Senior Manager of Communications & Programming

Strategic Marketing Leader

This role serves as a strategic marketing leader responsible for orchestrating New Store and geography-specific (Remodel, Vacationer, Store Boost / Combat) go-to-market execution, safeguarding brand reputation, and driving organizational change. The position acts as a central point of influence across Marketing, Operations, Facilities, Guest Care, and Store Leadershipensuring clarity, readiness, and confidence at the store and market level while continuously improving how the business communicates, executes, and evolves.

Responsibilities

• New Store & Geographic Marketing Program Leadership
• Leads Marketing strategy & Geographic programming for new store openings, remodels, and targeted store-specific programs, ensuring alignment, readiness, and disciplined execution across Facilities, Operations, Marketing, and Store Leadership.
• Direct and optimize New Store & remodel strategy across owned and paid channels, leveraging performance insights and data-informed analysis to refine launch plans, adjust activation strategies, and improve results.
• Serves as the communications liaison for store leadership before, during, and after launchesproviding strategic guidance, clear expectations, and execution confidence.
• Establish and evolve playbooks, timelines, and communication frameworks that standardize best practices, improve speed to market, and enable consistent, high-quality in-store and market activation.
• Reputation Management & Social Intelligence
• Lead social and reputation monitoring strategy, identifying emerging trends, systemic risks, and opportunities that impact guest trust and brand perception.
• Anticipate issues before they escalate, proactively equipping internal partners with context, strategic guidance, and recommended messaging to enable timely, aligned responses.
• Translate monitoring insights into action, informing guest experience improvements, communication adjustments, and brand protection strategies. Leverage insights as points of feedback to influence future business decisions.
• Act as the escalation authority for internal and third-party monitoring teams, ensuring alignment, accountability, and consistent brand representation.
• Internal Communications Leadership
• Lead internal communications operations, setting priorities and overseeing daily workflow for the Internal Communications Coordinator to ensure disciplined intake, review, and distribution.
• Establish and enforce communication standards, ensuring all internal messaging reflects brand voice, execution clarity, and operational accuracy. Champion and innovate the use of AI and technology to evolve and strengthen communication acceptance and impact at store level.
• Own internal communications platforms and governance, including content strategy, system stewardship, and ongoing optimization for tools such as the Lowes Foods Hub and KJ's IGA Hub.
• Partner cross-functionally to strengthen execution, reducing redundancy, increasing relevance, and improving how information reaches store teams.
• Ensure proactive store-level communication support for Marketing program launches, campaigns, and enterprise initiatives, enabling confident execution at the front line.
• Change Management & Organizational Evolution
• Collaborate and drive change management across channels and tactics that supports New Store and geographic specific programming, improving sales performance and execution efficiency.
• Champion and socialize evolution in cross-functional planning processes, helping teams understand what is changing, why it matters, and how success will be measured.
• Serve as a steady change leader, balancing innovation with operational discipline to move the organization from legacy practices toward test-and-learn, scalable solutions.
• Team Development & Capability Building
• Build a high-performing team and operating model, identifying talent, tools, and technologies that improve workflows, reduce friction, and drive measurable results.
• Coach, mentor, and develop team members, fostering ownership, strategic thinking, and career growth.
• Create capacity for the future, enabling the team to operate with greater autonomy while allowing leadership focus to shift toward enterprise strategy and transformation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, or a related field; advanced degree a plus.
• 610+ years of progressive experience in marketing, communications, or brand leadership roles within a multi-unit, retail, or consumer-driven organization.
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional initiatives, influencing stakeholders across Marketing, Operations, Facilities, Merchandising, and Store Leadership.
• Strong experience developing and executing go-to-market strategies, including new store openings, program launches, and market-level activations.
• Proven ability to translate data, insights, and performance results into clear recommendations and strategic adjustments.
• Experience with social media platforms such as Soci, Hootsuite etc. Strong knowledge of Microsoft business suite & Canva.