Director - Communications (Austin, Texas hybrid in-person/remote)
Company: University Federal Credit Union
Location: Austin
Posted on: January 26, 2023
Job Description:
Job Summary
The Director of Communications directs and oversees UFCU's external
communications and internal Executive communications strategies and
activities that support and promote our overall strategic
priorities across business, products and media, as well as help
UFCU manage its brand reputation with Members and employees. The
Director is passionate about UFCU's mission and vision, has a firm
grasp of communication, community and Public Relations strategy,
and knows how to mine and engage in an evolving media landscape.
This position is a creative, strategic problem-solver with an
affinity for details.
The Director of Communications reports to the Vice President -
Communications and Marketing and leads the Communications team.
About UFCU
As Austin's largest locally-owned financial institution, University
Federal Credit Union is a financial institution owned by, dedicated
to, and always working for our Members. Our mission at UFCU is
simple: To advance opportunities for quality education, employment,
and housing. We're proud to focus on people - not profits. We
deliver fair and honest products and outstanding service, and we
work collaboratively within our organization as well as our
community to help Members achieve their personal and financial
goals.
Consistently receiving awards as the Top Credit Union, Top Mortgage
Company, Best Places for Working Parents, Healthiest Employer in
Austin, and Gallup's Exceptional Workplaces, UFCU is proud of its
people-first culture. We value our employees as much as our
Members. We offer an environment where people care about each other
- like family. If you want to love what you do, make an impact in
your community, and have the power to help people change their
lives - then we're glad you're here.
Essential Functions
Team Leadership and Development
- Lead the team responsible for both internal executive
communication and external corporate communication for
UFCU.
- Lead, inspire, motivate, and develop team members by providing
guidance and development to attain departmental and individual
development goals and support organizational needs.
- Nurture environment of operational excellence and continuous
improvement that rewards teamwork and collaboration.
- Focus on leading and developing people relationships through
UFCU core values.
- Build a successful team to operate according to UFCU guiding
principles, providing guidance and resources, and removing
obstacles as needed.
- Lead, motivate, and care for the team by creating a culture of
openness, positivity, and transparency.
- Serve as a role model in transparent communication, two-way
dialogue, and proactive communication to the team.
- Provide team leadership based on servant leadership principles,
caring for the whole person.
- Plan, monitor, and appraise job results with an emphasis on
coaching and developing employees to achieve desired performance
results.
- Help teams achieve their career goals. Ensure team members
understand how to have an impact and are aware of that impact when
they've made it.
Communications Strategy Development and Planning
- Contribute to and execute the strategy for effective internal
executive and external corporate communication strategy, including
crisis communication.
- Work within the Community Impact business unit and across the
organization to devise and implement impactful communications
plans, earned media strategies and materials to secure positive
press coverage across business and financial media, both for tent
pole moments and ongoing.
- Create systems to proactively identify and communicate Member
and Community Impact stories, proactively identify, vet, secure,
and respond to press opportunities and inquiries.
- Ensure positive employee perception and brand awareness through
aligned internal executive communication and external corporate
communication messaging, processes, and systems.
- Foster relationships and appropriately manage external vendor
partners including Public Relations and other communication-related
agencies, contractors, and freelancers.
- Build strategic relationships with business and financial
outlets and influencers that will engender open dialogue with
journalists to shape and inform media coverage.
- Implement executive placement strategies, including speaking
engagements, profiles, and Op-Eds to successfully position UFCU
leadership as visionaries and thought leaders in the Credit Union
movement and in their respective fields.
- Oversee and contribute to interview and speaking prep for
executives, including the development of presentations, talking
points, briefing documents, and other written and visual
materials.
- Draft written material for a variety of media including but not
limited to pitches, announcements, press releases and talking
points for wide range of business announcements.
- Work closely with organizational leadership on key messaging
and business announcements.
- Coordinate with internal and external partners to align
community relations and communication strategy with product
launches, impact initiatives and corporate landmarks.
- Partner with leadership to strategically prepare for and
respond to crisis situations and issues management.
Strategic Business Partner
- Serve as an advisor to and work in partnership with various
business functions, including HR/OD, Community Impact, Member
Experience, and Board Relations.
- Cultivate and maintain a positive, strong, and meaningful
relationship and connection with others, working collaboratively
with peers across the organization.
- Collaborate with multiple business partners across the
organization to determine current and future needs for performance
measurements and achieving strategies.
- Facilitate joint brainstorming and team collaboration, working
closely with peers to achieve organizational goals and
strategies.
Budgetary Oversight and Expense Management
- Establish Communications annual budget with identification of
planned expenses for new or enhanced programs and
services.
- Ensure effective control of results. Take action to guarantee
achievement of departmental objectives that fall within designated
budgets.
- Monitor expenses on a monthly basis to evaluate versus budget.
Take action to make adjustments as needed based on organizational
and department priorities.
- Collaborate with senior leaders on development of
organizational annual budget in alignment with strategic
objectives.
Other
- Perform other duties as assigned.
- Adhere to all company policies, procedures, and business ethics
codes
- Complete required regulatory training as assigned.
- Maintain strict adherence and compliance to all laws, rules,
regulations, policies, procedures, and internal controls specific
to the role, including but not limited to Bank Secrecy Act,
Anti-Money Laundering, USA Patriot Act, OFAC, and Fair Lending
regulations.
- Must be bondable.
Knowledge/Skills/Abilities
Team Building and Leadership
- Proven people leader with thoughtful management philosophy and
approach.
- Strong and demonstrable leadership skills with the ability to
inspire, develop, coach, and motivate others.
- Demonstrated enthusiasm and eagerness for innovatively building
energetic and highly engaged teams.
- Inspired to perform well by the ability to make an impact and
contribute to the success of a project or the
organization.
- Proven ability to create a high-performance climate through
talent identification, recruitment, and retention.
- Proven ability to build a team of diverse talents that
complement one another.
- Proven ability to hold themselves to the highest standard of
integrity and personal behavior.
- Solid self-awareness with demonstrated emotional intelligence
and professional maturity.
Building Relationships and Using Influence
- Ability to work both independently and proactively, while also
collaborating within a small enterprising team of communications
professionals.
- Confidence working with senior leadership.
- Calm under pressure.
- Great at organizational navigation and cross-functional
collaboration at all levels.
- Exceptional interpersonal skills with the proven ability to
influence senior level management and key stakeholders.
- Ability to develop and effectively maintain strong
relationships with senior leadership, executive team, and key
stakeholders.
- Strong ability to recognize nuances in others and leverage this
understanding for a more influential impact on the team.
- Effective communicator, listener, and presenter, with the
ability to work effectively with various levels of the
organization.
- Adept at maintaining effective relationships with internal
departments, external business and community partners, and other
key stakeholders.
- Ability to develop and present data-driven recommendations
successfully, promote items persuasively, and diplomatically shape
the opinions of others.
Executing for Results
- Highly organized, great attention to detail and ability to
dedicatedly prioritize.
- Possess a proven delivery track record and exceptional service
orientation.
- Adept at translating the mission of the organization into
actionable, quantitative plans.
- Possess high levels of energy and persistence.
- Rigorously hold oneself and others accountable for achieving
high levels of individual and organizational performance.
Business Acumen
- Experience doing scenario planning and crisis
communications.
- Proven record of pitching and securing business-focused
stories.
- Ability to flex with the needs/direction of the
business.
- Ability to bring new thinking and ideas to the Senior
Leadership team.
- Expert knowledge of own discipline, including strategies,
concepts, and practices.
- Demonstrated strategic, innovative, and creative
problem-solving ability.
- Strong project management and service skills.
- Strong and frequent leadership of process
improvements.
- Consistently evaluates decisions in terms of impact to the
business.
- Combination of strong technical knowledge, business acumen, and
organizational leadership.
Competencies
- Adaptability
- Building Member Loyalty
- Building Partnerships
- Communication
- Emotional Intelligence
- Focus on Results
- Influence
- Leading the Organization (Decision Making and Systems
Thinking)
- Leading Others (Building a Successful Team, Coaching &
Developing Others, Leading Change, Servant Leadership)
Experience
Minimum Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Communications or related field. Four (4)
years of relevant experience may be substituted for
degree.
- Minimum of ten (10) years of working experience in corporate
communications and media relations.
- Minimum of seven (7) years of demonstrated strategic management
and supervisory leadership experience developing and leading teams
with direct reporting relationships in a medium to large sized
organization.
- Exceptional interpersonal, listening, collaborative, verbal and
written communication skills.
- Strong presentation skills, including development of business
cases, with the ability to work with employees at various levels
and different departments of the organization.
- Experience owning and managing multiple projects.
Preferred Requirements
- Master's degree in relevant field.
- Minimum of ten (10) years of experience working in a Credit
Union or financial services industry.
- Management and supervisory experience leading teams in an Agile
model.
Organizational Fit
- Core Values
- UFCU Mission
- UFCU Vision
- 7 Credit Union Principles
Physical Demands
The physical demands described are representative of those that
must be met by an employee, with or without accommodation, in order
to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with
disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Frequent
- While performing the duties of this job, the employee is
regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle or feel;
reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear.
- Extensive use of the computer, requiring specific vision
abilities including close vision, distance vision, peripheral
vision, and ability to adjust focus.
- Employee will make extensive use of the telephone and virtual
communications platforms requiring the ability to effectively and
accurately explain complex information.
Work Environment
The work environment characteristics described are representative
of those an employee encounters while performing the essential
functions of this job.
- This position is required to frequently work at UFCU Plaza in
Austin, Texas.
- This position may involve periodic stressful
conditions.
- May occasionally require an adjusted work schedule, overtime,
and evening/weekend hours.
- May occasionally move from one work location/branch to
another.
- Public contact position, requiring appropriate professional
appearance.
- Frequent computer use at a workstation of up to two hours at a
time.
- The noise level in the work environment is usually
moderate.
#INDUFCU
#LI-HQ1
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with
Disabilities
The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner
discriminate against employees or applicants because they have
inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of
another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access
to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as
a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of
other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise
have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is
(a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance
of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an
investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the
contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR
60-1.35(c)
Keywords: University Federal Credit Union, Austin , Director - Communications (Austin, Texas hybrid in-person/remote), Executive , Austin, Texas
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