Director, Communications

Location: Des Peres (St. Louis), MO
Work Arrangement: On-site

Position Overview
The Director, Communications serves as UniGroup’s lead enterprise communicator, responsible for protecting and strengthening the reputation of UniGroup and its family of brands. This role partners closely with senior leaders across the organization to deliver clear, consistent communications for employees, agents, customers, shareholders, media and other key audiences.
This is a hands-on player/coach role for an experienced communications leader who can move comfortably between strategy and execution. The Director will personally develop and pitch stories, counsel executives, serve as a company spokesperson, lead crisis communications and guide a small communications team.
Approximately 25% of the role is dedicated to CEO communications, including executive messaging, speeches, talking points, bylined content, and board and shareholder communications. The remaining 75% focuses on enterprise communications, including earned media, reputation management, employee and agent communications, change communications and partnership across the business.
Key Responsibilities

Lead UniGroup’s enterprise communications strategy across earned media, reputation, executive, employee, agent and change communications.
Personally develop and pitch compelling stories to national, trade, business and local media, building direct relationships with journalists and industry voices.
Identify stories across agents, drivers, employees and customers and extend them across earned media, social, web, video, executive content and other channels.
Turn company data, insights and industry expertise into relevant thought leadership and media opportunities.
Serve as a company spokesperson for print, broadcast and on-camera interviews.
Lead crisis and issues communications, monitoring emerging reputational risks and advising leadership on the appropriate response.
Serve as the CEO’s primary communications partner, developing speeches, talking points, internal messages, bylined content, social content and other executive communications.
Support board, shareholder and agent-owner communications and prepare the CEO for interviews, events, town halls and other high-profile engagements.
Counsel senior leaders on messaging, stakeholder impact, positioning and reputational risk.
Lead communications for major enterprise priorities, organizational changes and company events, translating complex information into clear, audience-focused messaging.
Build strong partnerships across Operations, IT, Finance, HR, Legal, Marketing, Sales and other functional teams to ensure Communications is involved early in significant initiatives.
Partner with Marketing and digital teams to strengthen the connection between earned media, social, web, search and brand visibility.
Partner with Sales and Business Analytics on thought leadership, proof points, communications measurement and commercial impact.
Lead, coach and develop the Communications team while remaining actively involved in day-to-day execution.
Manage communications priorities and outside agency support to ensure resources are focused on the highest-value work.

Qualifications
Required

Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Communications, Public Relations, English or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
8+ years of experience in corporate communications, public relations, media relations or journalism, including people leadership experience.
Demonstrated success personally pitching and placing stories with national, trade and regional media.
Exceptional writing and editing skills with the ability to identify compelling stories and simplify complex information.
Experience serving as an on-the-record spokesperson, including broadcast or on-camera interviews.
Experience leading crisis and issues communications across traditional and digital channels.
Strong judgment and discretion when navigating sensitive or high-profile communications.
Experience leading communications across multiple business functions and organizational priorities.
Experience counseling senior executives and providing a clear point of view on messaging and reputational risk.
Experience writing for and advising a CEO or comparable senior executive, including speeches, executive messaging and board-level communications.
Understanding of how earned media, social, web and search work together to strengthen reputation and visibility.
Ability to operate as a hands-on leader within a lean, fast-moving environment.

Preferred

Newsroom or reporting experience.
Experience in transportation, logistics, relocation or another distributed service business.
Experience within a cooperative, franchise, dealer, agent-owned or similarly decentralized business model.
Experience communicating with boards, shareholders, members or other owner groups.
Experience supporting a multi-brand organization.
Familiarity with SEO and the role earned media and brand mentions play in AI-driven search and discovery.

What Success Looks Like
Within the first 12 months, this leader will have:

Built a trusted partnership with the CEO and established a strong cadence for executive, board and shareholder communications.
Strengthened relationships with priority national, trade and local media and improved the quality and consistency of earned coverage.
Created a consistent pipeline of stories from agents, drivers, employees and customers that can be leveraged across multiple channels.
Developed and launched an earned media strategy supporting Mayflower’s 100th anniversary.
Established Communications as an early and trusted partner on major enterprise priorities and change initiatives.
Strengthened coordination across Communications, Marketing and Sales through shared planning and visibility.
Established a clear approach for crisis and issues communications across media, social and other key stakeholder channels.
Become a trusted communications counselor to senior leaders, providing guidance before significant decisions and communications are made.
Built a focused, high-performing Communications team known for strong judgment and execution.

Benefits & Work Environment

Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
401(k) retirement plan with company match
Generous paid time off, holidays, and personal leave
Life insurance, disability coverage, and employee assistance programs
Professional development and growth opportunities
Collaborative, team-oriented culture within a respected leader in the moving and logistics industry

Work Authorization
Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a permanent basis. UniGroup is unable to provide visa sponsorship or employment authorization support now or in the future.