Communications Consultant - Employee Communications - FirstEnergy Corp

FirstEnergy at a Glance

We are a forward-thinking electric utility powered by a diverse team of employees committed to making customers' lives brighter, the environment better and our communities stronger.

FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE) is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and operational excellence. Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, FirstEnergy includes one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, more than 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions, and a regulated generating fleet with a total capacity of more than 3,500 megawatts.

About the Opportunity

This is an open position with FirstEnergy Service Company, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. [SC00]

We are seeking a highly accomplished communications professional to work alongside executives in our FirstEnergy Utilities organization and develop strategic employee communications plans that effectively ingrain our core values across the organization, support our business objectives and engage the hard-to-reach field workforce.

This person is a trusted advisor with demonstrated experience advising senior leaders on communications strategies that drive key initiatives, enable transformative change and positively impact the company's goals.

The successful candidate is a thought leader who applies their communications expertise to create comprehensive plans, gain alignment across the leadership team and collaborate with cross-functional groups to successfully execute. This person must be adept at independently cultivating strong internal relationships - at all levels of the company and across the organization.

This is a highly visible role that requires someone with strong interpersonal skills and a high level of emotional intelligence. This person must be self-motivated and often self-directed, able to anticipate emerging business needs, proactively identify new and creative engagement strategies, and help an organization navigate through change.
The Consultant level position reports directly to the Manager, Internal Communications, and collaborates closely with the Supervisor, Internal Communications, and department peers to execute plans and leverage content externally, as appropriate.

Responsibilities include:

- Work closely with the FirstEnergy Utilities President, the State Presidents and regional leadership to create employee communications strategies and plans that effectively inform and engage their employees, making the business strategy relevant, fostering a sense of one team and building optimism for the future.
- Serve as the day-to-day communications specialist for the President, FirstEnergy Utilities, and orchestrate, attend and participate in an active calendar of leadership engagements with employees at company locations across our service territory.
- Advise on impactful messaging, best practices, existing tools and emerging technologies that more effectively reach our field workforce. Collaborate with bargaining leadership to recommend and implement solutions.
- Build employee trust in new leaders by developing creative engagement opportunities that allow leaders to connect with their employees on a personal level with authentic communications.
- Spearhead efforts to identify and enable feedback channels to gauge the effectiveness of our communications and develop insights to inform and improve future communications.
- Cultivate strong working relationships with leadership and key members of cross-functional teams to enable effective collaboration, ensure alignment and execute successfully.
- Demonstrate a continuous improvement mindset and a willingness to mentor other members of the Employee Communications team.

Qualifications include:

- Bachelor's degree in Journalism, Communications, Public Relations or related discipline is preferred.
- 10 or more years of professional work experience required - energy industry experience helpful.
- Ability to think strategically and develop creative and impactful ways to inform and engage employees at all levels of the company, including the company's physical workforce.
- Exceptional written and verbal communications skills with a demonstrated experience in developing effective communications strategies and writing clear, persuasive, informative and compelling copy.
- Expertise in engaging with and influence senior executives and leadership teams.
- Willingness to travel and interact with and advise senior leadership on communications strategies and issues.
- Comfortable working independently with minimal supervision.
- Ability to develop effective working relationships with employees at all levels within the organization.
- Experience shooting and editing video.

Benefits, Compensation & Workforce Diversity

At FirstEnergy, employees are key to our success. We depend on their talents to meet the challenges of our changing business environment. We are committed to rewarding individual and team efforts through our total rewards philosophy which includes competitive pay plus incentive compensation, a company-sponsored pension plan, 401(k) savings plan with matching employer contribution, a choice of medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, and life insurance programs, as well as skills development training with tuition reimbursement. Please visit our website at www.firstenergycorp.com to learn more about all of our employee rewards programs. FirstEnergy proudly supports workforce diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with a disability. No recruiters or agencies without a previously signed contract. Unable to sponsor or transfer H-1B visas at this time.

Safety

Safety is a core value for FirstEnergy and is essential to all of our business activities. We ensure employees have the tools, information, and processes to perform their duties in a manner that assures safety for themselves, their co-workers, our customers and the public. Our goals are to provide a safe work environment, to maintain an accident-free, injury-free workplace, and to promote and maintain public safety. To meet these goals, we dedicate ourselves to achieving world-class safety standards.

Position Classification

Exempt

FirstEnergy Human Resources Team