Description:

Traverse City Light & Power (TCLP) is a municipally owned electric and telecom utility serving approximately 13,000 electric and 900 fiber customers. With a team of 55 dedicated employees, we are committed to delivering reliable, innovative, and community-focused services to the residents and businesses of Traverse City.

Position Overview
TCLP is seeking a strategic and motivated Manager of Marketing & Communications to join our team. This role is responsible for leading the planning, management, and execution of marketing and communications activities supporting the Utility’s electric and fiber services. This position translates organizational and departmental strategy into actionable plans, oversees day‑to‑day operations, and ensures consistent, effective communications across all channels. This role provides direction and establishes priorities and performance expectations for customer communications, public relations, and marketing initiatives, while ensuring alignment with organizational goals, operational realities, and community values.

The Manager oversees staff, vendors, and partners; establishes standards and messaging frameworks; and serves as an advisor to leadership on customer, community, and reputational matters.

While this position is leading the planning, management, and execution of marketing and communications activities, the Manager of Marketing & Communications is also expected to perform hands‑on marketing and communications work as needed, particularly during the absence of the Communications Specialist or during periods of increased workload, emergencies, or staffing transitions.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development and execution of strategic marketing and communications plans supporting electric and fiber services, aligned with organizational goals.
• Serve as the operational lead for fiber broadband marketing, driving awareness, customer acquisition, conversion, and long‑term retention.
• Direct customer, public, and internal communications, including education initiatives related to reliability, construction, safety, programs, and services.
• Oversee brand management, digital content, website, social media, email campaigns, and accessibility‑compliant communications across all channels.
• Manage media relations, public relations, community outreach, and support leadership with presentations, messaging, and public‑facing materials.
• Provide leadership during crisis and emergency communications to ensure timely, accurate, and coordinated messaging.
• Supervise communications staff, manage vendors and budgets, track performance metrics, and lead cross‑departmental marketing initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, public relations or related field (or equivalent combination of education and experience).
• Minimum five (5) years of progressive experience in marketing/communications, including campaign planning and content development.
• Minimum two (2) years of supervisory or team lead experience.
• Minimum two (2) years of experience leading successful marketing campaign development and execution.  
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Teams, SharePoint, and project management software.

Why TCLP?

• Be part of a mission-driven organization that directly impacts the Traverse City community.
• Enjoy a collaborative, supportive work culture with a strong focus on employee well-being.
• Competitive compensation and benefits including health insurance, 100% employer paid dental and vision insurance, 10% employer contribution to a 457 deferred compensation retirement plan, and a defined benefit pension retirement plan.
• Opportunities for professional development and growth.

Salary range is $73,000 - $109,572, with placement dependent on education and experience.

Submission deadline: Open until filled.

Employees shall maintain a permanent and bona fide residence in a location that allows for a response time to the Service Center within no more than 60 minutes under normal driving circumstances within 6 months of employment.

TCL&P is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer
A diverse team makes a strong team. As an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, we are strongly committed to creating a dynamic and equitable workforce that mirrors the community and world that we serve. TCL&P encourages people from all backgrounds to apply.

Benefits Summary

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Full Job Description

Supervised By:       Director of People & Community
Supervises:              Communications Specialist
Status:                      Administrative, Confidential and Technical (ACT)
                                  Exempt

Essential Job Functions:
An employee in this position may be called upon to do any or all of the following essential functions.  These examples do not include all of the duties which the employee may be expected to perform.  To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily.

Marketing & Communications General

• Develop and manage annual and multi-year marketing and communications plans aligned with organizational goals for both electric and fiber services.
• Maintain brand standards; ensure consistent messaging and visual identity across print, digital, web, and community touchpoints.
• Translate strategic priorities into clear campaigns, timelines, budgets, and performance measures.
• Conduct market and customer research (voice-of-customer, segmentation, competitive insights) to guide targeting and messaging—especially for fiber acquisition and retention.

Fiber Product Marketing (Growth-Focused)

• Serve as the operational lead for fiber broadband marketing execution, implementing initiatives designed to drive customer awareness, subscription growth, and long‑term retention.
• Translate leadership‑defined fiber strategy into coordinated marketing efforts that support:
  • Awareness: community education, brand positioning, and market visibility
  • Conversion: targeted campaigns, pre‑sales, promotions, and sign‑up initiatives
  • Retention: onboarding communications, service education, and customer engagement
• Oversee the development and deployment of fiber marketing campaigns, promotional materials, and customer education and outreach initiatives.
• Partner closely with fiber operations and customer service to ensure marketing efforts are aligned with construction timelines, installation capacity, service delivery, and customer support processes.
• Monitor, analyze, and report on fiber marketing performance metrics (e.g., leads, conversion rates, take‑rates, churn, and campaign ROI), providing insights and recommendations to leadership.

Utility Communications

• Direct and manage the execution of customer, public and internal communications.
• Collaborate with departments and leadership to ensure messaging is accurate, timely, and consistent with established protocols.
• Develop clear customer education campaigns on reliability, vegetation management, construction projects, energy rebates, energy coaching, safety and other initiatives.

Public Relations, Media, and Community Outreach

• Serve as the primary lead for external communications, including media inquiries, press releases, and public-facing statements (as designated).
• Build relationships with community partners, local government stakeholders, schools, nonprofits, and business groups.
• Plan and represent the Utility at community events, open houses, and public meetings.
• Support leadership with speechwriting, talking points, presentations, and board/public meeting materials.

Digital Communications & Content Leadership

• Oversee website content strategy and updates for both electric and fiber pages, prioritizing clarity, accessibility, and conversion.
• Oversight of the social media strategy and content calendar; ensure timely engagement and consistent brand voice.
• Lead email marketing and customer notification campaigns (transactional and promotional).
• Ensure communications meet accessibility and plain-language standards and comply with applicable regulatory or public-sector guidelines.

Crisis & Emergency Communications

• Provide direction for emergency and crisis communications, ensuring timely, accurate, and coordinated messaging during outages, incidents, or other high‑impact events.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for media outlets and external stakeholders, as assigned, and coordinate messaging with the Director and executive leadership.
• Oversee activation and application of established crisis communication plans, templates, and escalation protocols.
• Direct and coordinate cross‑channel communications (website, social media, email/SMS, media releases) to ensure consistency and clarity across all platforms.
• Advise leadership on communication approach, tone, and timing during sensitive or rapidly evolving situations.

Supervision, Project Management & Vendor Oversight

• Provide leadership and direct supervision for the Communications Specialist, including goal setting, performance management, workload prioritization, and professional development.
• Establish clear expectations, standards, and workflows to ensure high‑quality, timely marketing and communications deliverables.
• Oversee and manage relationships with external vendors and partners, including creative agencies, printers, web developers, photographers, mail houses, and media buyers.
• Lead and coordinate cross‑functional marketing and communications initiatives in collaboration with operations, fiber, engineering, customer service, IT, and executive leadership.
• Ensure projects are executed in alignment with approved strategy, timelines, and budgetary guidelines.

Budgeting, Metrics & Continuous Improvement

• Monitor departmental budgets and expenditures, ensuring responsible use of resources within approved parameters.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and prepare concise reports and insights for the Director and leadership team.
• Evaluate marketing and communications effectiveness using performance data, customer feedback, and post‑initiative reviews.
• Drive continuous improvement by identifying opportunities to refine messaging, processes, and resource allocation.

Attend community events and meetings which may occur during evenings and weekends.

Establish and maintain effective relationships with customers, employees, contractors, governmental agencies, and other stakeholders, using sound judgement and professional communication.

Perform other duties as necessary.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Minimum Qualifications:
The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, abilities and minimum qualifications necessary to perform the essential functions of the position.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the job.

• Educational requirements include a bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, public relations or related field (or equivalent combination of education and experience).
• Minimum five (5) years of progressive experience in marketing/communications, including campaign planning and content development.
• Minimum two (2) years of supervisory or team lead experience.
• Minimum two (2) years of experience leading successful marketing campaign development and execution.  
• Valid State of Michigan Vehicle Operator’s License,
• Demonstrated experience managing digital channels (web, social, email) and measuring performance with analytics.
• Strong writing and editing skills; able to translate complex technical topics into customer-friendly messaging.
• Strong communication skills: present information clearly and effectively in presentation format or other to a variety of stakeholders internally and externally.
• Strategic planning and campaign management with measurable outcomes.
• Excellent interpersonal and collaboration skills across technical and non-technical teams.
• Strong judgment, discretion, and professionalism; ability to handle sensitive issues and public-facing messaging.
• High proficiency with common marketing tools (CMS, email platform, social scheduling, design tools, analytics).
• Comfort with data: segmentation, reporting, interpretation, and optimization.
• Must be available for after-hours emergency communications support on a rotating or as-needed basis.
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Teams, SharePoint, and project management software.
• Organizational and Time Management: Ability to work under deadlines, manage multiple priorities, and adapt to changing work demands.
• In addition to the above‑mentioned requirements, this position requires the ability to read, write, speak, and understand the English language to the extent necessary to safely and effectively perform the essential functions of the job; the ability to follow written and oral instructions; and the ability to perform the essential duties of the position with or without reasonable accommodation. Regular, consistent, and predictable attendance is an essential function of this position.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with utilities, telecommunications/fiber/broadband, government/public sector, or regulated industries.
• Experience with product marketing and go-to-market planning.
• Familiarity with outage/emergency communications and incident response protocols.
• Knowledge of brand management, community outreach, and stakeholder/public meeting communications.

Physical Demands and Work Environment:
The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand, walk, sit, use hands and fingers, talk and hear. The employee must be able to squat, stoop or kneel. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move items of light to moderate weight. The employee is regularly required to communicate in person and by telephone, read regular and small print, sit, use limited mobility in an office setting, use manual dexterity to type and enter data, and use sight to read and prepare documents and reports.

The typical work environment for this position is a business office setting where the noise level is quiet and sometimes moderate. However, this position, as needed, will drive a motor vehicle to locations throughout service territory. 

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