Prin Community Affairs Mgr

General Summary of Job Responsibilities

The Principal Community Affairs Manager is responsible for developing and/or maintaining strong relationships with local government, business and community stakeholders while also acting as a leader and subject matter expert for the team. The incumbent shares accumulated knowledge and experience to help strengthen the team, takes on a variety of roles to ensure the company is recognized as a world-class performer delivering hometown service, and will think, act and carry themself as a customer advocate and company ambassador, always protecting Company reputation and brand. This Regional Enterprise Project Engagement role is regionally aligned to major enterprise projects and is accountable for engaging affected communities early, developing stakeholder strategies, identifying and mitigating community and stakeholder risk, and translating local insights into actionable recommendations that improve project readiness, community sentiment and project outcomes.

The manager works in a highly matrixed environment with project leaders, operations, engineering, legal, communications, governmental affairs and regional community affairs partners to connect community needs with business decisions while there is still time to act.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop and execute regional stakeholder engagement strategies for major enterprise projects, including renewable development, electric and gas infrastructure, generation facility transitions and other high-impact initiatives.
• Engage communities earlier in the project lifecycle to understand local priorities, stakeholder concerns, potential barriers and opportunities for shared value.
• Serve as the primary connector between communities and enterprise project teams, ensuring community feedback, sentiment and stakeholder intelligence are translated into clear business recommendations and action.
• Design and orchestrate stakeholder engagements by selecting the appropriate tactics, forums, internal subject matter experts and relationship owners based on project objectives, stakeholder needs and risk.
• Translate complex utility and project information into clear stakeholder-facing messages and prepare internal experts to effectively participate in roundtables, open houses, office hours, workshops, briefings, listening sessions and other targeted engagements.
• Identify, document, escalate and help mitigate stakeholder, permitting, reputation and community risks before they become barriers to project delivery.
• Partner across a highly matrixed organization to align engagement plans, project milestones, communications, decision points, roles and handoffs.
• Plan and lead public meetings, listening sessions, community co-design, and other engagement activities that are accessible, locally relevant, and responsive to community needs.
• Develop measurable engagement objectives and track outcomes such as stakeholder sentiment, issue resolution, relationship strength, community commitments and project readiness.
• Serve as a goal owner, manage applicable budgets and support operating reviews and Business Plan Deployment goals tied to enterprise project engagement.

Other Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Plan, direct, communicate and collaborate with company executives to maximize the brand and key strategic relationships
• Maintain and strengthen corporate citizenship inspiring coworkers closest to the work to participate in volunteer activities to promote the Company's priorities and brand
• Engage with municipalities, communities and economic development organizations and associations by cultivating trusted relationships - establish self as key point of contact when leaders of those organizations need information or assistance - and proactively promote, engage and educate about projects, forestry, renewable development and other Company initiatives and goals
• Serve as goal owner, tracking in Planner, COMET or appropriate locations
• Gain favorable visibility and recognition through leadership and/or engagement in strategic community events, looking for new opportunities to promote the Company brand
• Serve as subject matter expert in dealing with complex customer complaints to appropriate operations personnel for quick and effective mitigation
• Develop and track Business Plan Deployment goals, schedule operating reviews and assist team members to be successful
• Maintain and own budget for regional team & approve sponsorships
• Coordinate franchise schedule and collaborate with team to ensure agreements are signed and returned to corporate legal team prior to expiration of previous agreement
• Assist with corporate philanthropic efforts through identification of strategic and tactical grant and sponsorship opportunities that align with company goals and priorities as well as review of Foundation grant and sponsorship requests.
• Other duties as assigned or may be necessary

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

• Strong knowledge of utility practices, project development processes, and stakeholder engagement principles.
• Ability to understand and translate complex utility, engineering, operational, regulatory and project information into clear, accurate and audience-appropriate information for customers, community stakeholders and local officials.
• Ability to assess stakeholder landscapes, community sentiment and project risk, and convert findings into practical engagement strategies.
• Ability to influence without direct authority and lead work across complex, cross-functional and highly matrixed teams.
• Ability to connect local community insights to business priorities, project decisions, and measurable outcomes.
• Strong analytical judgment, strategic thinking, issue management, and executive communication skills.
• Ability to work independently, proactively and effectively across an assigned region and manage multiple concurrent projects.
• "Plan and lead public meetings on behalf of the Company "
• "Communication, public speaking, writing and problem-solving abilities "
• "Ability to collaborate within a diverse audience "
• Knowledge of utility best practices and procedures
• Knowledge of social media practices to leverage company brand
• Work independently, proactively and effectively within territory
• time-management skills
• Knowledgeable in responding to urgent and unplanned events

Education/Experience Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Public relations, communications or related area of study with 7 years of experience developing relationships with local government, chambers of commerce, economic development organizations and other community organizations, presenting company information, & budgetary responsibility.

• [OR] Associate's Degree  in Public relations, communications or related area of study with 9 years of experience developing relationships with local government, chambers of commerce, economic development organizations and other community organizations, presenting company information, & budgetary responsibility.

• [OR] High School Diploma with 11 years of experience developing relationships with local government, chambers of commerce, economic development organizations and other community organizations, presenting company information, & budgetary responsibility.

Preferred Experience

• Advanced degree, project management, facilitation or stakeholder engagement training.
• Demonstrated experience supporting major projects, infrastructure, renewable development, permitting, issue management or other complex enterprise initiatives.
• Demonstrated success influencing cross-functional teams, identifying stakeholder risk and translating community insights into strategies or business decisions.