Business Communications Manager
The Business Communications Manager is a pivotal role in a focused, proactive and business-aligned communications function that brings stronger counsel, clear narratives and disciplined execution to the work that matters most. Moving beyond a traditional support model, this position serves as the primary communications partner for a dedicated business unit — within Animal Nutrition, Dairy Foods or WinField United — with deep understanding of its commercial business. With focused accountability, the Manager builds comprehensive communication strategies that enhance business influence and advance business priorities. The role partners with business leaders to challenge assumptions, anticipate stakeholder needs and operating realities. The Manager helps leaders determine where communications can create the most value, pressure-tests messaging, provides an enterprise lens that improves decision quality and considers stakeholder implications all while connecting business unit priorities to the broader enterprise story and reputation.
Key Responsibilities:
Proactive Strategic Consultation & Counsel (50%)
- Serves as the communications partner and strategic advisor for the assigned business unit, with deep, continuous immersion in business priorities, commercial goals, stakeholder dynamics and emerging risks.
- Partners with business leaders early in strategy, planning and decision-making to evaluate communication implications, sharpen priorities, pressure-test messaging, and provide strategic guidance that aligns internal teams and ensures the right audiences are considered before decisions are finalized. This includes sharpening external positioning in ways that strengthen the business’s reputation, building confidence with customers, member-owners and industry stakeholders, anticipating potential scrutiny, and connecting business-unit priorities to the broader enterprise narrative.
- Builds focused communication strategies for the highest-priority business initiatives, helping leaders determine what requires communications support, what can be simplified and where integrated resources are needed to drive outcomes.
- Brings an enterprise lens to business-unit discussions, ensuring divisional plans advance growth while supporting companywide reputation, message discipline and alignment across Communications verticals.
Narrative Development & Execution Leadership (30%)
- Translates business priorities, market dynamics and operational complexity into clear, differentiated narratives that inform, align and motivate employees, business teams, member-owners, customers and other external stakeholders.
- Leads messaging architecture and executive communications for key business initiatives and partners with Enterprise & Executive Communications when senior leader visibility, enterprise positioning or reputational considerations require broader coordination.
- Orchestrates the right communications partners — including Enterprise & Executive, Member & Employee, Digital, Central Marketing and agency teams — to deliver aligned storytelling, PR campaigns, digital/channel execution and stakeholder engagement without duplicating functional ownership.
Operational Excellence & Impact (20%)
- Drives disciplined execution for priority initiatives by clarifying objectives, audiences, messages, owners, channels and timing, while ensuring deliverables meet quality, brand and business standards.
- Identifies and escalates emerging business-unit issues, partnering with Enterprise & Executive Communications, and leads issues-management on mitigation, response planning and execution, and overall business reputation protection.
- Measures communication effectiveness in ways that connect to business priorities, using quantitative and qualitative insight to assess reach, understanding, stakeholder response and contribution to desired outcomes.
Qualifications
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, English, or a related field.
- Experience: 8-10 years of progressive corporate communications, public relations, or strategic communications experience, with demonstrated success partnering directly with senior business leaders.
- Strategic Acumen: Proven track record of operating as an early-stage strategic advisor who shapes business decisions, challenges assumptions, and navigates complex matrixed environments.
- Enterprise Mindset: Demonstrated ability to align business unit priorities with overarching corporate goals and brand identity.
- Communication Mastery: Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills, with proven ability to translate complex technical or commercial concepts into clear, engaging narratives.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Demonstrated success collaborating with integrated teams spanning internal comms, external PR, brand marketing, and agency partners.
- Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in communications, Business Administration (MBA), or a related discipline.
- Direct industry experience in agriculture, animal nutrition, dairy foods, or broad agribusiness/manufacturing sectors.
- Prior experience operating within a dedicated business-unit-aligned communications model.
The salary range for this role is $107,680 - $161,520 . In most cases, candidates offered employment can expect to be hired at a pay rate near the middle of our salary ranges.
Land O'Lakes does not use Automated Decision-Making Technology, as defined by California law, to substantially replace human decision-making or make significant decisions about applications for employment or contracting opportunities.
About Land O'Lakes, Inc.
Join us and be part of a Fortune 500 company, farmer- and member-owned cooperative that is reimagining the business of food. We have been named #17 on Fast Company's Best Workplaces for Innovators 2026 list and recognized as a winner in the Skilled Laborers category, as well as a Top Workplace by Indeed and LinkedIn, and included on the TIME 100 Most Influential Companies list.
We provide a broad portfolio of benefits to keep you and your family at your best. Land O'Lakes is Where Your Future Takes Root.
Land O’Lakes and our global entities support diversity in employment practices.
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