Director, Head of Communications Australia

MetLife, Inc.; Sydney; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Life insurance

Parental leave

Menopause leave

Car leasing

Employee Assistance Program

Job summary

MetLife Australia seeks a Director, Head of Communications to lead the end‑to‑end communications agenda across internal and external audiences. You will shape how MetLife is perceived by employees, customers, regulators and the public, partnering with senior executives to translate business priorities into impactful outcomes.

You will guide external programs across media and digital channels, while driving employee engagement and protecting the company’s reputation.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in corporate communications and reputation management.
• Strong ability to translate business priorities into compelling messaging.
• Trusted advisor with credibility to partner with senior leaders.
• Advanced AI fluency to enhance communication effectiveness and productivity.

Responsibilities

• Serve as trusted communications advisor to Australia Leadership Team across media relations, employee communications and reputation management.
• Develop and execute a comprehensive reputation strategy aligned to strategic priorities.
• Drive external communications programs across earned, owned, social, digital and broadcast channels.
• Create content for diverse audiences ensuring consistent messaging with enterprise narrative.

Skills

Corporate communications

Media relations

Executive communications

AI fluency

Education

Tertiary qualifications in Communications

Job description

The Director, Head of Communications Australia is MetLife Australia's senior communications advisor and strategic business partner, responsible for building, protecting and enhancing the company's reputation to support the delivery of our enterprise strategy.

Operating in a unique market spanning superannuation partnerships, retail insurance, and corporate benefits, this role shapes how MetLife is perceived by employees, customers, partners, regulators, media, and the broader public. The role leads the end-to-end communications agenda across internal and external audiences, ensuring consistent, compelling and strategically aligned messaging that builds trust, strengthens engagement, attracts talent, and supports business growth.

As a highly visible and influential leader, the role partners closely with senior executives and stakeholders across the enterprise to translate business priorities into impactful communications outcomes, delivering results through expertise, influence, and relationship leadership.

Key Responsibilites

• Serve as the trusted communications advisor to the Australia Leadership Team, providing strategic counsel and hands‑on support across media relations, executive communications, employee communications, reputation management, issues management, crisis communications, community investment, and MetLife Foundation initiatives.
• Develop and execute a comprehensive reputation strategy that enables the relevant, key strategic priorities for the company, through communications impact that strengthens trust, enhances MetLife's brand, and supports business priorities across key stakeholder groups.
• Drive high‑impact external communications programs across earned, owned, social, digital, broadcast, and marketing channels to increase visibility, credibility, and influence.
• Create and adapt compelling content for diverse audiences, ensuring consistency of messaging and alignment with MetLife's enterprise narrative and strategic priorities.
• Partner closely with the Marketing team to align messaging, narratives and campaign activity across channels, ensuring communications and marketing efforts are coordinated, consistent and mutually reinforcing.
• Anticipate, assess, and mitigate reputational risks, partnering with business leaders and subject matter experts to manage issues effectively.
• Drive and enhance employee engagement through a combination of strategic internal communications and targeted activities, ensuring employees receive relevant, timely and engaging communications that connect local priorities with regional and global initiatives.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including media, industry bodies, community partners, and senior leaders, to amplify MetLife's voice and influence.
• Identify opportunities to leverage MetLife Foundation investments and community partnerships to strengthen social impact and reputation outcomes.
• Leverage data, stakeholder insights, reputation measurement tools and market intelligence to evaluate impact, inform decision‑making and continuously optimise communications strategies.
• Provide strategic communications counsel across enterprise priorities, including business strategy, people and culture initiatives, regulatory and public affairs matters, investor‑related communications, and corporate issues management.
• Partner across functions to support enterprise events, strategic initiatives, and change programs.
• Demonstrate advanced AI fluency by leveraging AI‑enabled tools and data‑driven insights to enhance communication strategy, stakeholder engagement, content development, media monitoring, reputation management, and productivity.
• Champion responsible AI adoption within communications practices, ensuring content is accurate, compliant, audience‑focused, and aligned with MetLife's governance and risk standards.
• Continuously identify opportunities to use AI to improve communication effectiveness, accelerate delivery, and generate actionable stakeholder insights.

Essential Experience and Skills

• Significant experience in corporate communications, reputation management, media relations and executive communications.
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to translate business strategy into compelling communications that deliver results.
• Trusted advisor with the credibility and influence to partner effectively with senior executives and stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, building alignment and delivering outcomes without direct authority or .
• Advanced AI fluency, using AI‑enabled tools and insights to enhance communication effectiveness, stakeholder engagement and productivity.
• Strong judgement and experience managing reputational risk, sensitive issues and crisis communications.
• Data‑driven and outcome‑focused, using insights and measurement to continuously improve impact.
• Innovative, collaborative and intellectually curious, with a willingness to challenge convention and embrace new ways of working.
• Demonstrates the highest standards of integrity, professionalism and accountability.

Essential Qualifications

• Tertiary qualifications in Communications or a related discipline.

Other desirable Experience, Skills and/or qualifications

• Experience in group insurance, superannuation, or financial services environments.
• Experience working in a matrixed multinational company.

MetLife Values and Leadership Expectations

Acts as a role model for MetLife's Values: Win Together, Do the Right Thing, Deliver Impact Over Activity and Think Ahead,while demonstrating the behaviours required to deliver strategy by:

• Applying strong commercial judgement and focusing resources on the outcomes that matter most.
• Prioritising effectively, simplifying complexity and executing with speed and discipline.
• Leveraging technology, AI, data and innovation to improve customer, employee and business outcomes.

• Experience in group insurance, superannuation, or financial services environments.
• Experience working in a matrixed multinational company.

MetLife Values and Leadership Expectations

Acts as a role model for MetLife's Values: Win Together, Do the Right Thing, Deliver Impact Over Activity and Think Ahead,while demonstrating the behaviours required to deliver strategy by:

• Applying strong commercial judgement and focusing resources on the outcomes that matter most.
• Prioritising effectively, simplifying complexity and executing with speed and discipline.
• Leveraging technology, AI, data and innovation to improve customer, employee and business outcomes.

Building capability, fostering collaboration and leading change across the enterprise

Benefits We Offer

• We offer life insurance benefits, generous paid parental leave, market leading menopause and fertility leave, car leasing and more.
• As well as Employee Assistance Program (EAP), access to 360Health medical support, volunteer leave and study assistance.

About MetLife

Recognised on Fortune magazine's list of the "World's Most Admired Companies", Fortune World’s 25 Best Workplaces™ as well as the Diversity Council of Australia Inclusive Employer Award, MetLife, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is one of the world’s leading financial services companies; providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to individual and institutional customers. With operations in more than 40 markets, we hold leading positions in the United States, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

As part of our New Frontier strategy, MetLife is building an AI‑enabled, people‑centered future. We’re looking for people who bring curiosity, adaptability, and a growth mindset as we use AI to enhance how we serve customers, support communities, and evolve the way work gets done. At MetLife, AI is a responsible partner that supports human judgment, creativity, and continuous improvement while helping us build trust, inclusion, and long‑term value.

Our purpose is simple - to help our colleagues, customers, communities, and the world at large create a more confident future. United by purpose and guided by our core values - Win Together, Do the Right Thing, Deliver Impact Over Activity, and Think Ahead - we’re inspired to transform the next century in financial services. At MetLife, it’s #AllTogetherPossible . Join us!