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EVP, Transformation & Engagement Leader - Corporate Affairs

Chicago, Illinois, United States

 

Whether your company’s brand is a consumer-centric brand or a business-to-business brand, you have a story to tell. We use bold, creative thinking to change how the world sees and thinks about companies, businesses, and brands – and how they perceive the world. Through obsessive, inclusive collaboration, bold creative solutions designed for the corporate world and close partnerships with clients, stakeholders, customers and influencers, campaigners and lawmakers, NGOs and CEOs.  

Informed by data, we bring decades of creative consumer thinking to unlock the value of corporate reputation. We take real-time storytelling to the next level, earn the attention of audiences that matter and drive reputation and business results. We Go. All. In.  

Our Corporate Affairs Practice is comprised of former reporters, government staffers, in-house communicators and storytellers, digital and social media gurus and analytics experts offering a full suite of corporate communications capabilities, including:  

 

  • Corporate Reputation Counsel  
  • Corporate positioning, narrative and creative platform development  
  • Competitive Landscape and Positioning Research & Counsel  
  • Corporate Issues & Crisis Management including Litigation, transaction support, strategy changes, pre-/post-crisis recovery, leadership change  
  • Corporate Media Strategy & Relations  
  • Master Narrative and Messaging   
  • Thought Leadership  
  • EV360: Executive Vision & Visibility, social engagement  
  • Employee Communications + Change Management  
  • Integrated Corporate-Consumer program development   
  • ESG, Purpose Advisory & Counsel  
  • Public Affairs: Policy Influencer + Stakeholder Engagement  
  • Earnings Communications; IPO, M&A, SPAC, Restructure  
  • B2B and Enterprise newsroom & content strategy  

 

Position Overview 

 

As EVP, Transformation & Engagement Leader, you will play a pivotal role in shaping and delivering Golin’s transformation and engagement offerings to clients. You will develop and execute strategies that drive large-scale change, foster organizational growth, and solve client challenges in transformation, culture, and employee engagement. Working closely with the US and global corporate affairs leadership team and cross-functional agency teams, you will lead the development of new transformation services, build high-performing teams, and guide clients through their most complex business transitions. Additionally, you will work to enhance Golin’s internal capabilities, particularly as it relates to Golin’s own transformation journey, including AI integration. 

 

This role will require strong team management, as you will formally oversee 15-30 communications and change professionals, with informal responsibility for many more across the practice. Effective leadership, talent development, and team empowerment are essential for success in this role. 

 

Key Responsibilities:

 

Drive and Develop Transformation & Engagement Strategy for Clients

  • Strategic Vision: Lead the development and execution of Golin’s transformation and engagement strategy, ensuring the agency’s offerings are aligned with clients’ evolving needs across industries. 
  • Client Advisory: Serve as a trusted advisor to clients on organizational change, culture transformation, leadership alignment, employee engagement, and large-scale change management challenges. 
  • Tailored Solutions: Oversee the creation and delivery of bespoke transformation strategies and frameworks that address client needs such as cultural shifts, mergers and acquisitions, leadership development, employee engagement, and organizational restructuring. 
  • Thought Leadership: Position Golin as a thought leader in transformation and employee engagement by leveraging insights, research, and best practices to develop cutting-edge strategies for clients.  Develop and roll out IP that aligns to the agency’s capabilities.  

 

Build High-Performing Teams and Capabilities

  • Talent Development: Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing, cross-functional team of 15-30 communications and change professionals, while informally overseeing a broader network of colleagues across the agency. 
  • Team Empowerment: Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and excellence within your team, ensuring they have the resources and support needed to execute transformational initiatives effectively. 
  • Internal Collaboration: Partner with other senior leaders across Golin to integrate transformation and engagement services into the broader agency offering, ensuring seamless execution and impactful client outcomes. 
  • Frameworks & Tools Development: Develop and enhance Golin’s proprietary frameworks, tools, and intellectual property (IP) in the areas of transformation, culture, and engagement to ensure scalable, impactful client solutions. 
  • AI Transformation Partnership: Partner with the Chief AI Officer to inform and support Golin’s own change management strategy related to the AI transformation, driving the agency’s vision to become a fully integrated AI-driven agency. Ensure alignment between the internal transformation and client-facing offerings. 

 

Collaborate Across the Agency to Solve Client Challenges

  • Corporate Affairs Leadership: Collaborate closely with the US and Global Corporate Affairs Leadership to set and execute an ongoing strategy to grow and differentiate the agency’s offerings in the space  
  • Cross-Functional Leadership: Collaborate closely with account teams, creative leads, digital strategists, and other experts across the agency to deliver integrated, client-centric transformation solutions. 
  • Client Relationships: Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with senior client executives, understanding their strategic goals and providing actionable, data-driven solutions to address their transformation and engagement challenges. 
  • Integrated Solutions: Lead the development of cross-agency strategies that combine Golin’s expertise in communications, digital innovation, and organizational behavior to solve clients’ most pressing issues. 

 

Measure Success and Drive Results

  • Impact Measurement: Develop metrics to track the success and impact of transformation and engagement strategies, ensuring client goals are met and that transformation initiatives are driving measurable business results. 
  • Client Impact: Continuously assess the effectiveness of client transformation strategies, making adjustments as needed to ensure long-term success and alignment with evolving client needs. 
  • Feedback Loops: Use feedback from clients and internal teams to refine Golin’s transformation and engagement offerings, ensuring they are always delivering the highest possible value. 

 

Qualifications & Skills:

  • Extensive Leadership Experience: Minimum of 15 years in senior leadership roles focused on organizational change, transformation strategy, culture development, and employee engagement, ideally within a communications, consulting, or agency environment. Previous leadership experience at a large communications agency or professional services firm is preferred. 
  • Expert in Change & Engagement: Proven expertise in leading large-scale transformation and engagement initiatives for clients, with a deep understanding of change management methodologies (e.g., Kotter, ADKAR, ProSci) and employee engagement best practices. 
  • Client-Facing Leadership: Strong track record in building and managing senior client relationships, particularly with C-suite executives, offering strategic advice on change, transformation, and engagement challenges. 
  • Strategic Visionary: Ability to create and articulate a forward-thinking transformation and engagement strategy for clients, anticipating their needs and positioning Golin as a trusted partner. 
  • Team Builder: Proven ability to build, lead, and inspire high-performing, cross-functional teams, cultivating a culture of collaboration and excellence. Formal management experience for 15-30 professionals, with informal leadership responsibilities across the agency, is essential. 
  • Operational Expertise: Extensive experience in executing large-scale transformation and engagement strategies and ensuring that initiatives are operationalized and deliver results. 
  • Communication & Influence: Exceptional communication and influencing skills, with the ability to inspire trust and align stakeholders across various levels and functions. 
  • Results-Driven: A focus on delivering measurable outcomes, ensuring client satisfaction and business growth. 

 

Personal Attributes:

  • Visionary: Strategic thinker with a clear ability to navigate complex challenges and guide organizations through transformative change and engagement initiatives. 
  • Resilient & Adaptable: Comfortable leading through ambiguity and uncertainty, with a strong ability to adjust strategies in response to evolving client needs and market dynamics. 
  • Collaborative & Empathetic: A highly collaborative leader with strong emotional intelligence, empowering teams and clients to engage fully in the transformation process. 
  • Results-Oriented: Passionate about driving business impact and delivering tangible results that align with client goals and expectations. 

 

 

About Golin: 

 

Golin is a progressive public relations agency designed to reach a profoundly diverse global market. Our ambition is to not only adapt to the rapidly evolving landscape of AI but to lead the charge. We are committed to upskilling our workforce and integrating AI into our daily work to maximize the value we deliver to our clients. 

 

Together, we discover powerful human truths that bind us, create with bravery, and collaborate inclusively and obsessively. Golin’s 1700 global employees operate across 50+ offices worldwide, allowing us to provide our clients with comprehensive solutions for multi-market, regional and global communications programs.  

 

We’re especially committed to going all in for our people. We challenge our employees to be courageously happy and have empowered them to do so by offering our LifeTime benefits program. LifeTime offers flexible time off, enhanced family care, generous health and wellness benefits, workplace hybrid flexibility, and a monthly LifeTime stipend for the gym or hobbies.  

 

Our expertise ranges from brand-building and cutting-edge digital content to corporate reputation, healthcare advocacy and measurement. Golin aligns earned-first, data-driven creative with the customer journey through our collaborative G4 Model to deliver maximum impact for clients. Our roster includes many of the largest CPG, retail, food, healthcare technology and consumer service companies in the world.  

  

Salary range: $185,000 - $350,000 

Golin has included the base salary range or hourly rate for this role. Actual compensation offered within the range will depend upon, among other factors: a candidate’s skills, qualifications, and experience; actual ranges for current or former employees in the role; and market considerations. 

Any request to schedule an interview and any legitimate offer of employment will only come from an authorized representative of Golin. We will never require an applicant to provide sensitive personally identifiable information in order to conduct an interview. 

Golin is an Equal Opportunity Employer – M/F/Veteran/Disability/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. 

  

We make our careers website accessible to any and all users. If you need an accommodation to participate in the application process, please contact us at JobAppAccommodation@ipgdxtra.com. This email address is not for general employment inquiries or vendors; rather it is strictly for applicants who require special assistance accessing our employment website. Due to volume, messages sent to this email address that are not related to an accommodation cannot be answered.

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