Internal Communications Business Partner at Climate-KIC

ABOUT US

EIT Climate-KIC (Knowledge and Innovation Community) is Europe’s foremost climate innovation initiative. We understand that keeping global temperature rise below 1.5˚C demands unprecedented change. It requires new social dynamics, ways of doing business, capital flows, policymaking, economic models, and new ways of living. That is why our mission is to leverage the power of systems innovation to transform whole places, industries and value chains by 2030, working across sectors to develop and scale ambitious, mission-led programmes.

Established in 2010 and headquartered in Amsterdam, we orchestrate a community of more than 400 organisations including large corporations and SMEs, municipal and regional governments, universities and research institutes, as well as non-governmental organisations and uncommon actors. Historically, we have been funded by our founder and core funder, the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT), but we are currently transitioning to a multi-funder model.

EIT Climate-KIC colleagues are based in one of our local offices across Europe or work remotely from home based in one of the countries where we have a branch. We meet at our local offices to exchange and connect and use online collaboration tools work with each other and with our Community. On occasion, we meet in-person as teams, and once per year as an organisation.

As a mission-driven organisation dedicated to climate transformation, we consider the climate impact of our own actions, for example travel, catering or IT equipment.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Internal Communications Business Partner is the pulsing heart of internal communications at EIT Climate-KIC. They are highly connected with colleagues and attentive to their communications needs, putting processes in place to meet these needs, create a more open culture and foster engagement. The Business Partner will shape and lead internal communications efforts and manage the full spectrum of internal communications channels and, while a member of the Communications & Marketing team, they partner with multiple teams across the organisation to ensure a sense of connection.

Key Responsibilities

• Create and implement a robust internal communications strategy for the organisation
• Provide strategic counsel for leadership communications, promoting a de-centralised approach to IC, easing anxiety, building trust, providing a feeling of being heard, supporting training and capability building, etc
•  Lead internal communications campaigns to drive engagement and foster a culture of distributed leadership.
• Build internal communications processes and workflows that support the adoption of new tools and process for distributed and remote working
•  Suppot efforts to create an employee value propostion
• Manage internal communications processes and channels (including cascading mechanisms, the onboarding programme, The Hub (EIT Climate-KIC Intranet), Teams Channels), ensuring their regular and consistant use
• Content creation for internal communications channels
• Support all-staff events as a main communication milestone in the year

Key Working Relationships

• Communications & Marketing Orchestrator
• People Team Orchestrator
• Chief of Staff
• Company Secretary
• Communications & Marketing Team
• People Team
• Strategy Team
• Boost (Ops) Team

ABOUT YOU
To be successful in this role you will be a skilled internal communications manager who understands what it takes to connect and engage teams. You are a natural people-person and enjoy creating internal networks. You are a strategic thinker but also a committed doer. You relish creating structure out of chaos and are not afraid to put yourself out there.

Education/Qualifications

• A Master’s degree in the communications, HR, organisational behaviour or related field is preferred and may be substituted for two (2) years of required experience

Experience

• Eight (8) or more years of demonstrated experience in communications, HR, organisational behaviour or related field with at least three (3) years of experience in internal commmunications
• Experience working with people in different geographies and from diverse cultural backgrounds
• Experience creating internal communications is a decentralised and remote working atmosphere
• Experience in change management

Skills

• ·Outstanding grasp of internal communications tools and their application
• ·Sharp understanding of engagement mechanisms and measurement
• Excellent people skills, with solid networking and collaboration capabilities
• Keen editorial skills
• Fluent in English, other European languages are a plus
• Experience or willingness to work with collaborative IT applications (we use Office365 and Microsoft Teams, as well as Miro, Zoom, Mentimeter etc.)

Qualities, Personal Style, and Approach

• Solutions-focused, with a “can do” attitude
• Hands-on and pro-active with a drive for problem-solving
•  Innovative thinking and confidence to encourage creativity in other
• Ability to build and maintain effective working relationships across all levels of management- both internally and externally
• Articulate and dynamic with highly developed interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively, inspire and motivate people.
• Highly adaptable, flexible and resilient: able to work effectively in ambiguity and complexity and to respond dynamically to change.
• Curious, ambitious, respectful and fearless.