Business Communications Manager

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc; Westbrook (ME); Hybrid; USD 102,000 - 138,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary target $120k

Annual bonus

Benefits Day-One

401(k) matching

Generous PTO

Additional benefits

Hybrid role with 8 onsite days/month

Job summary

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. in Westbrook, ME seeks a Business Communications Manager to lead the Consulting team and own embedded strategic communications for an assigned portfolio. You will partner with senior leaders, coach consultants, and ensure quality across the portfolio.

You will set strategy, manage escalation, and collaborate with HR to deploy ADKAR/Prosci frameworks. This hybrid role anchors in Westbrook with regular onsite presence.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of communications experience leading multiple lines of business or enterprise functions.
• People leadership experience with coaching, mentoring, and influence.
• Strong executive presence and stakeholder management with senior leadership experience.
• Working knowledge of change management frameworks (ADKAR/Prosci).
• Ability to make prioritization calls under competing demands.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills for executive and broad employee audiences.
• Strong organizational skills managing multiple priorities and portfolios.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the Business Communications Consulting team, balancing workload across consultants.
• Personally manage embedded communications for an assigned line of business or function and coach it credibly.
• Set the strategic direction for team partnerships with each line of business and ensure quality and coverage.
• Partner with HR to apply change management frameworks to major initiatives.
• Coach consultants on stakeholder management and communications craft and identify readiness for more scope.
• Serve as escalation point when a communication becomes complex, sensitive, or executive-facing.
• Collaborate with the Head of Employee Communications on enterprise-wide narrative and prioritization decisions.
• Make prioritization calls under competing demands while maintaining trust.

Skills

Communications experience

People leadership

Executive presence

Change management

Prioritization

Verbal and written communication

Organizational skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

As the Business Communications Manager, you will lead the Business Communications Consulting team while personally owning embedded strategic communications for an assigned portfolio, partnering directly with senior business leaders on IDEXX's most important initiatives. In this role, you will set the strategic direction for how the team engages the business, build and develop the consultants who execute that strategy, and step in personally when a communication is complex, sensitive, or executive-facing enough that it needs to land with you.

You will play a key role in ensuring that the business leaders IDEXX depends on always have a strong communications partner in the room, while also making sure the consultants doing that work have someone developing them, not just assigning them.

Why this role matters:

Communications strategy is only as good as the team executing it. This role exists so that senior business leaders consistently have a credible, embedded communications partner, and so consultants have a manager who coaches their growth, sets the bar for quality, and stays close enough to the work to know when it's landing with employees - and when it isn't.

In this role:

• You will lead and develop the Business Communications Consulting team, balancing workload across consultants through a portfolio-based coverage model.

• You will personally manage embedded communications for an assigned line of business or function, staying close enough to the work to coach it credibly.

• You will set the strategic direction for how the team partners with each line of business and be accountable for consistent quality and coverage across the team.

• You will partner with HR Partners to ensure change management frameworks like ADKAR and Prosci are applied to major initiatives as a working tool.

• You will coach consultants on stakeholder management, business acumen, and communications craft, and identify who is ready for more scope and make the case for it.

• You will serve as the escalation point when a communication inside the team's portfolios turns complex, sensitive, or executive-facing.

• You will partner with the Head of Employee Communications on enterprise-wide narrative and prioritization decisions that affect the whole team, connecting your portfolio to the bigger picture.

• You will make prioritization calls under competing demands, including saying no when necessary and holding that line without losing trust.

What you need to succeed:

• 5+ years of communications experience, with a track record of owning communications for more than one line of business or enterprise function

• People leadership experience and a proven track record of coaching, mentoring, and influence

• Strong executive presence and stakeholder management, including direct experience with senior leadership

• Working knowledge of change management frameworks (ADKAR/Prosci), with the ability to build the team's capability in this area over time

• Strong judgment about when to do the work yourself, when to develop someone else to do it, and when something needs to be elevated

• Confidence to make prioritization calls under competing demands and hold that line without losing trust

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex or sensitive messages to both executive and broad employee audiences

• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and portfolios simultaneously

• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within cross-functional and matrixed teams

What you can expect from us:

• Salary targeting $120,000 USD annually, with some flexibility depending on years and depth of experience.

• Opportunity for annual cash bonus and performance-based annual merit increase

• Health / Dental / Vision Benefits Day-One

• 5% matching 401k

• Generous PTO benefits

• Additional benefits include, but are not limited to, financial support, mental health resources, volunteer paid days off, and much more!

• This is a hybrid role based out of our Westbrook, ME headquarters, with a minimum expectation of 8 days a month onsite.

Why IDEXX

We're proud of the work we do because it matters. Every role at IDEXX contributes to improving the health and wellbeing of pets, people, and livestock. With over 10,000 employees worldwide and customers in more than 175 countries, we are a growing organization driven by innovation and a passion for excellence.

We offer competitive compensation, strong benefits, and the opportunity to be part of a high-growth company leading the industry with innovative products and services.

Let's pursue what matters-together.

IDEXX values a diverse workforce and workplace and strongly encourages women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities, foreign-born residents, and veterans to apply.

IDEXX is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will not be discriminated against based on any protected characteristic under applicable law.

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