Senior Manager, U.S. Corporate Communications

We are seeking a communications expert to drive the communications program in BMO’s high-growth U.S. markets, helping the business and its senior stakeholders clearly communicate how BMO helps its customers, communities and colleagues make progress and supporting business growth goals.  This role will lead parts of our U.S. internal and external communications strategy, including leading our work to build BMO’s reputation among and engage with Latino communities and influencers. Must demonstrate ability to create and execute strategic communications that support both reputation and culture. Spanish fluency required. Agency experience or agency management experience is a plus. 

Responsibilities: 

• U.S. Latino Segment Communications Strategy & Execution: Partner with stakeholder across business lines and functions to create and execute a communications strategy and core narrative that conveys how BMO helps U.S. Latinos make real financial progress, expanding awareness and reputation with this key audience. Create a communications forum consisting of business partners across multiple lines of business and functional areas that are executing strategies focused on the U.S. Latino segment to ensure messaging consistency, story mine, and amplify key initiatives. 
• Key Message & Content Development: Build and maintain BMO’s narrative for the Latino segment in both English and Spanish. Enable leaders and extended teams to tell BMO’s differentiated story, value proposition, and positive impact in a way that resonates with this market, inspires customers to take action, and promotes brand loyalty. Draft internal and external announcements, talking points, social media posts, coordinate communications videos, and more. 
• Strategic Counsel and Leadership: Provide strategic communications counsel to US leaders and act as a go-to point person of escalation for issues impacting the U.S. Latino segment. 
• Operations: Develop and deliver regular reporting to demonstrate the impact of the Latino communications strategy. Support agency team management. 
• Broad U.S. Communications Support: Flexes to support additional U.S. Communications projects in support of business needs. 

Expectations: 

• Works collaboratively with business/group and stakeholders to assess communications needs, recommend communications plans & solutions, secure necessary approvals, and create/deliver communication solutions that effectively support and address communications needs. Sources content and feedback, assesses information and translates thoughts into effective communications solutions. Delivers high quality communications solutions that target audiences can easily access, understand and action that are alignment with company standards and values. 
• Fosters a culture aligned to BMO purpose, values and strategy and role models BMO values and behaviors in all that they do. 
• Ensures alignment between values and behavior that fosters diversity and inclusion. 
• Regularly connects work to BMO's purpose, sets inspirational goals, defines clear expected outcomes, and ensures clear accountability for follow through. 
• Provides strategic input into business/group decisions as a trusted advisor. 
• Makes recommendations to senior leaders on strategy and new initiatives, based on an in-depth understanding of the business/group. 
• Influences and negotiates to achieve business objectives. 
• Identifies emerging issues and trends to inform decision-making. 
• Recommends and implements solutions based on analysis of issues and implications for the business. 
• Makes recommendations and solves problems to ensure communication solutions are implemented. 
• May network with industry contacts to gain competitive insights and best practices. 
• Leads the communications strategy planning process bringing strategic, professional communications counsel, planning and direction to leaders. 
• Conducts independent analysis and assessment to resolve strategic issues. 
• Acts as the prime subject matter expert for internal/external stakeholders. 
• Develops strategies and tools to measure, analyze and report on the effectiveness of communications initiatives. 
• Monitors and tracks performance, and addresses any issues. 
• Makes recommendations for improvements based on insights. 
• Leads the execution of communication solutions; assesses and adapts as needed to ensure quality of execution. 
• Assesses communications requests to determine relevancy, appropriateness, pacing and sequencing, and alignment to business priorities. 
• Gathers content from multiple sources and develops communications for various vehicles including leadership messages, intranets, town halls, newsletters, video, presentations and new social media. 
• Identifies and liaises with the stakeholders about opportunities for communications to other groups (e.g. customers, media, etc.) to increase communication effectiveness and alignment. 
• Leads business/group change management activities from a communications perspective. 
• Provides advice and strategic communications support (planning and execution) for special projects. 
• Leads planning, development and execution of events and conferences. 
• Acts as lead communications role in coded/confidential projects. 
• Develops the strategy for and leads ongoing initiatives to continuously improve communications processes & tools. 
• Reviews progress to plans and escalates complaints, issues and concerns. 
• Manages expenses and external suppliers (as required). 
• Acts as the day to day contact for vendors; supports the implementation, maintenance, and sustainment of vendor solutions. 
• Recommends, develops and executes communication plans and solutions based on an understanding of the business strategy and stakeholder needs, and in alignment with an overarching communication strategy. 
• Provides communications advice and guidance to assigned business/group, on communication principles/programs/approaches, on effective ways to communicate (e.g. message development, vehicle selection, etc.), and on implementation of solutions. 
• Proactively collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to provide business context in the design, development and implementation of communication solutions. 
• Leads or participates in defining communication plans designed to positively influence or change behavior; develops tailored messaging; identifies appropriate distribution channels. 
• Reviews material to ensure it complies with relevant quality standards, including translation requirements. 
• Coordinates, distributes and publishes communication solutions. 
• Measures and sustains communications solutions impacting the target employee audience. Gathers feedback and continually evaluates the effectiveness of communication content and the vehicles/platforms/tools/technology (e.g. Intranet, Portal, conference calls, e-mail, shared drives and SharePoint sites, social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, etc.). 
• Recommends improvements, changes, additions or deletions of communication content and the vehicles/platforms/tools/technology as necessary, and coordinates with partners to ensure content is up-to-date and relevant. 
• Remains alert to new trends, tools and methods of communication, and makes recommendations on their application. 
• Stays up to date on company and industry trends by forming and fostering relationships with employees across the company, so as to identify newsworthy items for communication and dissemination. 
• Builds effective relationships with internal/external stakeholders and ensures alignment between stakeholders. 
• Actively looks for opportunities for continuous improvement of communications processes and procedures and participates/leads communications continuous improvement initiatives. 
• Operates at a group/enterprise-wide level and serves as a specialist resource to senior leaders and stakeholders. 
• Applies expertise and thinks creatively to address unique or ambiguous situations and to find solutions to problems that can be complex and non-routine. 
• Implements changes in response to shifting trends. 
• Broader work or accountabilities may be assigned as needed. 

Qualifications: 

• Typically 7+ years of relevant experience and post-secondary degree in in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism or a related field of study or an equivalent combination of education and experience. 
• Bilingual Spanish/English is required 
• Writing & editing skills - Expert. 
• Uses a straight-talk and story-telling approach for communications. 
• Ability to take technical and complex information and distill it to key messages that make sense for the audience. 
• Seasoned professional with a combination of education, experience and industry knowledge. 
• Verbal & written communication skills - In-depth / Expert. 
• Analytical and problem solving skills - In-depth / Expert. 
• Influence skills - In-depth / Expert. 
• Collaboration & team skills; with a focus on cross-group collaboration - In-depth / Expert. 
• Able to manage ambiguity. 
• Data driven decision making - In-depth / Expert.