Senior Communications Manager

Department: Marketing & Communications
Reports To: Corporate Marketing Director
Location: Sandy, UT | Phoenix, AZ | Nashville, TN (100% in-office)
Travel: Moderate (10-15%)

Layton Construction is one of the largest commercial construction management firms in the country with 16 offices, eight business units, and a footprint that spans coast to coast. We build hospitals, universities, data centers, resorts, and Hollywood-worthy studios. Each office operates like a mini company under the Layton brand. All need strategic communications support: media outreach, industry positioning, thought leadership, story development, and campaign planning to build and maintain Layton's reputation in their markets.

Our marketing team is strong. We have talented people doing great work. We need a communications leader to tie it all together. That's why we're adding a Sr. Communications Manager to lead Layton's external communications strategy.

You'll own brand voice, messaging, and written content standards across every external channel. You'll partner with business units on strategic communications planning, helping them identify stories worth telling, publications worth targeting, and leaders worth elevating. You'll oversee PR, media relations, and thought leadership. You'll develop and lead the communications campaigns that introduce Layton to new markets. And you'll ensure that everything Layton puts into the world builds trust, validates our expertise, and helps us win work.

You'll Have Direct Impact On:

• How Layton's story is told: the voice, the message, and the standard that everything written is held to.
• Media coverage, industry recognition, and earned visibility in key and emerging markets.
• Thought leadership positioning for Layton executives and subject matter experts.
• The communications strategies that introduce Layton to new markets before the first RFP drops.
• The strategic direction and development of a talented communications team ready to execute at a higher level.
• How well the full marketing team operates as a unified communications force rather than siloed functions.

What You'll Do:

Communications Strategy & Brand Voice

• Own Layton's external communications strategy across all markets and business units. Set the messaging direction, ensure consistency, and hold everything that goes out to a single standard of quality and voice. Regardless of who originates the content, you own the messaging quality and final review.

• Provide communications counsel to senior leaders and regional teams. Help them figure out what to say, when to say it, and where it needs to land. Be the person they call when the message matters.

• Stay ahead of industry trends, media landscape shifts, and reputational risks. Bring opportunities and concerns to leadership before they become problems.

• Coordinate with the content and production team to ensure messaging direction is reflected in content calendars and agency amplification strategy before they are finalized.

• Advise on sponsorship activations and how to leverage partnerships for business development and brand visibility.

PR & Media Relations

• Lead Layton's PR efforts. Build and maintain relationships with trade press, business journals, and industry media. Generate coverage that positions Layton as the obvious choice in the markets we're competing in.

• Set a high bar for earned media. Press releases and office announcements are table stakes. The goal is meaningful, outbound storytelling that lands Layton in the publications our clients and prospects actually read: construction trade press, regional business journals, and broader business media when the story warrants it.

• Pitch stories, secure placements, and coordinate interview and byline opportunities for executives and subject matter experts. Manage incoming media requests and serve as the organizational point of contact for journalists.

• Partner with leadership and the parent company to develop Layton's crisis communications framework, protocols, and response playbook. Ensure the organization is prepared and aligned before a crisis occurs.

• Provide strategic direction to the communications team on PR priorities and story development. You set the strategy. They execute.

Thought Leadership & Market Positioning

• Partner with business development and regional marketing teams to support speaking engagements and panel opportunities: developing the content, preparing the speaker, and ensuring every appearance is amplified through PR and media channels afterward.

• Work directly with executives and subject matter experts to develop bylines, articles, and publication placements. Understand each leader's voice, identify the right publications and formats, and develop angles rooted in real industry insight.

• Connect the proof point library to your PR strategy. Case studies, project highlights, and client testimonials aren't just website content: they're the foundation of a media pitch. Build that loop deliberately.

• Coach executives and subject matter experts on talking points, interview technique, and public speaking when needed.

• Lead communications campaigns for new market and office launches: build the plan, establish the media relationships, and ensure Layton enters every new market with a presence that precedes us.

Team Leadership & Strategic Oversight

• Lead and develop four skilled professionals: two focused on PR, editorial execution, and written content; two managing events, awards, and client-facing marketing across all business units.

• Partner closely with the content and production team on story sourcing and asset development. You set the messaging direction and written content standards. They originate, commission, and produce the assets.

• Align communications strategy with project milestones, award submissions, and BD events across the project lifecycle so the full marketing team operates as a unified communications force rather than siloed functions.

• Develop and maintain company messaging frameworks, positioning language, and executive narratives that the pursuit team can draw from consistently-ensuring Layton's voice is as strong in a proposal as it is in a press release.

What You Bring

• 10+ years in communications, PR, or a related field

• Proven experience developing and executing external communications strategies in a B2B environment

• Track record in media relations, thought leadership, and reputation management

• Strong understanding of how communications supports long sales cycles and relationship-driven business development

• Exceptional writing, editing, and messaging skills: you own and direct brand voice across written and visual content and hold others to that standard

• Experience providing communications counsel to senior leaders

• Experience managing and developing teams

• Experience providing strategic oversight to cross-functional partners

• Ability to translate complex technical or industry concepts into compelling narratives

• Familiarity with AI tools and platforms for content development, media monitoring, or analytics

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, PR, Marketing, Journalism, or related field

Preferred

• Construction, AEC, or professional services industry experience

• Experience managing external PR or communications agencies

• Experience with executive communications, speechwriting, and spokesperson preparation

• Experience launching communications campaigns for new markets or offices

• Experience with awards programs and executive positioning

• Experience advising on sponsorship strategy and activation

• Familiarity with industry publications and media landscape in the construction or real estate sectors

Personal Attributes

• Brand guardian: You own Layton's voice and protect it across every touchpoint. When content goes out that doesn't sound right, you notice and you fix it.

• Strategic partner: You know how to execute but more importantly, you help business units think through their communications strategy. You're the person they call when they need to figure out what to say.

• Direction-setter: You provide clarity and priorities to a team that is ready to execute. They don't need a manager who does the work for them. They need a leader who tells them what matters most and why.

• Collaborative leader : You work effectively with leadership, regional teams, and creative partners as a peer who influences through expertise, not authority.

• Market builder: You understand that communications is how Layton earns credibility in a new market before a single proposal is submitted. You think in terms of presence, reputation, and positioning over time.

• Learner: You're eager to understand how Layton does business, how pursuits are won, and how the construction industry operates. The more you know about the business, the sharper your communications strategy.

Benefits : Layton Construction offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements: Medical Insurance, Dental Insurance, Vision Insurance, Health Savings Account, Healthcare Flexible Spending Account, Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account, 401(k) retirement plan with employer match, Life & AD&D Insurance, Long-term Disability Insurance, Short-term Disability Insurance, Critical Illness Insurance, Accident Insurance, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Home & Auto Insurance, Family Support, Pre-tax Paid Parking/Public Transportation, Paid time off, Time Away Benefits, Paid Holidays, Group Legal, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, Identity Theft Protection, Group Legal, Pet Insurance, Employee Assistance Program.

EEO Statement - Layton Construction is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics.