Director, People Connections

Aurora Health Care; Allenton (WI); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Advocate Health is seeking a Director of People Connections to shape People & Culture communications across the organization. You will partner with executives to translate priorities into clear, compelling narratives that engage teammates and drive meaningful change.

You will lead internal communications for the Chief People & Culture Officer and the People & Culture Leadership Team, creating a connected, authentic teammate experience in a complex, matrixed health system.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, PR, Journalism or Marketing.
• 8+ years in strategic internal or HR communications.
• Experience advising senior executives across HR, Legal, Ops, Marketing.
• Ability to translate priorities into clear, engaging content.
• Strong judgment handling sensitive issues and ambiguity.

Responsibilities

• Design and lead the People & Culture communications and activation strategy, aligned with priorities and vision.
• Develop and execute annual communications and engagement plans for the leadership team to drive awareness and behavior change.
• Partner to align messaging across functions and create a consistent teammate experience.
• Advise executives on messaging for initiatives, change, mergers, and brand evolution.
• Lead communication strategies for large-scale transformation efforts and workforce initiatives.
• Translate complex priorities into clear, compelling content for leaders and teams.
• Serve as lead writer and producer for internal communications for the CP&O and leadership.
• Create stories celebrating teams and reinforcing a unified message across the function.
• Coordinate events and content with senior leaders for town halls, roadshows, and forums.
• Support external award submissions and identify opportunities to showcase successes.
• Define success measures using data and feedback to demonstrate impact.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Executive communication

Strategic communications

Change management

Content development

Storytelling

Education

Bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing, or related field

Tools

MS Office

Job description

Join Us in Redefining CareAt

Join Us in Redefining CareAt Advocate Health, we're committed to helping people live well by delivering exceptional care with compassion, innovation, and expertise. We're seeking an experienced Director of People Connections to shape how our People & Culture vision comes to life across the organization.
In this highly visible role, you'll partner with executive and cross-functional leaders to translate complex priorities into clear, compelling communications that build understanding, strengthen engagement, and support meaningful change.

About This Opportunity

This opportunity is designed for a strategic communicator who can move seamlessly between enterprise strategy and hands‑on execution. You will lead communications and activation for the Chief People & Culture Officer and People & Culture Leadership Team while helping create a consistent, connected teammate experience across a complex organization.

What You'll Do

• Design and lead the People & Culture communications and activation strategy, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities, business objectives, and the People & Culture vision.


• Develop and execute the annual communications, engagement, and executive visibility plan for the Chief People & Culture Officer and People & Culture Leadership Team (PCLT), driving awareness, understanding, engagement, and behavior change across the function.


• Partner across People & Culture to align communication priorities, messaging, and activation efforts that support enterprise goals and create a consistent teammate experience.


• Serve as a strategic advisor to executive HR and enterprise leaders, providing counsel on messaging for teammate initiatives, organizational change, mergers and acquisitions, brand evolution, and operating model evolution.


• Lead communication strategies for large-scale People & Culture transformation efforts, integrations, acquisitions, and workforce initiatives.


• Translate complex priorities into clear, compelling content that drives leadership accountability and teammate understanding.


• Serve as lead writer and producer for the Chief People & Culture Officer's internal communications, including talking points, speeches, newsletters, PowerPoint presentations, leader toolkits, and other materials that foster alignment with the People & Culture vision.


• Create and maintain a library of stories that celebrates teams, amplifies People & Culture, and reinforces a unified message across the function.


• Coordinate planning and content development for key functional events, including People & Culture leadership advances, town halls, PCLT fireside chats, rounding tours, roadshows, and other engagements, in partnership with the VP, Leadership Activation and Chief of Staff.


• Partner across PCLT to identify opportunities to elevate People & Culture successes through external award submissions; support the identification, drafting, and submission process as needed.


• Define success measures for People & Culture communications, using data, feedback, and insights to inform decisions and demonstrate enterprise impact.

What You'll Bring

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing, or a related field


• 8+ years of strategic communications experience, with a strong focus on internal or HR communications, change management, or employee engagement


• Demonstrated experience advising senior executives and partnering with cross-functional leaders across HR, Legal, Operations, and Marketing


• Enterprise mindset and the ability to operate effectively across complex, matrixed systems


• Strong judgment when navigating enterprise risk, sensitive matters, and ambiguity


• Exceptional written, verbal, and executive communication skills


• Strong consultative and advisory presence with senior leaders


• Deep expertise in change communications and transformation storytelling


• Ability to simplify complexity and communicate with empathy and clarity


• Comfort moving between strategy and execution


• Strong leadership, coaching, and stakeholder management capabilities


• High level of judgment, discretion, and attention to detail


• Ability to travel as needed, with potential exposure to weather and road conditions


• Ability to operate all equipment necessary to perform the job and work in a normal office environment

Preferred

• Experience supporting complex, large-scale organizations; healthcare or frontline workforce environments preferred


• People leadership experience

This job description indicates the general nature and level of work expected of the incumbent. It is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities required of the incumbent. Incumbent may be required to perform other related duties.