Job Purpose
The Sr Director, Corporate Communications will report to the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer. The leader is responsible for three key functions: earned media including public relations, corporate communications, crisis communication, social impact and executive thought leadership. The leader is accountable for:
- Corporate communications and reputational management, including internal council for company and franchise team members for crisis and managing all external crisis communications.
- Creation and management of the Panera Bread and Panera Bread executive team’s thought leadership plan including executive placement within multiple mediums including but not limited to public events to NGO meetings to podcasts.
- Redefining social impact and leadership with the foundation and other related matters.
Candidates must be seasoned media relations professional, as well as creative marketers who go beyond the channel to develop impactful and breakthrough ideas and execution.
Location: Newton, MA
Duties & Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of this job include, but are not limited to:
Strategic Planning
- Develop proactive strategic communications to promote, protect and defend the organization.
- Provide communications counsel and plans to Panera’s business units (Panera at Home, Panera to You) as well as to senior leaders in the organization
- Coordinate with various internal marketing functions and agency teams to develop impactful plans that support Panera initiatives
Corporate Media Relations
- Oversee campaign execution, in conjunction with agencies, including managing/attending c-suite level press tours
- Respond to inbound media inquiries, staff interviews and provide counsel to senior executives
- Draft company statements, messaging and press materials
Crisis and Issues Management
- Serve as one of the lead members of Panera’s Crisis and Issues management team interfacing with Panera legal, QA, operations and customer care
- Plan for and prepare for potential crises
- Provide strategic counsel to senior leadership and messaging support when issues arise
- Manage specialist agencies and retain counsel when necessary
Qualifications (Education & Experience)
Qualifications include:
- At least 8-10 years of experience in the public relations field with in-house and agency experience
- High energy self-starter with an unapologetic bias for action
- Excellent understanding of the news media, news cycles, media relations strategy and execution
- Must be able to work autonomously with people at all levels within the organization
- Ability to quickly understand and vet potential brand risk and craft issues response strategy
- Experience managing agency resources
- Ability to multi-task, work successfully with teams, and work under pressure
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Master’s degree, preferably with a concentration in public relations, marketing or communications
- Food and wellness experience
- Performance-oriented
- Flexibility to respond to issues as they happen required
Working Conditions
- Required travel – occasional travel required
Physical Requirements
- While performing this job, the incumbent is regularly required to stand, sit, talk hear & use hands and fingers to operate keyboards
Direct Reports
- This position will have approximately 2-3 direct reports.
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What We Do
Panera began in 1987 as St. Louis Bread Company, a humble community bakery founded with a sourdough starter from San Francisco and a dream of putting a loaf of bread in every arm. While our business has expanded well beyond St. Louis since then, that same sourdough starter is still used in our iconic sourdough bread and the craft of baking bread fresh each day remains at the heart of Panera Bread. Each day, our trained bakers fill our bakery shelves with delicious freshly baked cookies, pastries, bagels, and a range of breads from focaccia to classic baguettes. We believe in serving delicious, freshly prepared, clean food made with carefully selected ingredients that we are proud to serve our own families. Our menu, crafted by chefs and bakers, features classic, comforting dishes, each with an intriguing twist. We respect our planet and take measures to lessen our impacts. We believe in treating people with warmth, kindness, and respect, whether it’s a guest in our cafe or one of our associates. And we believe in helping our local communities, especially in times of need. We’re also focused on improving quality and convenience. With investments in technology and operations, we offer omni-channel access to your Panera favorites – like mobile ordering, catering, and Rapid Pick-Up® for to-go orders, Curbside pick-up and delivery – all designed to make things easier for our guests. Today, Panera operates as both Panera Bread® or Saint Louis Bread Co St. Louis Bread Company in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Panera Bread is privately held by JAB Holding Company. Panera Bread is part of Panera Brands, one of the largest fast-casual restaurant platforms in the U.S., comprised of Panera Bread®, Caribou Coffee® and Einstein Bros.® Bagels.
