Title: Senior Manager, Internal and Executive Communications
Immediate Supervisor: Deputy Director, Communications
Manager: Yes
FLSA: Exempt
Department: Global Marketing and Communications: Communications
General Summary
The Senior Manager for Internal and Executive Communications reports to Oceana’s Deputy Director of Communications and plays a critical role in shaping Oceana’s internal and executive communications strategies. This position ensures that employees are informed, engaged, and aligned with Oceana’s mission and values while also enhancing the visibility and thought leadership of Oceana’s CEO among key audiences, including donors and decision-makers.
The Senior Manager will develop and execute an internal communications strategy that fosters transparency, collaboration, and engagement across the organization. They will also collaborate with the CEO to create high-impact communications that amplify the CEO’s voice and positioning within the ocean, climate, and conservation spaces.
This position requires exceptional writing and editing skills, strategic thinking, and the ability to work well across all levels of the organization. The Senior Manager must be a proactive communicator with strong project management abilities, capable of synthesizing complex information into clear, compelling messaging.
The Senior Manager will collaborate with Oceana’s communications leaders across the organization, as well as the office of the CEO, executive committee, development team, Science and Strategy team, Human Resources, and other stakeholders.
The Senior Manager is part of the Global Marketing and Communications department. This position is based in Washington, D.C. Limited domestic or international travel may be required.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities
Internal Communications
- Develop and implement a strategic internal communications plan that drives employee engagement, fosters a sense of community, and reinforces Oceana’s mission and core values.
- Establish best practices for internal communications, ensuring timely, clear, and consistent messaging across the organization.
- Create and maintain an editorial calendar for internal and executive communications, streamlining planning and reducing redundancy.
- Lead internal messaging efforts related to key organizational milestones, campaign victories, staff initiatives, HR programs, benefits, and other updates.
- Create templates and design collateral for internal messaging, ensuring a consistent, visually engaging, inclusive, and on-brand communication style.
Executive Communications
- Develop and execute a strategic executive communications plan to enhance the CEO’s thought leadership and influence.
- Research, write, and edit high-impact content for the CEO, including speeches, talking points, op-eds, video scripts, letters to the editor, reaction quotes, social media posts, presentations, and internal/external communications.
- Ensure consistency and alignment in the CEO’s messaging across internal and external platforms.
- Identify and secure opportunities for the CEO to participate in key forums, conferences, and events, and provide speechwriting and preparation support.
- Collaborate with the media team on thought leadership positioning and opportunities.
Cross-Department Collaboration
- Partner with the communications, executive, development, and HR teams to align on internal and external messaging.
- Provide strategic communications counsel to senior leadership on best practices for engaging employees and key stakeholders.
- Manage high-profile internal initiatives and projects from research and planning through execution and evaluation.
- Ensure internal and executive communications support the organization’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Support additional projects, including writing and editing, as needed.
- Travel occasionally, as needed, for major events, conferences, and leadership engagements.
Job Requirements
Education and Work Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in communications, public relations, journalism, or related field.
- At least 7 years of communications experience, including:
- At least 2-3 years of executive communications experience, supporting high-level executives, policymakers, or spokespeople with writing, media training, and speaking preparation.
- At least 1-2 years of internal communications experience, developing and executing employee engagement strategies.
- Experience in nonprofit, advocacy, or mission-driven organizations is a plus.
- Familiarity with environmental and food security issues – and their impacts on people and communities – is a plus but not required.
Skills and Knowledge
- Excellent writing and editing skills, with the ability to adapt tone and voice for different audiences.
- Proven experience writing in another person’s voice, particularly for executives and public figures.
- Demonstrated ability to craft clear, inclusive, and empathetic messaging that anticipates and addresses employee perspectives, concerns, and sensitivities.
- Strong presentation and public speaking skills.
- Superior attention to detail, organization, and project management skills.
- Ability to synthesize complex scientific and policy information into accessible, compelling messaging.
- Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to build strong relationships across international departments and work collaboratively.
- Experience navigating sensitive topics with discretion and maintaining confidentiality.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines while maintaining energy and humor.
- Ability to think proactively, identify opportunities, and execute communications strategies.
- Proactive team player with a solutions-oriented mindset and strong commitment to providing exceptional internal service and support.
- Experience with both in-person and online communications planning and execution.
- Experience in creative design and strategic storytelling to enhance employee and other stakeholder engagement.
- Spanish-language proficiency is a plus but not required. Experience with global, multilingual organizations is strongly preferred.
Required Competencies
- Action Oriented: Makes things happen. Takes on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
- Instills Trust: Is able to gain the confidence and trust of others by demonstrating honesty and authenticity, acting with integrity, being consistent and credible.
- Ensures Accountability: Follows through on commitments and makes sure others do the same. Has a reputation of taking ownership and responsibility for decisions, actions, and failures.
- Values differences: Is skilled at promoting an inclusive team environment that values, encourages, and supports differences.
- Plans & Aligns: Skilled at creating plans that are aligned with Oceana’s priorities and that enable individuals and teams to get organized, remain focused and proceed with confidence.
- Effective Communication: Understands the value of effective communication. Can deliver messages in a clear, compelling, and concise manner. Actively listens, checks for understanding, and adjusts content and style to meet the needs of different stakeholders.
- Collaborates: Brings people together to leverage their skills, talents, and knowledge to achieve a common purpose. Creates synergies resulting in a combined effort with greater results than what can be achieved by individuals
- Drives Results: Is skilled at communicating a vision, setting priorities, developing, and executing plans that achieve desired outcomes. Has an overall achievement mindset, a bias for action, an eagerness to take initiative.
- Customer Focus: Is skilled at anticipating customer needs (internal and external) and providing services that are beyond customer expectations. Establishes and maintains effective customer relationships.
- Develops Talent: Help people who are ready and willing to take on new challenges and set up when needed. Develop others through coaching, feedback, exposure and stretch assignments.
- Global Perspective: Takes a broad view of issues and challenges and can see them in a global context. Build relationships with people from different cultures and countries. Draws on global knowledge and perspective when tackling complex issues or looking for opportunities.
The salary range for this position is $85,000 to $95,000 annually.
Oceana values a diverse workforce and welcomes people different from each other in many ways, including characteristics such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, and national origin. Oceana considers all qualified candidates and seeks to recruit from a diverse candidate pool.
Oceana’s U.S. offices have operated on a hybrid schedule and staff have been required to work from their assigned office on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. With agreement between the employee and their supervisor, the employee may work from remotely Monday and Friday.
Please apply by June 6, 2025.