Internal Communications & Intranet Manager

DEPARTMENT: Professional Services

REPORTS TO: VP OF STRATEGIC INSIGHTS & ANALYTICS

LOCATION: Hybrid work arrangement from home office and our Chicago office

FLSA CLASSIFICATION: EXEMPT

THE ORGANIZATION

Through clinical services education and research The Family Institute at Northwestern University is one of the nations leading relationship-based behavioral health organizations committed to strengthening and healing children and adolescents couples families and individuals. When you join The Family Institute you are joining a team of over 230 collaborators comprised of clinicians educators researchers therapists-in-training partners and administrators across three service sites. We are a strong independent organization focused on advancing the world of behavioral health.

Learn more about our culture.

THE ROLE

We are seeking an Internal Communications & Intranet Manager to strengthen organizational communication and knowledge-sharing across The Family Institute at Northwestern University (TFI). This role will lead the evolution of our SharePoint-based intranet and Teams collaboration ecosystem oversee internal communication strategies and drive change-management communications for major organizational initiatives spanning clinical services academics office of the president and shared services.

The ideal candidate blends editorial excellence with technical expertise in Microsoft 365 particularly SharePoint and Teams. They simplify complex information foster engagement among staff and affiliates and ensure our multi-site and hybrid workforce has timely access to accurate compliant resources.

This position is critical for adoption of new systems and workflows (e.g. EHR optimization automation policy updates) ensuring that internal messaging is clear consistent and aligned with TFIs mission and that communications adhere to HIPAA FERPA and organizational policies.

ESSENTIAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

Internal Communications

1. Develop and execute a TFI-wide internal communication strategy and channel plan (email SharePoint news Teams announcements Viva Engage/Communities) with cadences for all-staff updates leadership notes clinical bulletins and academic program updates.
2. Draft edit and publish organization-wide messages; partner with stakeholders to translate strategy operational changes and quality/safety updates into clear accessible content.
3. Establish content standards style guide templates and editorial calendar including plain-language and accessibility/WCAG standards for all internal channels.
4. Implement measurement and feedback loops (open rates read time link CTR search success time-to-find sentiment) and provide quarterly engagement dashboards to leadership.

Intranet & Knowledge Management

1. Lead the design information architecture and governance of TFIs intranet (SharePoint) as the authoritative hub for policies procedures clinical & academic operations training assets and FAQs.
2. Stand up content ownership models (RACI) review cycles/expiry and metadata & search refiners to improve findability.
3. Collaborate with Shared Services (HR Finance Facilities and IT) Clinical Services Academics Operations teams and the Office of the President to ensure content is accurate current and compliant (HIPAA/FERPA).
4. Champion a self-service culture by positioning the intranet as the first stop for answers enhanced by AI-powered search refiners and Copilot agents that surface relevant content based on user intent and behavior.
5. Embed guided self-help tools such as Zingtree decision trees or Copilot-powered virtual agents that use natural language understanding to answer FAQs guide users through workflows and escalate complex issues to the appropriate teams.
6. Explore integration of Viva Connections (dashboard/resources) Viva Engage (communities) and Viva Amplify/campaigning for multi-channel publishing where available.

Change Management (Communications & Adoption)

1. Partner with the VP of Strategic Insights & Analytics and project leads to develop change-communications and adoption plans for initiatives (e.g. EHR optimization automation hybrid work norms compliance updates).
2. Conduct stakeholder and audience analysis readiness and impact assessments and craft messaging frameworks (whats changing/why/when/benefits/what to do).
3. Produce adoption deliverables: FAQs one-pagers quick-start guides micro-learning videos live/recorded demos and office hours.
4. Coordinate a Champion/Coach network across programs and shared services; capture field feedback and manage resistance with targeted interventions.
5. Define success criteria and measure adoption (task completion ticket volume training completion search/task success utilization) via SharePoint analytics and Power BI.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Governance

1. Serve as a trusted advisor to leadership on messaging change readiness and staff engagement.
2. Run a Communications & Intranet Governance Group (monthly) to prioritize requests align campaigns and enforce content standards and retention.
3. Crisis/incident communications: establish playbooks and on-call workflows for unplanned events (e.g. systems downtime policy changes) in coordination with Shared Services and leadership.
4. Partner with the Data & Automation Engineer so that communication about new data tools Copilot agents automations and self-service resources is timely accessible and supported by interactive walkthroughs and embedded help.
5. Perform other duties as assigned by manager for business necessity

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
Knowledge and Skills

1. Demonstrated experience planning and executing change-management communications for technology rollouts or process changes (Prosci/ADKAR Kotter or similar).
2. Expertise with Microsoft 365: SharePoint (site design pages permissions) Teams (channels announcements) basic HTML/CSS for pages and SharePoint analytics.
3. Strong writing/editing and plain-language skills; proven ability to tailor tone for clinicians faculty trainees and administrative staff.
4. Project management skills; ability to prioritize and deliver in a matrixed environment; discretion with sensitive information (PHI/FERPA-protected data).
5. Familiarity with Viva (Connections Engage Amplify Learning) and SharePoint PnP provisioning/site templates preferred.
6. Prosci/ADKAR or related change-management certification; experience facilitating training (live and asynchronous) preferred.
7. Basic content design/visual skills (Canva/Adobe); experience with survey tools (Microsoft Forms) and A/B testing for message optimization preferred.
8. Experience in healthcare higher education or nonprofit environments preferred.

MINIMUM HIRING SPECIFICATIONS

1. Bachelors degree in Communications Organizational Development Information Management or related field; or equivalent experience.
2. 5 years in internal communications employee engagement or digital workplace/intranet management.

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL REQUIREMENTS

1. Must be able to compose written reports clearly and effectively
2. Must be able to be in a stationary position due to attention to computer screen
3. The ability to communicate information and ideas so others will understand. Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations
4. The ability to observe details at close range (within a few feet of the observer) to perform work-related duties
5. Must be able to apply established protocols in a timely manner
6. Must be able to determine solutions to problems
7. Must be able to operate successfully while handling multiple projects

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

The Family Institute is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race color ancestry religion sex national origin sexual orientation age citizenship marital status disability gender identity Veteran status or any other protected class. We strive to create a working environment that is free of all forms of discrimination and one that promotes human dignity and mutual respect among all staff. We believe every member of our organization enriches our diversity by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world to identify challenges and to discover design and deliver solutions.

If you are a candidate with a disability and require reasonable accommodation to complete this application please direct your inquiries to the Recruiter.

Compensation is based on a number of factors including but not limited to: scope and responsibilities of the position; a candidates applicable work experience key skills and qualifications as well as internal and external market considerations. The pay range for this full-time exempt position is $89636.00 - $123193.40/year. The Family Institute provides competitive benefits including health a 403(b) retirement savings plan generous time off and professional development. For a more inclusive list of benefits please visit our Careers page at Experience:

Manager