Internal Communications Business Partner

Sage Pub; Thousand Oaks (CA); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401(k) matching

Education support

Hybrid/Remote work

Job summary

Sage Publishing is seeking an Internal Communications Business Partner to advise senior leaders, shape clear and credible messages, and lead strategic communications across regions and functions.

You will translate enterprise narratives into audience-led plans, partner with Employee Experience and channels, and manage delivery within changing business priorities. This role offers hybrid or remote work and a strong focus on employee experience and transformation.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in internal communications or corporate communications in complex environments.
• Proven track record as a senior strategic advisor to leaders on communications strategy and risk.

Responsibilities

• Advise leaders on intent, sequencing, and audience impact for communications.
• Translate strategy and employee experience principles into integrated plans.
• Own publishing and send authority for communications within assigned areas.
• Assess risks and adjust approach to protect reputation and employee relations.
• Collaborate with Employee Experience, channels, and operations to ensure clear briefs and effective hand-offs.

Skills

Internal communications

Strategic advisory

Stakeholder management

Change management

Communication skills

Job description

About Our Team

You’ll join a collaborative and growing global Internal Communications team who partner with leaders and teams across the business - building trusted relationships and influencing how priorities, change, and strategy are communicated.

Working across regions, we ensure communication is clear, inclusive, and relevant to diverse audiences – balancing global consistency with local nuance. Together, we help colleagues stay informed, connected, and engaged in Sage’s strategy, culture, and transformation.

Your New Role

As an Internal Communications Business Partner (ICBP), you’ll act as a strategic advisor to senior leaders, shaping and enabling clear, credible and effective communication that supports Sage’s business strategy and employee experience. This is a high-impact partnering role where you'll use judgement, insight, and influence to guide leaders on what to communicate, when, and how – particularly in complex or ambiguous situations.

Alongside this advisory and insight‑led role, the ICBP is accountable for activating and delivering internal communications across assigned areas, ensuring communications are audience‑led, well‑timed and consistently aligned to Sage’s enterprise narrative and Employee Experience principles.

You will:

• Act as an internal communications advisor to leaders within assigned regions, functions or business pillars, providing strategic counsel on intent, risk, sequencing and audience impact to shape effective communications approaches.
• Translate internal communications strategy, enterprise narrative and employee experience (EX) principles into integrated, audience‑led communications plans that support business priorities and outcomes.
• Shape, challenge and sense‑check communications requests to ensure clarity of purpose, appropriate tone, realistic sequencing and alignment to enterprise narrative expectations, balancing consistency with local relevance.
• Apply judgement to plan and sequence communications activity within assigned areas, operating within prioritization, escalation and risk thresholds.
• Own publishing and send authority for agreed communications within assigned areas, advancing activity linked to defined change agendas or enterprise‑level risk as appropriate.
• Actively assess and surface communications‑related risks, tensions or misalignment, adjusting approach where possible and advancing when organizational, reputational or employee‑relations thresholds are met.
• Sense‑check how communications and change are landing with colleagues, interpreting feedback, sentiment and delivery experience to inform advice, planning and continuous improvement.
• Bring real‑world insight and emerging sentiment into the Internal Communications function, contributing to planning, prioritization, standards and evolution of the Business Partnering model.
• Collaborate closely with Employee Experience, channels, operations and specialist roles to ensure clear briefs, strong alignment and effective hand‑offs from planning through delivery.
• Maintain a strong understanding of business context, leadership priorities and organizational dynamics within assigned areas, using this insight to strengthen communications advice and impact.

Can you be our new Internal Communications Business Partner? We are looking for:

• Significant experience in internal communications, corporate communications or a related field, operating in complex, matrixed or multi‑stakeholder environments.
• Demonstrated ability to operate as a senior strategic advisor to leaders, providing credible counsel on communications approach, sequencing and risk, not simply delivery support.
• Strong critical thinking skills, with the ability to connect business intent, organizational context, audience needs and employee experience principles to shape effective communications plans.
• Sound judgement and confidence operating in ambiguity, applying discretion and independent thinking to assess risk, trade‑offs and implications for colleagues and the organization.
• Proven ability to influence and challenge senior collaborators constructively, building trusted relationships and shaping decisions without relying on formal authority.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor messaging, tone and framing for different audiences, contexts and levels of complexity.
• Experience planning and delivering internal communications that support business priorities, change activity and leadership objectives, balancing enterprise consistency with local relevance and nuance.
• Strong understanding of employee experience, organizational dynamics and change, with the ability to interpret how communications and change are landing with colleagues and feed insight back into planning and decision‑making.
• Comfortable working across specialist and operational roles (e.g. channels, operations, events), providing clear direction, strong briefs and effective collaboration from planning through delivery.
• Organized and disciplined in approach, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, apply sequencing judgment and maintain high standards in fast‑moving environments.

Pay Transparency & Benefits Package:

Sage Publishing is committed to being an inclusive employer where all individuals are treated with fairness and respect. Sage is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer.

Compensation at Sage is influenced by several factors, including but not limited to skill set, nature and level of experience, qualifications, and other relevant considerations. Please note that the compensation details listed in U.S. role postings reflect the base salary only and do not include bonuses or benefits. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range and additional aspects of the compensation/benefits package for this position during the hiring process. If your desired salary falls outside of this range, we hope you'll still apply as there may be other positions that better align.

In addition to compensation, Sage offers a highly competitive and comprehensive PPO medical, dental, and vision care benefits package with SAGE covering most of the premium costs. Unique program benefits that support a healthy life, a company-sponsored anniversary trip every 5 years, a 401(k)-matching program of 100% up to 5% of pay, and other significant meaningful benefits. In alignment with our value for education, Sage offers financial support for bachelor's and graduate‑level degree programs as well as learning for personal interest.

Sage offers freedom and autonomy in your day‑to‑day with hybrid or remote work, depending on the role. Join the nearly 2,000 Sage employees worldwide who deliver products and services that serve to fulfill our noble goal of education and dissemination of knowledge globally. We’d love to meet you!

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Sage Publishing is committed to being an inclusive employer where all individuals are treated with fairness and respect, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marriage and partnership status, pregnancy and parental responsibilities, race, religion and belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

We believe that diversity is a cornerstone of a vibrant culture. We want Sage to be an organization where the most talented staff and high‑potential staff are recruited, have the opportunity to grow, and want to work. We strive to achieve a better representation of diverse talent at all levels, including leadership, across our workforce.