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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Executive Communications Manager

💰 $ - $

🎯 Role Definition

The Executive Communications Manager is a senior communications professional responsible for developing, shaping, and delivering the C‑suite narrative across internal and external audiences. This role partners closely with the CEO, executive team, investor relations, legal, HR and marketing to craft speeches, op‑eds, presentations, social content, and briefing materials that advance strategic priorities, protect reputation, and build thought leadership. The Executive Communications Manager acts as a trusted counsel to senior leaders, prepares them for media and public appearances, and ensures consistent, authentic, and measurable executive messaging across channels.

Primary keywords: Executive Communications Manager, executive communications, speechwriting, CEO communications, thought leadership, crisis communications, internal communications, stakeholder engagement.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior Corporate Communications Manager
  • Speechwriter or Senior Communications Specialist
  • Public Affairs or Media Relations Manager

Advancement To:

  • Director of Executive Communications
  • VP/Head of Corporate Communications
  • Chief Communications Officer (CCO) or Chief Reputation Officer

Lateral Moves:

  • Head of Media Relations
  • Head of Internal Communications
  • Senior Advisor, Investor Relations

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Develop, write, and edit high‑impact speeches, remarks, talking points, and scripts for the CEO and C‑suite that align with corporate strategy, investor messaging, and external market positioning.
  • Serve as the primary counsel to senior executives on communications strategy, timing, tone and channel selection for major announcements, earnings, investor interactions, and public appearances.
  • Craft and optimize CEO and executive op‑eds, bylined articles, blog posts, LinkedIn posts, and long‑form thought leadership content that elevate executive profiles and advance business priorities.
  • Create clear, audience‑specific briefing materials (backgrounders, Q&A, one‑pagers, briefing books) for executives ahead of media interviews, board meetings, analyst calls, investor meetings and regulatory engagements.
  • Lead end‑to‑end planning and execution of executive communications programs for major corporate events including earnings releases, annual meetings, M&A announcements, leadership changes and product launches.
  • Coach and prepare executives for media interviews, town halls, panels, investor days and high‑stakes presentations through mock interviews, message drills and presentation rehearsals.
  • Design and maintain executive messaging frameworks and narrative playbooks that ensure consistency across enterprise communications and support cross‑functional alignment.
  • Collaborate with Investor Relations, Legal and Finance to synchronize disclosures, earnings commentary and investor-facing messaging while ensuring compliance with regulatory and disclosure obligations.
  • Build and manage an executive content calendar, coordinate speakership opportunities, and prioritize media and conference engagements to maximize visibility and strategic impact.
  • Manage the development of presentation decks, executive narratives and visual storytelling materials (PowerPoint/Keynote) that translate complex financial and technical information into persuasive messaging.
  • Oversee the drafting and approval process for executive bios, corporate profiles, and digital executive pages while ensuring up‑to‑date professional positioning across channels.
  • Lead crisis and issues communications for the executive team: rapidly produce holding statements, escalation playbooks, CEO responses and internally‑facing guidance to protect reputation and reduce escalation risk.
  • Drive measurement and analytics for executive communications, tracking share of voice, message pull‑through, digital engagement, media coverage quality and impact on key reputation and brand metrics.
  • Partner with internal communications to design CEO town halls, internal podcasts, video messages and other initiatives that engage employees, convey strategy and foster culture.
  • Build, mentor and manage relationships with external agencies, PR firms, ghostwriters, speechwriting partners and media trainers to scale executive communications effectively and professionally.
  • Translate business strategy and product roadmaps into executive narratives that resonate with customers, partners, investors and employees across geographies and market segments.
  • Ensure tone, voice and messaging consistency for the executive team across earned, owned and paid channels while adapting content for local markets and regulatory environments.
  • Anticipate and map stakeholder impacts for executive communications, advising on audience segmentation, risk mitigation, and escalation protocols for sensitive topics.
  • Drive integrated campaigns that leverage executive voice for demand generation, talent attraction, customer trust-building and policy advocacy, coordinating across marketing and policy teams.
  • Maintain strict confidentiality and sound judgement when handling sensitive executive materials, board briefing content, M&A information and other highly sensitive communications.
  • Facilitate cross‑functional alignment sessions with HR, Legal, Marketing, Public Policy and Sales to ensure executive messages are amplified and operationalized across the organization.
  • Act as a content gatekeeper and quality control owner for all executive‑signed materials, ensuring accuracy, legal/compliance review, brand adherence and timely distribution.
  • Develop scalable templates, playbooks and toolkits for quick turnarounds on executive communications during high‑volume or crisis periods.

Secondary Functions

  • Monitor media coverage and prepare executive daily briefs and sentiment analysis to keep leaders informed of reputation trends and media narratives.
  • Maintain and update a repository of past speeches, remarks and executive materials to support rapid reuse and iterative messaging.
  • Support executive social media strategy including LinkedIn and Twitter/X profile optimization, content planning, and comment response guidance.
  • Coordinate logistics for executive travel, speaking engagements and press tours in collaboration with events and travel teams.
  • Assist in onboarding new executives with tailored communications orientation, media training and message immersion sessions.
  • Manage small budgets for executive communications initiatives and external vendor engagements.
  • Support ad‑hoc executive content requests such as letters to stakeholders, internal memos and thank‑you notes to partners and communities.
  • Conduct periodic message testing and stakeholder interviews to validate narrative resonance and refine executive positioning.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Executive‑level writing and editing: proven ability to produce polished speeches, op‑eds, briefs and strategic talking points for C‑suite audiences.
  • Speechwriting and narrative development for live and recorded formats across different platforms and audience types.
  • Media relations and interview preparation: media training, mock interviews, bridging techniques and crisis response scripting.
  • Presentation design and visual storytelling skills using PowerPoint, Keynote and slide design best practices.
  • Social media strategy for executives, including LinkedIn thought leadership content development and amplification tactics.
  • Content planning and calendar management with tools like Asana, Trello, or similar project management platforms.
  • Measurement and analytics: use of media monitoring tools (Cision, Meltwater), social analytics and basic dashboarding to measure impact.
  • Knowledge of corporate disclosure processes, investor relations coordination and regulatory constraints applicable to public companies.
  • Video scripting and basic production coordination for recorded executive messages and livestream events.
  • Experience managing external agencies, PR firms, ghostwriters and vendor relationships effectively.
  • Content management systems (CMS), intranet platforms and email communications tools for internal messaging distribution.

Soft Skills

  • Strategic thinking with the ability to translate business priorities into persuasive executive narratives.
  • Trusted adviser presence: calm, decisive counsel for senior leaders in high‑pressure situations.
  • Exceptional judgement and discretion when handling confidential and sensitive information.
  • Influencing and stakeholder management skills across cross‑functional partners including Legal, IR, HR and Marketing.
  • Strong coaching and presentation skills to prepare executives for public appearances.
  • Attention to detail and relentless commitment to editorial quality and factual accuracy.
  • Resilience and adaptability to work in fast‑moving, reactive news cycles and crisis scenarios.
  • Excellent interpersonal and relationship building skills to earn credibility with leaders and external partners.
  • Time management and prioritization capabilities to manage multiple high‑priority requests simultaneously.
  • Empathy and audience awareness to craft messages that connect with diverse internal and external stakeholders.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Communications, Journalism, English, Public Relations, Marketing, Business, or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree in Communications, Strategic Public Relations, Journalism, Business (MBA), or equivalent advanced degree or executive education.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Corporate Communications
  • Journalism / Media Studies
  • Public Relations
  • English / Rhetoric
  • Business / Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 6–12 years of progressive communications experience, with at least 3–5 years supporting or advising senior executives.

Preferred:

  • 8+ years of experience in executive communications, speechwriting, senior corporate communications, agency senior counsel, or a combination of agency and in‑house senior counsel.
  • Prior experience supporting C‑level executives, working within a public company or highly regulated industry, or leading reputation programs for complex global organizations.
  • Demonstrated track record of executing cross‑channel executive communications programs, crisis response, and thought leadership campaigns.
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