Senior Manager, Internal Communications

Position Summary

We are seeking a senior internal communications leader who can both lead and do. This player/coach will set enterprise employee communications strategy, advise senior leaders, build high-impact internal campaigns, strengthen manager communications, and create and deliver communications across channels.

The role will help employees understand what is changing, why it matters, what is expected of them, and how their work contributes to organizational outcomes. Our internal communications strategy must also connect MITRE staff to our broader mission and its impacts.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Lead the enterprise employee communications strategy and internal editorial agenda, aligning communications priorities with business strategy, workforce needs, culture, and major organizational initiatives.
• Design and execute integrated internal campaigns from insight and concept through message development, creative production, channel activation, manager enablement, measurement, and continuous improvement.
• Create and edit high-quality communications including manager toolkits, FAQs, internal stories, newsletters, presentations, digital signage, video scripts, and change communications.
• Work with the internal communications team to govern employee communication channels, including intranet, email, collaboration tools, town halls, digital signage using software such as Workshop.
• Build a strong manager communications capability, including cascade plans, briefing materials, discussion guides, feedback loops, and tools that equip managers to communicate consistently and answer employee questions.
• Use employee listening, channel analytics, campaign metrics, and stakeholder feedback to segment audiences, improve message relevance, demonstrate outcomes, and recommend adjustments.
• Coordinate communications for organizational change, culture, crisis or sensitive workforce matters in close partnership with Human Resources, Legal, Security, Operations, and other stakeholders.

Basic Qualifications

• Typically requires a minimum of 12 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 10 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 7 years’ experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• Bachelor's degree in communications, journalism, public relations, marketing, organizational communication, business, or a related field.
• Demonstrated success leading internal or employee communications in a large, complex, matrixed, highly regulated, technical, or mission-driven organization.
• Experience developing and executing enterprise communications strategies and integrated campaigns that support business priorities, organizational change, culture, and employee engagement.
• Exceptional writing, editing, message development, and storytelling skills, with a portfolio of executive-ready and employee-facing work.
• Ability to operate as both a strategic leader and a hands-on individual contributor, moving comfortably from executive counsel to content creation and channel execution.
• Experience advising senior executives and working with discretion, sound judgment, emotional intelligence, and credibility on complex or sensitive topics.
• Experience enabling managers as communicators through cascades, toolkits, leader briefings, and two-way feedback mechanisms.
• Working knowledge of employee communications technology, content management, digital signage, intranets, email platforms, collaboration tools, analytics, and employee engagement platforms, including Spectrio or comparable platforms.
• This position requires a minimum of 3 days a week on-site.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading internal communications for transformation, restructuring, return-to-work/workplace changes, technology adoption, culture initiatives, or other enterprise-wide change.
• Demonstrated ability to segment employee audiences and tailor communications for desk-based, hybrid, remote, frontline, technical, and people-manager populations.
• Experience establishing channel governance, editorial planning, content operations, intake and prioritization processes, and measurable service standards.
• Experience using data to evaluate communication effectiveness, including reach, engagement, understanding, sentiment, manager readiness, behavior change, and business outcomes.
• Experience with employee listening methods such as pulse surveys, focus groups, feedback channels, and qualitative insight gathering.
• Experience producing multimedia content and working with creative, video, events, digital, or agency partners.
• Change management certification or practical experience with established change methodologies; familiarity with accessibility and inclusive communications practices.
• Professional certification or active participation in organizations such as IABC, PRSA, or comparable communications associations.

Leadership Attributes

• An enterprise thinker who connects communications to strategy and employee experience.
• A pragmatic builder who creates structure without adding unnecessary bureaucracy.
• A strong listener who seeks employee and manager insight before prescribing solutions.
• A calm, trusted counselor who can challenge constructively and handle ambiguity.
• A creative operator who can simplify complexity and deliver excellent work at pace.
• An inclusive collaborator who builds coalitions and leads through influence.

Measures of Success

• Employees and managers report greater clarity about priorities, decisions, and change.
• Leaders are better prepared and more consistent in communicating with their teams.
• Internal campaigns show measurable reach, understanding, engagement, or action.
• Channels are better governed, more relevant, and less duplicative.
• Sensitive communications are anticipated earlier and managed with fewer surprises.
• The team is viewed as both a strategic partner and a reliable execution engine.