Sr. Public Affairs & Communications Strategist (Hybrid - La Crosse, WI)

Responsibilities

• Develops, owns and leads the public affairs, communications and stakeholder engagement strategy for the pipeline project and other assigned high-profile initiatives. Establishes strategic priorities, key messages, engagement plans, issue narratives and campaign approaches based on project objectives, regulatory and permitting considerations, stakeholder insights, research, analytics and approved business strategy, and remains accountable for communications outcomes.
• Serves as the principal project media relations representative and lead public-facing spokesperson for assigned initiatives. Represents Dairyland in sensitive interviews, public meetings, open houses, challenging stakeholder forums and other high-profile or high-conflict settings; maintains message discipline; responds to difficult questions; and leads coordinated issue response within approved messaging and established escalation protocols.
• Serves as a direct strategic advisor to the Director, CEO and other executive leaders on media strategy, reputational risk, stakeholder dynamics and significant public affairs issues. Anticipates emerging concerns and opposition, assesses potential enterprise and project impact, and provides clear recommendations to protect Dairyland’s reputation, public trust and project viability.
• Exercises independent authority to make day-to-day communications decisions, adjust tactics, coordinate responses, approve routine project communications within established strategy and messaging, and elevate matters with material legal, regulatory, reputational, financial or enterprise implications for Director, executive or Legal review. Operates autonomously while promptly keeping project management and executive leadership informed of significant developments, risks, decisions and outcomes.
• Leads communication planning and execution for public engagement, education, advocacy, community outreach, project-related meetings, open houses and public events. Determines the appropriate communications approach in rapidly evolving or contentious situations, facilitates stakeholder discussions, de-escalates challenging interactions and directs issue response when stakeholder concerns, misinformation, media attention or public opposition present significant reputational, political, regulatory or business risk.
• Directs cross-functional communications work and partners with external project partner communications and project management teams, as well as the internal project management team, to align on and execute the established strategic direction, ensuring consistent messaging and timely execution across government affairs, regulatory affairs, real estate, grants, permitting/routing, technical teams, member services and other internal and external partners. Selects, directs and evaluates external communications and public affairs consultants; manages assigned budgets and resources where applicable; and holds contributors accountable for deliverables and results without direct supervisory responsibility.
• Provides timely executive briefings, strategic updates, risk assessments and decision recommendations to project management, the Director, the CEO and other executive leaders. Maintains a dotted-line coordination relationship with the Communications Strategist to support information flow, execution and message consistency while retaining strategic ownership and decision accountability for assigned project communications.
• Measures results and evaluates the effectiveness of communication and stakeholder engagement strategies, tactics and materials. Tracks communication metrics, monitors stakeholder feedback and recommends adjustments to strengthen outreach, message awareness, stakeholder understanding, relationship-building and project support.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Education & Experience: Bachelor’s degree in public relations, communications, journalism, marketing, public affairs, political science, business or related field with minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in communications, public affairs, external affairs, stakeholder engagement, community relations and/or government relations.
• Must have demonstrated experience developing and executing strategic communications plans for large, complex or high-visibility initiatives, preferably including utility, infrastructure, energy, regulatory, permitting or major capital project work.
• Experience serving as a visible organizational representative in interviews, public meetings, stakeholder forums or other external-facing environments required.
• Utility industry knowledge required; major project communications management experience preferred.

Benefits

• We are committed to providing our greatest asset, our People, with as many perks and benefits as possible. Some benefits of working with us include:
• - Health & disability benefits (medical, dental, vision, short & long-term disability)
• - Life insurance
• - Generous 401(k) and Pension Plans
• - Paid Time Off
• - Robust Wellness Program
• - New Flexible Work Program
• - Tuition Reimbursement
• - So much more!