SmartSuite for the Communications Director
The Communications Director leads corporate and internal communications: messaging, press and public relations, internal announcements, crisis communications and the approvals that keep statements accurate and on brand. They coordinate with legal and brand on every external statement.
What you own
The Communications Director leads corporate and internal communications: messaging, press and public relations, internal announcements, crisis communications and the approvals that keep statements accurate and on brand.
- Set the corporate communications strategy and messaging
- Lead press, public relations and executive communications
- Run internal communications and announcements
- Own crisis and incident communications with the crisis lead
- Coordinate legal, brand and compliance reviews of statements
- Measure communications reach and sentiment
Reporting lines
Who this role reports to, who reports to them, and the peers they work with most.
Reports to
Direct reports
Works closely with
How SmartSuite supports this role
Lead
Planning. Plans communications with calendars, owners and approval workflows.
Approvals. Routes statements through legal, brand and compliance review with version history.
Crisis. Keeps crisis communications and stakeholder updates logged in the incident record.
Reporting. Reports completion of communication plans and campaign performance.
Products this role uses most
Industry reference
IABC and PRSA competency frameworks describe the profession, and for listed and regulated organizations communications sit under SEC Regulation FD and disclosure rules, FINRA communications rules, HIPAA when patient information is involved and the incident-disclosure deadlines in GDPR, SEC and NIS2 rules.
Related roles
Explore Further
Guides and definitions from the GRC Knowledge Center and the What-is glossary, chosen for this role.
Frequently asked questions
What does a Communications Director own across the organization?
The Communications Director leads corporate and internal communications: the communications strategy and messaging, press, public relations and executive communications, internal communications and announcements, crisis and incident communications with the crisis lead, the legal, brand and compliance reviews of statements, and the measurement of reach and sentiment. In SmartSuite that work is planned in Campaign Planning & Management, its content kept in Content & Asset Management and its crisis side run in Crisis Management.
How does SmartSuite help a Communications Director plan communications?
SmartSuite plans communications with calendars, owners and approval workflows in Campaign Planning & Management, so the director can see what is going out, when, who owns it and whether it has been approved. Internal announcements and external campaigns sit on the same calendar, which prevents a press statement colliding with an internal announcement that says something different, and the Marketing Operations Manager and HR Operations Manager plan their communications in the same place.
How are statements routed through legal, brand and compliance review?
Statements are routed through legal, brand and compliance review with version history, so the director can show which version the General Counsel approved and what changed afterwards. Content & Asset Management holds the drafts, approved copy and assets, and reviewers see the statement they are asked to clear rather than a chain of email attachments. For listed and regulated organizations that record is what disclosure rules expect to exist.
How does the director run crisis communications?
During an incident the director's crisis communications and stakeholder updates are logged in the incident record in Crisis Management, so the Crisis Management Lead and the response team see what has been said to whom and when. Each statement goes through the same review route as normal communications, under time pressure, and the record is what the organization relies on afterwards when regulators or the board ask what was communicated and when.
How does the Communications Director report on reach and sentiment?
SmartSuite reports the completion of communication plans and campaign performance, and reach and sentiment figures from your monitoring and analytics tools can be recorded against each campaign, so the director reports to the Chief Executive Officer on what was planned, what went out and how it landed from one record. Plans that slipped or statements that were held in review are visible alongside the results, which is the picture needed to decide where communications capacity should go next and to work with the Social Impact Manager on the programs that need visibility.
How quickly can a communications team start working in SmartSuite?
New customers can start with SmartSuite Onboarding, a guided four-week program around one or two priority workflows. For communications the first workflow is the calendar and approval route: load the communications calendar for the period, the approval route for statements and the stakeholders the crisis plan must reach. Existing content and brand assets go into Content & Asset Management as they are used. Because legal, marketing and HR review and plan in the same system, the approvals that keep statements accurate stop depending on who was copied on an email.
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