Executive Communications Manager

Join to apply for the Executive Communications Manager role at Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association
.

We are hiring!! Finding top talent to move UW‑Madison forward.

Are you passionate about shaping the voice of an organization and driving positive change? Join the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association (WFAA) – the private fundraising and alumni relations organization for UW‑Madison – as an Executive Communications Manager. You’ll play a pivotal role in crafting and delivering clear, timely, and inspiring messages that reach every corner of our organization and support communication projects as needed.

This is a hybrid position that will require you to work on‑site in our Madison, WI office at least two days a week.

• Internal Communications:
  • Develop, maintain, and execute an annual internal communications calendar addressing benefits enrollment, performance review cycles, budget preparation timelines, training and cyber‑security issues, all‑staff meetings, supervisor forums, and other operational activities.
  • Collaborate with the Chief of Staff, human resources leaders, finance team, IT, and other divisions to develop initial drafts of internal updates that broadly impact WFAA staff.
  • Maintain partnerships with stakeholders in the centralized marketing communications team to ensure coordination between internal and external messaging and strong relationship‑building.
  • Partner with HR to provide communication tactics that support organization‑wide employee engagement goals.
  • Partner with the Chief of Staff and product leads to draft internal and campus‑facing communication related to campaign updates, data security/policies, ongoing system upgrades/releases, and other topics.
  • Write and edit clear, engaging, and informative copy for internal platforms, including Connect, staff newsletters, and email announcements.
  • Support staff recognition strategy.
  • Support the COS and CEO in drafting weekly staff messages, internal memos, policy updates, etc.
  • Evaluate and monitor internal communications channels and report on metrics/performance to the Chief of Staff.
• Executive Communications:
  • Help research and edit remarks, donor and alumni correspondence, and presentations for the executive team as needed.
  • Draft correspondence (meeting follow‑up, gift impact letters, thank you letters, gift solicitations, marketing copy, etc.) as needed.
  • Support cross‑divisional communications and engagement strategies with campus audiences.
  • Develop communication materials for campus audiences, ensuring alignment with the campus relations and engagement goals.
  • Contribute to content for campus‑facing communications tools and platforms.
• Intranet and Internal Channels:
  • Serve on a cross‑functional intranet team to archive and clean up this important resource and contribute internal communications insights.
  • Serve as business lead for updating content on WFAA websites.
  • Collaborate with individual contributors from other departments/divisions to provide accurate and timely resources through content creation/editing/archiving, where necessary to maintain our intranet as a reliable and efficient platform.

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, public relations, marketing, or a related field; or equivalent experience.
• 4+ years of experience in internal or corporate communications, preferably in a or higher education setting.
• Strong writing, editing, and proofreading skills.
• Experience supporting organizational change and/or large‑scale system upgrades, particularly in a communications capacity.
• Experience using content management systems (CMS) and customer relations management (CRM) systems.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines.

• Experience in higher education or non‑profit.
• Familiarity with intranet management and internal communications software.

At WFAA, we are dedicated to creating an inspiring, creative, and respectful work environment for our employees. We offer competitive pay and an outstanding benefits program, including a generous 10% 401(k) contribution after just one year of service! Join us and be part of a team that…