Description:
Senior Communications Business Partner, Incident Response, Target

Classification: Exempt

Date: November 2020

About us:

A role with Target Communications means a chance to continuously improve the quality, relevance, creativity and authenticity of both internal and external storytelling. Bring your skills as a bold and forward-thinking professional communicator who thrives on building confidence, driving brand love and creating value. Here, you'll shine as a relationship-focused pro who's strategically minded, an expert executor and an articulate brand ambassador. Rise to the challenge of driving results with smart risk-taking, constant innovation and perpetual teaching and learning. Comprised of Public Relations, Crisis Management and Internal Enterprise Communications, this team strengthens and protects Target's reputation and helps drive traffic, sales and guest loyalty. You'll develop deep relationships with business partners to ensure critical information flows through multiple channels, building confidence with team members and external stakeholders and strengthening Target's position within the competitive retail marketplace.

As a Senior Communications Business Partner, Incident Response, you are the first line of defense for the Reputation Communications team in managing day-to-day response to incidents happening across the enterprise. The ideal individual in this role can remain calm under pressure while managing multiple priorities at any given time. They have significant media relations expertise and the ability to quickly research an issue, formulate a communications plan and seek buy-in from multiple internal partners. This individual has a keen understanding of current issues and curiosity for Target, the retail industry and crisis management. The ability to work with urgency and meet all deadlines is a must.

The Communications Lead, Incident Response, manages communication for a variety of projects and business areas, including:

• Target's coronavirus response, including communication about the measures we're taking to keep our guests and team safe
• All security-related incidents, including partnerships with Assets Protection, Corporate Security and Global Investigations
• Lawsuits and legal issues across all business areas
• Product quality and safety issues, including product recalls and withdrawals in partnership with Target's Food Safety and PSQA teams
• Cyber security incidents, including serving on the Cyber Incident Management team
• Natural disaster response and recovery, including serving on the Green Team with representatives from across the enterprise
• Guest incidents that arise through Guest Relations or Social Media
• Employee misconduct, in close partnership with the Employee Relations team
• Labor relations issues

This team member serves as the Communications lead on several cross-functional teams, including the Risk & Reputation working team, Green Team and Cyber Incident Management team. They are responsible for working in close partnership with Target's PR agencies on research, benchmarking, communications planning, message development, monitoring and reporting. This role is also responsible for assisting with media hotline on-call responsibilities on select evenings, weekends and holidays.

Skills required:

• Minimum of 8 years of professional communications experience
• Ability to develop compelling communication strategies with clear and measurable goals
• Expert media relations skills, with a high degree of comfort working with consumer and business press
• Executive presence and the ability to coach/counsel senior leaders
• Ability to collaborate with peers and influence without authority
• Organized and able to balance multiple competing priorities on a daily basis
• Team player and effective at collaborating with multiple internal stakeholders to drive results
• Strong writer for various forms (i.e., email, media talking points)
• A storytelling mindset with business acumen

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Target will provide reasonable accommodations (such as a qualified sign language interpreter or other personal assistance) with the application process upon your request as required to comply with applicable laws. If you have a disability and require assistance in this application process, please visit your nearest Target store or Distribution Center or reach out to Guest Services at 1-800-440-0680 for additional information.

Qualifications: