Senior Director, Transformation Program Communications (9-month contract)

Vistra is in an exciting and complex period of transformation. We are delivering several significant, concurrent strategic programmes — from operating model redesign and digital and AI transformation to post-M&A integration and organisational change. Each programme needs strong, dedicated change communications leadership to drive understanding, build engagement, and help our people adopt change.

This 9-month fixed-term contract provides dedicated, senior change communications leadership across our transformation portfolio. The S enior Director – Transformation Program Communications will embed into our most strategically important programmes, create immediate momentum , and partner with senior leaders to deliver clear, timely, and outcome-led communications.

This is a high-impact, high-visibility interim role for a seasoned change communications leader who moves fast, thrives in complexity, and consistently drives adoption through disciplined, audience-led communications.

Purpose of Role

Primary focus: Cost Optimisation, Revenue Performance, and Digital Adoption programmes. Lead the end-to-end design and delivery of transformation communications and activation plans for the 2026 transformation programme, ensuring colleagues at all levels understand what is changing, why it matters, and what they need to do. Act as the senior change communications partner and trusted advisor to programme sponsors, Exco, ELT and SET stakeholders — driving clear decision-making, aligned leader-led messaging, and measurable engagement and adoption. Build fit-for-purpose change communications standards, frameworks, and tools that strengthen capability beyond the contract period.

Key Responsibilities

Immediate Impact & Onboarding

• Within the first 2–3 weeks , assess the current state of transformation communications, identify the top risks/gaps, and deliver quick wins that improve message clarity, cadence, and channel reach
• Establish trusted partnerships with programme sponsors, workstream leads, HRBPs, and senior stakeholders within the first month, securing clear decision pathways and agreed communication owners
• Deliver a prioritised communications roadmap aligned to programme milestones, with defined audiences, channels, owners, and success measures (e.g., reach, engagement, leader cascade completion, adoption indicators)

Change Communications Strategy & Ownership

• Deliver end-to-end change communications strategies and activation plans across the transformation portfolio, ensuring each programme has a clear narrative, channel plan, and delivery cadence that supports agreed change outcomes
• Produce programme-level communication plans and message frameworks that translate change impacts into clear actions for each audience (what’s changing, what it means, what to do), ready for leader cascade and launch
• Maintain a Group-wide Change-on-a-Page view that provides up-to-date executive visibility of active change communications, key messages, upcoming moments, and risk hotspots (refreshed at least monthly or ahead of key milestones)
• Embed change communications standards so communications are leader-led, concise, consistent, targeted, and measurable — improving message quality, reducing noise/duplication, and driving the behaviours required for adoption
• Provide senior counsel on communication risk, sequencing, and stakeholder impact, with mitigations agreed and tracked through programme governance

Senior Business Partnering & Advisory

• Operate as the senior embedded communications partner for programme sponsors, workstream leads, and C-suite stakeholders, ensuring decisions translate into aligned messages and timely leader cascades
• Translate complex people/process/technology change into clear, action-oriented narratives that increase understanding and readiness across impacted audiences
• Coach programme leads and senior executives on approach, timing, and messaging for key moments, improving leader confidence and consistency of cascade communications
• Identify, escalate, and resolve communications risks/issues early, with agreed actions implemented and monitored to prevent misalignment, confusion, or engagement drop-off

Stakeholder Engagement & Influence

• Build and maintain stakeholder maps and engagement plans for each programme, with audiences segmented by influence/impact and engagement actions scheduled against key milestones
• Design targeted engagement approaches for each stakeholder tier, improving sponsor alignment, leader advocacy, and local reinforcement of change
• Establish and enable change champion networks (where required) to extend communications reach, drive local feedback loops, and accelerate adoption in priority teams/markets
• Partner with programme managers and HRBPs so communications are integrated with change management and business readiness plans, reducing duplication and improving end-user readiness at go-live

Content Development & Activation

• Deliver high-quality communications assets (e.g., leadership messages, town halls, FAQs, intranet content, video scripts, manager toolkits) that enable consistent rollout and reduce repeat questions and misinterpretation
• Craft change narratives that connect transformation to Vistra’s strategy and colleagues’ day-to-day experience, strengthening engagement and commitment to the change
• Own and run an editorial calendar that sequences communications across programmes, reduces message collisions, and ensures key moments land on time
• Use Teams Live, intranet, and engagement platforms to maximise reach and participation, and use channel analytics to continuously improve performance

Leadership Communication Enablement

• Equip and coach leaders and managers to deliver confident, consistent change communications, improving leader cascade quality and team-level understanding
• Deliver leader toolkits, briefing packs, and talking points for key change moments, enabling timely cascades and consistent Q&A handling
• Enable the senior leadership team to communicate transformation priorities with clarity and consistency, improving alignment across functions and geographies

Capability Building & Knowledge Transfer

• Establish change communications governance that improves alignment, consistency, and quality across programmes (clear roles, approvals, cadence, and escalation)
• Produce reusable playbooks, templates, and tools that reduce set-up time for future programmes and can be sustained beyond the contract period
• Transfer knowledge throughout the engagement and deliver a structured handover at contract end, ensuring continuity of communications delivery and governance
• Capture lessons learned and post-implementation insights, feeding them into the playbook to continuously improve change communications effectiveness

Measurement & Insight

• Define success measures and set up tracking for each programme (e.g., reach, engagement, leader cascade completion, sentiment, adoption proxies), with baselines agreed upfront
• Monitor colleague sentiment and feedback (pulse, listening channels, Q&A themes) and deploy targeted interventions to address concerns and strengthen support
• Provide regular (e.g., monthly) reporting to senior stakeholders on communications performance and change readiness, with clear insights and recommendations that improve effectiveness over time

Required Experience

• Change Communications: Extensive, hands-on experience designing and leading change communications strategies for large-scale, complex, global transformation programmes — spanning people, process, and technology change; able to operate independently at the most senior levels
• Interim / FTC Delivery: Proven track record of delivering in interim or fixed-term roles — able to onboard quickly, establish credibility fast, and deliver measurable impact within a defined timeframe
• Programme Delivery: Proven track record of working as a senior embedded communications business partner across multiple concurrent workstreams, managing competing priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Digital Transformation Communications: Experience communicating complex digital, technology, and AI transformation programmes to non-technical audiences at scale
• C-Suite Advisory: Demonstrated ability to provide strategic counsel and coaching to C-suite and senior executive stakeholders; trusted advisor with strong personal credibility
• Content Development: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills — able to write with clarity, conviction, and creativity across a range of formats, channels, and audiences
• Change Management Methodology: Deep understanding of change management principles, methodologies, and tools (e.g. ADKAR, Prosci, Kotter) and how communications supports and accelerates the change journey
• Governance & Standards: Experience establishing and embedding change communications governance frameworks and standards across complex, multi-programme environments
• Knowledge Transfer: Demonstrated ability to build internal capability and deliver structured handovers at the end of an interim engagement

How This Role Connects

Sits within the Purpose & People Function as part of the Corporate Communications, Engagement and Sustainability team and works in close partnership with:

• Programme Sponsors & Exco — as the senior change communications advisor for each transformation initiative
• VPs Internal Communications & Colleague Engagement — for strategic alignment, prioritisation, and escalation
• People / HR Business Partners — to align communications with change management, business readiness, and people workstreams
• Corporate Communications — to ensure transformation narratives are consistent with the broader Vistra corporate story
• Marketing & Brand — to ensure transformation communications reflect and reinforce the Vistra employer brand

Tagged as: Change Management, Clari