Sr. Communications Specialist

Markel Corporation; Richmond (VA); On-site; USD 78,000 - 107,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) with employer match

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Paid time off and holidays

Job summary

Markel Corporation is seeking a Communications Specialist to create and deliver clear, audience-specific communications that support business and technology changes. You will work with Change Managers, leaders, Product, IT, and SMEs to ensure understanding and action across audiences.

The role covers change communications, leadership enablement, release communications, and training materials, with a focus on awareness, readiness, and adoption.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, journalism, PR, business, or related field.
• 3+ years in employee or corporate communications, change management, or related role.
• Strong writing, editing and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Create, edit, and publish clear communications across email, Teams, SharePoint and other channels.
• Translate complex information into audience-specific content and messaging.
• Develop leadership communications, manager toolkits, talking points, and messaging for executives.
• Coordinate weekly and monthly release communications with Product, IT, and business teams.
• Assist in training materials and enablement content, aligned with change initiatives.
• Support Change Management Office with templates, calendars, metrics, and assets.

Skills

Exceptional writing

Verbal communication

Editing

Audience tailoring

Project management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Communications or related field

Tools

Teams

Outlook

PowerPoint

SharePoint

Word

Job description

What part will you play? If you’re looking for a place where you can make a meaningful difference, you’ve found it. The work we do at Markel gives people the confidence to move forward and seize opportunities, and you’ll find your fit amongst our global community of optimists and problem-solvers. We’re always pushing each other to go further because we believe that when we realize our potential, we can help others reach theirs. Join us and play your part in something special!

The Communications Specialist creates, manages, and delivers clear, engaging, and audience-specific communications that support business and technology change initiatives. This role partners with Change Managers, business leaders, Product, IT, and subject matter experts to ensure stakeholders understand what is changing, why it matters, and what actions are required. The Communications Specialist develops and maintains change communications, leadership messaging, release communications, knowledge articles, and employee-facing content that build awareness, readiness, and adoption. The role also supports training and enablement efforts and provides general operational support to the Change Management Office.

Change Communications

• Create, edit, update, and publish clear communications across email, Teams, SharePoint, presentations, videos, and other channels.
• Translate complex business and technical information into concise content tailored to specific audiences.
• Ensure communications align with organizational goals, messaging standards, and change strategies.
• Support campaigns that build awareness, readiness, adoption, and sustained behavior change.

Leadership and Stakeholder Enablement

• Draft leadership communications, presentations, manager toolkits, talking points, and team-ready messages.
• Partner with leaders and Change Managers to tailor communications for executives, managers, and employees.
• Recommend communication timing, channels, audience segmentation, and message sequencing.
• Support two-way communication and stakeholder feedback.

Release Communications

• Coordinate, review, edit, update, and publish weekly and monthly release notes.
• Partner with Product, IT, and business teams to gather and organize release information.
• Ensure release content is accurate, clear, business-focused, and action-oriented.
• Maintain standards and reusable templates for release communications.

Training and Enablement Support

• Assist in developing training materials, presentations, job aids, FAQs, quick reference guides, and other learning assets.
• Collaborate with trainers and Change Managers to align communications and learning materials.
• Support training communications and post-training reinforcement activities.

Change Management Office Support

• Provide communication planning and execution support across multiple change initiatives.
• Maintain communication templates, standards, calendars, and best practices.
• Track communication engagement metrics and recommend improvements.
• Contribute to CMO processes, tools, reusable assets, and special projects.
• Provide general administrative and operational support to the Change Management Office as needed.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, Marketing, Journalism, Public Relations, Business, Organizational Change, or a related field.
• 3+ years of experience in employee communications, corporate communications, change management, or a related role.
• Exceptional writing, editing, proofreading, and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to tailor messaging for leadership, manager, and employee audiences.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, partners, and deadlines.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 tools, including Teams, Outlook, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and Word.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting organizational change, technology implementations, or business transformation programs.
• Familiarity with change management methodologies such as Prosci or ADKAR.
• Experience developing training materials, job aids, or other enablement content.
• Experience creating and managing recurring release communications.

Success Measures

• Communications are accurate, audience-specific, and delivered on time.
• Weekly and monthly release notes are clear, consistent, and action-oriented.
• Leaders receive ready-to-use messaging that helps them communicate effectively with their teams.
• Communication engagement data informs continuous improvement.
• Change initiatives receive consistent communication support that builds awareness, readiness, and adoption.

Pay information

The base salary offered for the successful candidate will be based on compensable factors such as job-relevant education, job-relevant experience, training, licensure, demonstrated competencies, geographic location, and other factors. The national average salary range for the Sr. Communications Specialist is $78,000 - $107,250 with 15% incentive.

Markel does not provide visa sponsorship for this position, now or in the future.

US Work Authorization US Work Authorization required.

Who we are

Markel Group (NYSE – MKL) a fortune 500 company with over 60 offices in 20+ countries, is a holding company for insurance, reinsurance, specialist advisory and investment operations around the world.

What’s in it for you

In keeping with the values of the Markel Style, we strive to support our employees in living their lives to the fullest at home and at work.

• All full-time employees have the option to select from multiple health, dental and vision insurance plan options and optional life, disability, and AD&D insurance.
• We also offer a 401(k) with employer match contributions, an Employee Stock Purchase Plan, PTO, corporate holidays and floating holidays, parental leave.

Markel is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate or allow discrimination on the basis of any protected characteristic. This includes race; color; sex; religion; creed; national origin or place of birth; ancestry; age; disability; affectional or sexual orientation; gender expression or identity; genetic information, sickle cell trait, or atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait; refusal to submit to genetic tests or make genetic test results available; medical condition; citizenship status; pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; marital status, civil union status, domestic partnership status, familial status, or family responsibilities; military or veteran status, including unfavorable discharge from military service; personal appearance, height, or weight; matriculation or political affiliation; expunged juvenile records; arrest and court records where prohibited by applicable law; status as a victim of domestic or sexual violence; public assistance status; order of protection status; status as a smoker or nonsmoker; membership or activity in local commissions; the use or nonuse of lawful products off employer premises during non-work hours; declining to attend meetings or participate in communications about religious or political matters; or any other classification protected by applicable law.