Director, Corporate Communications

Description

Rosemont, Illinois, United States (in-office Tuesday through Thursday; visa sponsorship and relocation are not available for this position)

People. Planet. Community.

Dairy's journey starts on the farm, and the road we travel demonstrates our unwavering commitment to sustainable nutrition, as our farmers provide lasting and meaningful nourishment to people, the planet and our communities, both urban and rural.

We are a nonprofit organization located in the greater Chicagoland area and we're always looking for talented people to join our team who share the passion and motivation to promote the goodness of dairy.

The Director, Corporate Communications leads the development and execution of enterprise communications that position Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy (IC), and the broader U.S. dairy industry as trusted leaders and essential partners in a modern food system. This role spans corporate reputation, U.S. dairy positioning, and business-to-business (B2B) communications, ensuring cohesive storytelling, disciplined channel strategy, and streamlined activation across the enterprise.

This individual is accountable for engaging priority stakeholders across the dairy value chain, allied industries, trade media, and opinion leaders with timely, compelling, and data-informed narratives. The role partners closely across functions— including marketing, sustainability, nutrition affairs, farmer relations, innovation, strategic intelligence, and industry affairs— as well as with partner organizations (e.g., USDEC, Newtrient, MilkPEP, NMPF, GDP, IDFA) and agencies to deliver consistent, high-quality communications that advance enterprise reputation priorities and reinforce U.S. dairy's value to farmers, customers, and society.

• Develop and activate an annual corporate communications plan aligned to enterprise reputation priorities, U.S. dairy positioning, and organizational objectives.
• Lead enterprise-wide story mining to identify, shape, and elevate narratives that demonstrate dairy's leadership, progress, and innovation, grounded in farmer impact and industry outcomes.
• Serve as a central integrator across Corporate Communications, Innovation Center communications, and enterprise B2B efforts, ensuring clarity of roles, alignment of messaging, and efficiency in execution.
• Provide strategic counsel on positioning, narrative risk, and reputational implications across priority issues and initiatives.

• Oversee development, refresh, and amplification of core enterprise and B2B communications assets.
• Ensure core materials clearly articulate the who, what, why, and results of U.S. dairy's work in a contemporary, credible, and visually compelling way.
• Translate complex technical, scientific, or multi-stakeholder topics into relevant, actionable communications for priority audiences.
• Lead Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy communications strategy, including Linked In channel direction and management, content governance, year-end reports, and alignment with broader enterprise narratives.
• Guide the creation and deployment of playbooks, toolkits, and messaging resources that enable consistent activation across internal teams and industry partners, in partnership with Enterprise Operations.

• Develop and execute a trade and B2B media strategy that integrates earned, owned, and paid channels to elevate U.S. dairy, DMI, and the Innovation Center as leaders in sustainability, health & wellness, and innovation.
• Identify and secure platforms for executives, subject‑matter experts, and board leaders to engage priority audiences through thought leadership, speaking opportunities, and strategic partnerships.
• Integrate flagship initiatives and high‑value organizational IP into enterprise storytelling to increase visibility, relevance, and participation across key stakeholders.

• Partner with farmer relations, dairy community outreach, and customer‑facing teams to ensure alignment between corporate, B2B, and farmer communications strategies.
• Suppor…