Vice President - Communications

We’re a connected group of experts in dairy farming, education, health and wellness, and business, who are fanatical about the power of dairy. An affiliate of Dairy Management Inc. and National Dairy Council, Dairy MAX was founded in 1995 to represent dairy farmers across Texas, western Oklahoma, New Mexico and southwest Kansas. In 2018, the former Western Dairy Association – representing farmers across Colorado, Wyoming and Montana since 1936 – became part of the Dairy MAX family. In 2019, Dairy MAX and the Louisiana Dairy Industry Promotion Board confirmed a partnership to engage in dairy promotion in Louisiana together.

Serving as an integral member of the executive leadership team, the Vice President of Communications oversees all daily operations of the Communications team, plays an integral role in organizational strategic planning while leading departmental strategic planning, execution and measurement of the Communication efforts to ensure they align with the Unified Marketing Plan (UMP) and contribute to achieve established organizational goals. The VP of Communications is responsible for the development of Dairy MAX’s external and internal communication strategies.

Expectations:

• Communicate and model the vision and values of the organization and support organizational and team culture to create a sense of teamwork among co-workers.
• Along with other Dairy MAX Leadership Team members, develop the organizational strategic plan to guide Dairy MAX efforts to align with and achieve goals set forth in the Federation Unified Marketing Plan.
• In conjunction with Sr. ELT and other appropriate parties, schedule the organizational calendar of events.
• Provide vision and leadership for the Communications department; develop strategies and integrated programming for the Communications team to achieve organization and team goals to promote, enhance, and protect the organization's brand and dairy’s reputation; develop with directors an evaluation plan (KPIs) to evaluate effectiveness of programs and teammates.
• Build, inspire, and manage a high-performing team that works collaboratively across the organization.
• Establish and communicate job responsibilities, priorities and expectations for Communication team members to assure mutual understanding of desired results.
• Working with directors, assess employee performance, assist team members with developing an Individual Development Plan (IDP), provide constructive feedback and development opportunities that will assist them in achieving improved job performance and/or career objectives.
• Oversight of Dairy MAX’s Corporate Communications team. This involves managing the organization’s internal and external messaging, ensuring consistency in how the organization communicates with employees, stakeholders, and the public. It includes public relations, media relations, and reputation management.
• Oversight of Dairy MAX’s Consumer Marketing team. Focused on promoting the organization's products or services to consumers, consumer marketing involves advertising, branding, and consumer engagement.
• Oversight of Dairy MAX’s Issues and Crisis team. This area deals with responding to unforeseen events that may negatively impact the organization, such as public relations crises, legal issues, or industry challenges.
• Oversee Dairy MAX's comprehensive communications strategy, spanning digital and print media, website, social media, public relations, marketing, crisis communications, and experiential marketing. This includes managing all related materials, coordinating vendor relationships, and handling contract staffing and external agency partnerships. The role also functions as a collaborative internal agency, partnering with various departments to support their communication needs and drive alignment across the organization.
• Oversee the strategic development and management of media relationships to ensure high-impact coverage of Dairy MAX initiatives, special events, public announcements, and key projects that promote dairy. Direct the identification and positioning of appropriate spokespeople to maximize visibility and engagement in key communications opportunities.
• Serve as liaison to Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) to execute the national strategy for communications and marketing; lead or participate in related federation meetings representing Dairy MAX.
• Responsible for selecting and managing contracts and services provided by external communications agencies
• Responsible for tracking and reporting results, trends, and opportunities to Dairy MAX Leadership and Board of Directors.
• Serve as a spokesperson on behalf of Dairy MAX, as appropriate.
• Perform other duties as assigned or approved.

Budget management:

• Collaborate with appropriate Communication team members and agency personnel in creating accurate budget projections.
• Monitor and manage within the specified program area budget, approving estimates and invoices as necessary.
• Reconcile program costs against budget for appropriate budget accounts.
• Work with team and vendors to manage/mitigate third party costs for maximum benefit to the organization.

We know that in order to meet our goal of growing dairy demand, we need the best people. We offer competitive compensation and generous benefits to help our employees balance their work and personal lives.

Dairy MAX is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer committed to the principles of diversity. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, ethnicity, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.