on aligned and approved response approaches, as needed.
Provide counsel to communications partners in business segments and local markets on key media opportunities with potential global/enterprise reach/impact.
Monitor media trends and coverage and synthesize insights to inform communications and corporate affairs strategy and execution.
Executive Communications (15%)
Support the development of executive narratives that align back to and reinforce the company’s enterprise narrative and strategy.
Support the creation and execution of executive visibility plans with an emphasis on earned media relations and top-tier speaking engagements, including message development, scriptwriting, and slide/presentation creation.
Research, identify, pitch and coordinate external visibility opportunities that further strengthen corporate and executive reputation; measure impact of completed opportunities to inform future planning efforts (e.g., events, media, etc.).
Write and/or support the development of thought leadership content (e.g., opinion pieces for owned, social and/or earned placement) and pitch/place content.
Project Management & Cross-Functional Collaboration (embedded across workstreams)
Partner effectively across teams—including Investor Relations, Legal, HR, Marketing, and Business Units—to ensure message consistency and strategic alignment.
Manage timelines, priorities, and deliverables to meet deadlines and maintain high standards of quality and accuracy.
Effectively manage and partner with external agency/contractors to drive ROI.
Maintain healthy file organization on company’s cloud-based applications.
Serve as knowledge manager of best practices/policies for external enterprise communications activities and manage related colleague inquiries as needed.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Strategic Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, or a related field
10+ years of progressive experience in corporate communications and crisis/issues management
Proven leadership experience with an ability to manage and/or effectively collaborate with an internal team as well as external agencies and contractors
Significant experience driving the development and execution of crisis and issues management plans on proactive and reactive basis
Demonstrated experience creating effective communications plans and executive-level written and/or verbal communications in support VP and/or C-level leaders
Proven experience working with top-tier business, leadership and consumer media to deliver earned media coverage that enhances corporate reputation; strong media relations expertise and business acumen
Strategic understanding of current and emerging communication channels across paid, owned and earned channels, communications industry trends, opportunities, and tools to enhance communicators’ work and contributions to the enterprise
Exceptional writing, editing, and strategic messaging skills, including strong business acumen and writing skills and an ability to develop compelling corporate brand and executive narratives
Strong project management skills; adept at managing multiple projects with competing priorities in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment
Excellent team player with strong collaboration, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving skills; committed to operating with a growth mindset
Exceptional attention to detail, time management and prioritization skills
Evaluate and measure the impact of communications programs for future optimization and planning purposes.

Benefits

Flex That Works at Kimberly-Clark
Health insurance
401(k) and Profit Sharing plan
Comprehensive benefits suite

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools

crisis managementissues managementcommunications planningmedia relationsexecutive communicationsstrategic messagingproject managementwritingeditingdata analysis

Soft Skills

leadershipcollaborationcritical thinkingcreative problem-solvingattention to detailtime managementprioritizationgrowth mindsetprofessionalismsound judgement