Communications Specialist – Executive & Board Presentations

Reports To: Director of IT

Role Summary

The Communications Specialist will craft clear compelling and visually engaging communications for IT leadership and Board of Directors audiences-especially CFO-level stakeholders-translating complex technology risk and investment narratives into concise executive presentations pre-reads and talking points. This role supports executive meetings and events with high standards of professionalism branding alignment and message clarity.

Key Responsibilities

Executive & Board Presentation Development

• Develop CFO-ready narratives and presentation decks that communicate strategy investment cases operating metrics risk/compliance posture and business outcomes-tailored for senior executive and Board audiences.
• Create summary-first storylines with tight executive structure and optional backup detail enabling efficient leadership discussion and decision-making.
• Partner with content owners (IT leaders program managers risk/compliance leads) to extract the so what sharpen the ask and align messages to executive expectations.

Content Strategy Storytelling & Message Clarity

• Translate technical material into executive language by identifying the target audience what matters to them and how much detail to include-then shaping a narrative that keeps leaders engaged while landing key messages.
• Create outlines and content flow that reflect what has been presented previously what changed and what decisions or updates are required for the current forum.

Visual Communication & Executive Standards

• Produce polished on-brand slides: clean layouts data visualization and crisp executive wording that meets senior-level expectations for clarity and readability (e.g. minimum font guidance when applicable).
• Ensure decks are presenter-driven and easy to navigate in live executive forums with a clear summary slide and supporting backup slides for Q&A.

Executive Communications Operations

• Support executive meetings/events with end-to-end communications coordination (pre-reads deck readiness version control archival/standalone deck packaging where needed).
• Maintain a structured repository of executive communications assets (templates standard story arcs reusable visuals) and continuously improve quality and consistency.

Core Deliverables

• Board/ELT/CIO Staff presentations (strategy updates quarterly reviews risk and audit updates investment proposals)
• Executive pre-read packs and leadership talking points
• Standardized templates and role profiles/scorecard-ready structures aligned to internal role documentation formats
• Presentation storyboards/outlines and meeting-ready one-slide summary backup structures

Key Stakeholders & Working Relationships

• IT Leadership team (CIO staff functional leaders program owners)
• Executive Services / GIS Communications partners supporting executive meetings and events
• Cross-functional partners (Risk Audit Finance Compliance Data Governance) depending on agenda

Qualifications

Required

• 5 years in executive communications corporate communications management consulting communications or a presentation-specialist role supporting senior leaders.
• Demonstrated ability to create executive-ready PowerPoint presentations and written narratives for CFO/Board-level audiences.
• Strong ability to translate complex content into clear executive communications (message discipline brevity structure).
• Proven stakeholder management: can interview busy SMEs distill content quickly and drive to high-quality deliverables under tight timelines.

Preferred

• Experience supporting technology strategy enterprise risk/compliance audit or large-scale transformation communications.
• Familiarity with executive meeting operating rhythms and producing pre-reads for leadership forums.

Skills & Competencies

• Executive storytelling & synthesis: creates compelling so what / now what narratives and decision framing.
• Visual communication: strong slide design layout and data visualization for senior readability.
• Audience-first communication: tailors content based on who youre communicating to and what level they are.
• Operational excellence: version control deadlines and quality gates for exec-ready materials.
• Collaboration & facilitation: pulls clarity from diverse stakeholders and aligns messages.

Tools (Typical)

• Microsoft PowerPoint (advanced) Excel (charts) Word (briefs) Teams/SharePoint (collaboration & asset management). Adobe Creative Cloud

Performance Metrics

• Executive satisfaction with decks (clarity readiness usefulness in decision forums)
• On-time delivery of pre-reads and final decks for leadership meetings
• Reduction in rework cycles via stronger first-pass synthesis and alignment
• Adoption of standardized templates and improved consistency across leadership presentations