Supervisor, Internal Communications

Loudoun County Public Schools; Goose Creek Village (VA); On-site; USD 121,000 - 194,000; Full time

Job summary

Loudoun County Public Schools seeks a Supervisor of Internal Communications to lead division-wide internal and organizational communications and advise division leadership. The role develops executive messaging, employee and school communications, and incident communications, coordinating with Legal, Public Affairs, and other offices to ensure timely, accurate messaging. The position also oversees FOIA processes and staff development.

Qualifications

• Advanced knowledge of internal communications, strategic communications and executive messaging.
• Exceptional writing, editing and executive communication skills with strong knowledge of AP Style.
• Ability to translate complex information into clear communications for diverse audiences.
• Experience advising executives and developing communications for employees and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead division-wide internal communications strategy aligned with LCPS priorities.
• Provide strategic communications counsel to Superintendent and senior leadership.
• Lead executive writing and organizational messaging for leadership and staff.
• Oversee school communications and incident communications, including family notifications.
• Develop and maintain incident communications protocols and templates.
• Coordinate FOIA administration and response processes with legal and other offices.
• Lead governance and standards for internal communications systems.
• Partner with Public Affairs to align internal and external communications when needed.
• Mentor and evaluate communications staff; set performance expectations.
• Use data and analytics to evaluate effectiveness and guide strategy.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive division-wide strategic communications plan.

Skills

Executive communications

AP Style

Crisis communications

Stakeholder relations

Strategic writing

Education

Bachelor's degree in English/Communications/Public Relations

Tools

AP Style guide

Job description

Job Overview

The Supervisor, Internal Communications leads division-wide internal and organizational communications and serves as a strategic communications advisor division leadership and schools. The Supervisor develops and coordinates executive messaging, employee communications, school communications, school incident communications, information governance and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) coordination to support clear, consistent and timely communication across LCPS.

This position works across departments and schools to translate complex initiatives and operational information into clear communications for employees, families and leadership. The Supervisor provides communications support during school incidents, coordinates family and staff notifications and leadership messaging, and partners closely with Public Affairs when an incident also requires media or broader public communications.

Roles and Responsibilities

The following information is intended to describe the overall nature and scope of the work being performed. This is not a comprehensive listing of all responsibilities or tasks; work may differ and other work may be assigned when deemed appropriate.

• Leads division-wide internal communications strategy and develops communications plans aligned with the LCPS Strategic Plan and organizational priorities.
• Provides strategic communications counsel and executive messaging support to the Superintendent, Cabinet, School Board and senior leadership on organizational priorities, emerging issues and high-profile initiatives.
• Leads executive writing and organizational messaging, including Superintendent, Cabinet, School Board and employee communications.
• Oversees school communications and school incident communications, including family and staff notifications, leadership messaging, and School Board notifications.
• Develops and maintains school incident communications protocols, templates and processes to support timely, accurate and coordinated communication during operational incidents.
• Coordinates FOIA administration and response processes, including internal records coordination, timelines, cross-department collaboration and consultation with Legal and other appropriate offices.
• Leads communications governance, policies, standards and internal communications systems to improve consistency, quality and operational effectiveness.
• Partners with Public Affairs to ensure alignment between internal and school communications and media or broader public communications when issues or incidents have both internal and external dimensions.
• Supervises, mentors, develops and evaluates assigned communications staff and establishes performance expectations that support collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement.
• Uses audience insights, engagement data and communications metrics to evaluate effectiveness and inform improvements to internal communications.
• Helps develop, implement, and continuously evaluate a comprehensive, division-wide strategic communications plan aligned with the LCPS Strategic Plan and organizational priorities.
• Leads integrated enterprise-wide communications campaigns that influence understanding, engagement, trust, coordinated use of earned, owned, shared and paid media.

Qualifications

Below are the minimum qualifications for this job. Equivalent combinations of education and experience are also acceptable.

Education

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

Experience

• Seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in strategic communications, internal communications, public relations, journalism, public information or a related field.
• Three (3) years of experience leading projects, teams or complex cross-functional communications initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience advising executive leadership and developing communications for employees, families, governing boards or other organizational stakeholders.
• Experience managing sensitive, time-critical or incident-related communications in a complex organization.

Licenses and Certifications

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Advanced knowledge of internal communications, strategic communications, executive communications, issues management and organizational messaging.
• Exceptional writing, editing and executive communication skills with strong knowledge of AP Style.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex operational, policy and organizational information into clear communications for diverse audiences.
• Strong judgment and decision-making skills, including the ability to manage sensitive information and competing priorities in high-pressure situations.
• Ability to build trusted relationships with executive leaders, School Board members, principals, employees and cross-functional partners.
• Working knowledge of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), FERPA and communications-related legal and privacy considerations.
• Ability to lead collaborative work across departments and schools and establish effective communications processes and standards.
• Experience using data, research and analytics to evaluate communications effectiveness and guide strategy.

Physical Requirements

The following provides a brief description of physical requirements for this job: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly talking, expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word. The employee must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly. The employee must possess normal cognitive abilities including the ability to learn, recall and apply certain practices and policies. Work requires frequently sitting and/or remaining in a stationary position for long periods of time; exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally and negligible amounts of force frequently to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects.

Reports to: Chief Communications and Community Engagement Officer

FLSA Status: Exempt

Months/Days/Hours: 12 months/ 254 days / 8 hours

Salary Level: Universal/Scale B.3 - Level 21

Salary Scale: https://www.lcps.org/compensation

Salary Range: $120,700 - $194,156

Remote Work Eligible: No

Union Designation: Non-Union