Change Communications Lead (35894)

Location: Grand Rapids, MI – Hybrid (on‑site 2 days/week with a staggered schedule to support global operations). Term: 12 months with chance of extensions. Rate: up to $54/hr (W‑2).

Position Summary

The Change Communications Lead will serve as the communications lead within the NextGen Change Management team, responsible for developing and executing the global communication strategy that drives stakeholder awareness, engagement, readiness, and adoption. This role partners closely with Program Leadership, Market Teams, Change Management, Creative Team, and external agencies to deliver clear, consistent, and compelling communications across internal and customer audiences throughout the transformation journey.

Key Responsibilities

• Communication Strategy & Planning: develop and maintain the global NextGen communication strategy and integrated plan; define objectives, audience segmentation, key messages, channels, and governance; align activities with program milestones, readiness activities, and change management objectives.
• Change Narrative & Messaging: own the NextGen narrative and messaging framework; translate program messaging into clear, actionable stakeholder communications; ensure consistency across markets, functions, leadership teams, and stakeholder groups.
• Communication Asset Development: manage the asset roadmap and content calendar; lead creation of materials for customer and internal audiences (presentations, newsletters, FAQs, campaigns, videos, portal content, leadership communications, launch materials, success stories); partner with Creative Team to align with brand standards; coordinate with external agencies and internal partners.
• Agency & Vendor Management: manage communication agencies and external vendors; provide direction, priorities, and feedback to ensure high‑quality deliverables on time and within budget.
• Market Communication Enablement: support markets in developing localized strategies and plans; provide toolkits, templates, and reusable assets; coach market teams on planning, stakeholder engagement, and execution best practices.
• Customer Communications: lead planning and execution for the Customer Ambassador Program, Customer Preview, Early Release, Launch, and post‑launch adoption activities; ensure materials support customer understanding, engagement, readiness, and adoption.
• Internal Communications: lead enterprise‑wide communications to raise awareness and engagement across leadership, global functions, market teams, and program stakeholders; manage channels such as newsletters, leadership updates, divisional meetings, collaboration sites, and the NextGen portal; drive visibility of program progress, milestones, achievements, and upcoming changes.
• Leadership Communications & Reporting: develop executive presentations, talking points, briefing materials, and leadership updates; support communication needs for steering committees, leadership reviews, market updates, and major program events.
• Adoption & Feedback: monitor communication effectiveness, stakeholder sentiment, and engagement metrics; gather feedback to continuously improve approaches and content; partner with Change Management leads to support adoption and sustainment activities.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in change communications, transformation communications, corporate communications, or organizational change management.
• Experience supporting large‑scale business or technology transformation programs.
• Strong communication planning, stakeholder management, and storytelling skills.
• Experience managing agencies and coordinating cross‑functional communication efforts.
• Excellent presentation development and executive communication capabilities.

Preferred Experience

• Experience supporting global and multi‑market transformations.

Success Measures

• Stakeholder awareness and understanding of NextGen objectives and benefits.
• Effective communication support for customer and internal audiences.
• Successful market adoption of communication frameworks and assets.
• Consistent, high‑quality communication delivery across all phases of the program.
• Positive engagement, readiness, and adoption outcomes across participating markets.