Lead, Customer & Business Communications

Spire; Nashville (TN); Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Hybrid work environment

Collaborative team atmosphere

Job summary

A regional utility company in Nashville is seeking a Lead for Customer and Business Communications. This role involves managing customer communications for the newly acquired Tennessee region, supporting marketing initiatives, and engaging with local media. The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s degree and at least ten years of professional experience, particularly in customer communications and public relations. This position allows for hybrid work, requiring up to 20% travel to Spire offices.

Qualifications

• At least ten years of professional work experience in communications.
• Strong customer communications experience is preferred.
• Experience in media and public relations is beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Plan and manage customer content for Tennessee region.
• Coordinate development of customer communications for safety and compliance.
• Serve as local media contact, managing public relations efforts.

Skills

Customer communications

Professional writing

Project management

Collaboration

Public relations

Education

Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, business, journalism, or related field

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Marketing automation tools

Social media tools

Job description

Summary

Spire is seeking a Lead, Customer and Business Communications, for Spire’s Tennessee region; the role will be in Nashville.

This is an exciting time to join Spire. With the expected transformative acquisition of the Piedmont Natural Gas business in Tennessee, Spire will soon serve the Nashville area. The individual selected for this new role will be part of the team that ensures a seamless transition for Nashville‑area customers.

This position has primary responsibility for producing and implementing customer communications, principally for Spire’s newest service area – the Nashville, Tennessee, region. Additional responsibilities include front‑line support for external marketing initiatives, local media and public relations, employee communications, and community impact and engagement efforts, as appropriate. The Spire Communications and Marketing team provides professional support across the company and Spire’s multiple service regions. While this position is primarily focused on customer communications, it offers the opportunity to do a little bit of everything in the communications area. If you’re a communications generalist or a customer communications specialist who enjoys being the hands‑on, go‑to communicator for the business, this might be the role for you.

The individual in this role should embody a service‑excellence bias and be adept at collaborating with operational partners to ensure seamless communications for external and internal parties, ideally with noted experience in a customer communications role.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Plan, manage and implement relevant and engaging customer content for the Tennessee region, in collaboration with the Communications and Marketing team
• Implement customer communications for the transition of new Tennessee customers to Spire; own the responsibility for engaging with third parties to meet communication deadlines
• Manage and coordinate development of customer communications in support of safety, regulatory and compliance, customer experience, legal and business development that align with Spire’s companywide vision, driving engagement, supporting customer retention efforts and strengthening community relationships
• Implement and maintain communications and marketing programs targeted toward customers and employees using all relevant and established communications channels, including the employee intranet, multimedia, newsletters, email and other vehicles as appropriate in collaboration with the broader corporate communications team
• Provide local support for internal communication needs in collaboration with the employee communications team
• Support Nashville‑area marketing initiatives, helping to align messaging and execution with broader corporate goals
• Collaborate with the Customer Communications and Marketing Manager and the Communications team to support local business and economic development initiatives
• Provide front‑line support for community impact and engagement efforts in the Nashville area, as needed
• Support employee engagement activities, including employee volunteerism, nonprofit events, corporate initiatives and other activities as needed
• Serve as local media contact for the Tennessee utility, handling public relations, issues management and crisis communications with the field, operations/dispatch, claims, customer experience and leadership teams while serving as the company spokesperson as needed. Maintain the local 24/7 media line and coordinate media requests in collaboration with other team members
• Provide communications support for various departments such as drafting and/or reviewing letters, articles, memos, fact sheets and speeches, and/or overseeing the creation of print and digital materials to help internal clients meet their objectives, as needed
• Serve as a champion internally for the company’s brand standards, strategic direction and employee engagement initiatives
• Align strategy, content, voice and messaging with Spire’s mission and brand
• Other duties as assigned

Essential Characteristics

• Professional experience as a polished writer who is proficient in developing effective communications using a variety of voices, messages and communication vehicles; ideal candidate will have a strong customer communications background and experience with implementing a wide range of communication tactics
• Employee- and team-focused, results-driven
• Calm demeanor during changing or evolving situations, with ability to pivot
• High degree of attention to detail, with a strong bias toward taking initiative
• Strong ethics and integrity, dedication to a safe work environment, commitment to a diverse workforce
• Ability to adapt to changing conditions and events and to work with a variety of external and internal stakeholders, including senior leaders
• Exceptional presentation, time management and prioritization skills; ability to manage and track multiple projects, often with competing deadlines
• Experience with marketing automation tools, marketing technology platforms and digital‑first best practices preferred.
• Strong understanding of the Nashville region and its framework of communities and key stakeholders
• Strong listening and problem‑solving skills
• Friendly, approachable and desire to meet new people

Supervisory Responsibilities

None

Required Education (certifications, licenses)

Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, business, journalism, or related field

Required knowledge, skill and abilities

• Accomplished communications professional with at least ten years of professional work experience in a variety of communications areas, such as customer communications, public relations, advertising, customer experience, etc.
• Customer communications experience strongly preferred
• Professional work experience in supporting media and public relations
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint), digital technologies and social media tools. Ideal candidate has marketing automation experience
• Ability to make data‑informed decisions
• Understanding of Nashville region and its framework of communities and key stakeholders
• Familiarity with working in a regulated industry preferred
• Extensive experience in project management

Physical demands, environment and schedule

Hybrid working environment; in‑office work will be performed in a shared office environment in Nashville, Tennessee, and this position will work closely with and stay connected to the Communications & Marketing team members in St. Louis, Birmingham and Kansas City.

Up to 20 percent travel required to other Spire offices and employee locations

Able to work nights and weekends, as needed

Company Overview

At Spire, we’re committed to understanding the needs of the homes and businesses we serve. That's why we're always looking for driven, collaborative people to join our team. Because we believe that offering our customers the best service means bringing together the best people.

And we find the best by hiring those who share our values of safety, inclusion and integrity, and demonstrate the competencies that bring the Spire vision, mission and culture to life:

• Adaptability: We embrace change, continuously seeking opportunities for improvement while remaining open‑minded and flexible in response to evolving conditions and customer, stakeholder and company needs.
• Collaboration: We achieve more together through a foundation of respect, embracing healthy conflict, actively seeking and providing actionable feedback and fostering an environment where everyone’s input is welcomed.
• Ownership: We see things through, demonstrate accountability, honor commitments, take responsibility for outcomes and demonstrate initiative.

By living our values and competencies, we strive to create an environment where employees feel welcome, respected and valued.

Posting Requirements

Spire accepts online applications through our career site at jobs.spireenergy.com

Posting requirements: The above posting description is intended to describe the general nature of the level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each duty and responsibility satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Spire Inc., and its subsidiaries are affirmative action and equal employment obligation employer.

We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity in all areas, including but not necessarily limited to, recruitment, selection, training, education, compensation, benefits, promotion, job transfer, upgrading, separation and recall regardless of the individual’s race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, genetics, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, veteran status, and/or other protected categories under all Federal, State, and local laws. For more information, please view our Integrity and Inclusion pages of our career site.