Role Description The Communication Specialist is a key member of NERC’s Communications team and supports the development and execution of high-quality, external-facing communications that inform, engage, and educate stakeholders on NERC’s mission to assure the reliability, resilience, and security of the North American bulk power system. This role requires a highly independent and detail-oriented professional who takes ownership of their work and contributes proactively to the team’s success. The Communications Specialist is expected to identify opportunities, generate ideas, and consistently deliver polished, accurate, and timely communications while collaborating effectively with the Communications department and the broader organization. The position works in a strategic, collaborative department and reports to the Director, External Communications. - Develop and execute innovative external communications that support NERC’s priorities and that inform, engage, and educate key audiences. - Proactively identify communications opportunities, content ideas, and outreach approaches that align with NERC’s strategic goals and stakeholder needs. - Write, edit, and maintain a variety of materials, including articles, statements, announcements and media releases, talking points, communications plans, and digital content, ensuring clarity, consistency, and attention to detail. - Serve as a core contributor and super user for NERC’s modernized website, including: - Posting and maintaining headlines and priority content, - Managing and updating initiative pages, - Supporting content quality control, - Participating in project team for future improvement phases, and - Serving as backup to the Website Experience Manager as needed. - Coordinate closely with Communications teams—Internal Communications, External Communications, Publications, and Digital Content—to advance and publicize upcoming events, speaking engagements, testimony, etc. - Build and maintain strong working relationships with subject matter experts across NERC’s departments and with communicators in NERC’s six Regions. - Assist in the facilitation of media inquiries and interview requests. - Produce daily news clips and assist in maintaining media lists and media tracking log. - Responsible for daily budget and request in NERC’s finance system, Workday. - Other duties as assigned. Qualifications - Bachelor’s degree in communications, public affairs, public relations, or a related field. - Three-to-five years of experience in a communications, public affairs, or public relations environment. Experience working in the electricity industry or with the media is a plus but not required. - Excellent writing, editing, and verbal communications skills with the ability to produce clear, accurate, and well-organized content. Proven attention to details and commitment to producing high-quality work. - Demonstrated ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment. - Ability to comprehend highly technical subject matter quickly and translate complex concepts into clear, accessible communications. - Experience working with web content and content management systems required (experience with Optimizely or similar web platforms is a plus but not required). - Ability to collaborate effectively in a service-oriented, cross-functional team environment. - Demonstrated professionalism, discretion, and ability to build trust and maintain credibility internally and externally. Requirements - A background check will be conducted prior to employment. - In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification document form upon hire. - This position has been classified as exempt. - The position may be based remotely but must be able to travel to NERC offices, if needed. Reimbursement of travel expenses will be in accordance with the company’s travel and expense reimbursement policies. Benefits - Everyone at NERC is a leader. - We are accountable personally and organizationally to deliver on commitments. - We develop ourselves and people in the organization to ensure that NERC realizes its strategic objectives. - We are resilient and adaptable to the challenges and needs of the business/people. - We exude a growth mindset and empower teams to take risks. - Build collaborative relationships within NERC, the ERO, and the stakeholders of NERC. - We exemplify NERC cultural behaviors: - Reward, high-quality, creative, and innovative work. - Attract, engage, and retain top talent. - Value and respect diverse perspectives. - Provide a safe, inclusive, and collaborative work environment. - Form strong relationships within the company, and with the ERO Enterprise. - We demonstrate curiosity in a wide variety of areas and are open to exploring new situations, knowledge and opportunities for growth and development. - We demonstrate an anticipatory mindset; preventing problems and building contingencies where appropriate. - We are champions for diversity and inclusion. Seeks out and values diverse perspectives.

• Draft press releases, statements and campaign communications • Develop social media strategy and content • Build, cultivate, and maintain trusted relationships with reporters • Serve as a regional spokesperson and press contact • Monitor regional media narratives on education policy • Partner with the National Director and the Digital Manager to plan and execute digital campaigns • Collaborate on day-to-day execution of regional social media content • Help shape paid digital strategy for issue campaigns • Track, analyze, and report on earned and digital performance • Serve as a close thought partner to the National Director on messaging strategy • Stay fluent in the political landscape of priority states • Contribute to rapid-response operations • Work closely with the Campaigns and Partnership teams • Partner with the Graphic Designer & Digital Communications Manager to translate regional strategy into on-brand creative • Coordinate with outside consultants

• You will own, build, and run your startup in fields such as Tactical Communications. • You will embark on an extensive personal development journey crafted by unicorn founders and follow a fully customised programme enhancing your goal, time, and energy management. • You will receive support in hiring through our network to over 50,000 professionals and advice as well as best practices from serial entrepreneurs. • You will receive intensive coaching to make your startup ready to raise millions in funding. • You will iterate your product with us until having reached product-market-fit and receive support in building up a sales force or creating a marketing engine respectively.

Communications Strategy Manager Job Locations US-NC-Durham Position TypeRegular ID 2026-16873 Category Business Operations What You'll Do The Communications Strategy Manager owns the strategy, planning, governance, and execution of internal communications for Avalara's customer-facing organization. You will translate executive strategy, product and service launches and updates, process changes, and new or updated training and resources into clear communications that inspire disciplined field execution. As an Individual Contributor with Team Lead responsibilities, you will set direction, establishes standards, and coordinate contributors to raise the quality and consistency of GTM communications. Reporting to the Manager, Enablement Operations, this role builds scalable systems across our intranet, Slack, and email newsletters to reduce noise, provide a single source of truth, and speed time-to-field. This is a US-based, #LI-Remote position. What Your Responsibilities Will Be - Oversee the end-to-end GTM internal communications strategy for customer-facing audiences, including Sales, Partner Sales, Support, Implementation and Professional Services, ensuring clear message hierarchy and disciplined execution. - Design and run the communications operating model (intake, prioritization, drafting, approval, publish, reinforcement) by leveraging internal AI tools to reduce noise, eliminate duplicative or conflicting messages, and speed time-to-field. - Establish and manage the GTM editorial calendar, sequencing weekly, monthly, and quarterly communications to align with priorities and prevent overlap or message fatigue. - Define governance standards, including channel rules, writing standards, QA checklists, approval workflows, and publishing discipline across our intranet, Slack, and email newsletters. - Oversee the publishing model, including structure, tagging standards, content lifecycle management, and homepage organization to ensure content remains current and relevant. - Lead partner intake and understanding by running a standardized briefing process, clarifying goals and required actions, assessing requests against priorities, and translating complex inputs into field-ready messages. - Ensure changing educational and instructional materials about the GTM communications strategy, process and tools stay up to date. - Coordinate contributors and authors by assigning work, reviewing content, coaching for clarity and impact, and building repeatable frameworks that raise quality. - Improve communication effectiveness by tracking engagement metrics, adoption signals, and feedback loops, and delivering regular insights and process improvements to GTM leadership. What You'll Need to be Successful Required Qualifications Education Bachelor's degree in Communications, Marketing, Business, Journalism, or related field or equivalent practical experience in internal or GTM communications. Experience 4–6 or more years of experience in internal communications, GTM enablement communications, Revenue or GTM operations with a communications focus, corporate communications with field-facing responsibility, or sales communications and field change management. Demonstrated ownership of communication strategy for projects, including intake, prioritization, partner agreement, and governance — not only execution-level drafting. Knowledge Working knowledge of GTM operating models, including Sales, Partner, Product, and Marketing. Experience with field change management and adoption dynamics. Knowledge of internal communications governance, including message hierarchy, editorial rhythm, approval models, and channel discipline. Understanding of B2B SaaS sales motions, including SMB and upmarket segments. Knowledge of intranet and internal publishing strategy. Working knowledge of AI-enabled workflow tools to improve communication quality and productivity. Skills and Abilities - Summarize and write complex executive strategy, pricing updates, product launches, and process changes into clear field-ready messages. - Influence and align senior partners without formal authority. - Prioritize and sequence communications to reduce overload and prevent conflicting messages. - Design and operate communication systems, including intake models, approval workflows, and reinforcement plans. - Provide structured editorial feedback and coach contributors to improve clarity and impact. - Manage internal publishing platforms as governed systems, not ad hoc tools. - Analyze engagement and adoption signals to improve communication effectiveness. Tools 1+ years of experience with intranet or internal publishing platforms such as Simpplr. Experience with Slack or similar collaboration tools. Experience with email distribution tools. Experience with project management platforms such as Asana, Jira, Monday, or Smartsheet. Experience using analytics tools such as Excel, Google Sheets, or business intelligence dashboards. Experience using AI writing or productivity tools. Preferred Qualifications - Experience supporting GTM communications in a high-growth B2B SaaS environment. - Experience supporting global or multi-regional sales teams, including navigating segmentation and regional nuance while maintaining message consistency. - Manage communications for pricing changes, product launches, or major sales process transformations. - Change management certification (e.g., Prosci, ADKAR, Kotter) with experience applying structured frameworks to increase adoption of sales-facing programs such as pricing, product, or process changes. - Background in executive communications or journalism, demonstrating advanced message synthesis and storytelling capability. - Experience improving engagement or adoption metrics through structured communication strategy and channel optimization. Avalara Success Traits Ownership Take accountability for the clarity, accuracy, and effectiveness of GTM communications. Owns the end-to-end communications system, from intake through reinforcement, and ensures messages drive action without creating confusion or noise. Urgency Acts with speed and discipline in a fast-moving sales environment. Prioritizes what matters most, accelerates time-to-field, and ensures critical updates reach sellers when they need them. Adaptability Thrives in a dynamic GTM environment where priorities shift. Adjusts plans, sequencing, and messaging quickly while maintaining structure, governance, and communication quality. ________________________________________ AI Use in Role Avalara is an AI-first company. We expect every Avalarian to actively leverage AI to enhance productivity, quality, innovation, and customer value. AI is embedded in our workflows, decision-making, and products — and success at Avalara requires embracing AI as an essential capability, not an optional tool. In this role, AI is expected to support: - Drafting and refining communications, including message synthesis, clarity improvements, and structured formatting. - Summarizing complex inputs from product, pricing, and operations into field-ready messaging. - Analyzing engagement data and feedback trends to improve communication effectiveness. - Accelerating workflow efficiency across intake, approvals, and reinforcement planning. The Communications Strategy Manager is expected to continuously experiment with AI-enabled tools to improve speed, precision, and communication quality while applying responsible AI practices, including data privacy and content accuracy. Avalara is an AI-first Company AI is embedded in our workflows, decision-making, and products. Success here requires embracing AI as an essential capability. - You’ll bring experience using AI and AI-related technologies, ready to thrive here. - You’ll apply AI every day to business challenges - improving efficiency, contributing solutions, and driving results for your team, our company, and our customers. - You’ll grow with AI by staying curious about new trends and best practices, and by sharing what you learn so others can benefit too. How We'll Take Care of You Total Rewards In addition to a great compensation package, paid time off, and paid parental leave, many Avalara employees are eligible for bonuses. Health & Wellness Benefits vary by location but generally include private medical, life, and disability insurance. Inclusive culture and diversity Avalara strongly supports diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is committed to integrating them into our business practices and our organizational culture. We also have a total of 8 employee-run resource groups, each with senior leadership and exec sponsorship.