Senior Communications Business Partner

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Date: Apr 24, 2026

Location: North York - Toronto, ON (Hybr, CA

Company: Wawanesa Insurance

 

Job ID: 10010 


Employment Type:  New Role 

Working Business Language: English

 

Salary: At Wawanesa, salary is only one component of a holistic, comprehensive and competitive offering that we provide to our employees. In addition to salary, full-time and part-time permanent employees are eligible for an annual bonus plan, leave of absence top-up programs and provided with generous vacation time, personal days, premium free benefits and pension plan. 
 

The salary offered for this role is determined with consideration to various factors, including but not limited to: your work location, local labour market conditions, external market salary data, internal pay equity and the knowledge, skills, experience and anticipated proficiency in the role. The salary offered is estimated to be within the following range: $115,000 - $125,000.  Candidates with salary expectations outside of the range are still encouraged to apply. 

 

About Us
At Wawanesa, we offer a hybrid work environment that offers flexibility to our employees in balancing in-office (2 days per week OR 15 hours per week in a Wawanesa office) and remote work. You may work from any of the following locations: Toronto (North York), ON. 
 

The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company (“Wawanesa Mutual”), founded in 1896, is one of Canada’s largest mutual insurers, with over $3.5 billion in annual revenue and assets of $10 billion (CAD). Wawanesa Mutual, with its National Headquarters in Winnipeg, is the parent company of Wawanesa Life, which provides life insurance products and services throughout Canada, and Western Financial Group, which distributes personal and business insurance across Canada. Wawanesa proudly serves more than 1.7 million members in Canada, and we are home to more than 3,300 employees distributed across the Canadian regions and communities where we operate. We give back to organizations that strengthen communities, donating more than $3.5 million annually to charitable organizations, including over $2 million annually in support of people on the front lines of climate change. We are also proud to be recognized as one of Manitoba’s Top Employers. To learn more visit wawanesa.com. 


We are currently looking for dedicated, driven, and enthusiastic individuals who thrive in an environment that welcomes change and are looking for an opportunity for diverse experience and advancement on a growing team.
 

Job Overview

The Senior Communications Business Partner serves as a strategic advisor to senior executives, shaping communication and engagement approaches that support the operating model, enterprise direction and overall culture at Wawanesa. The role translates business priorities into integrated communications planning, enabling leaders to communicate with clarity, consistency and impact. The Senior Communications Business Partner balances deep understanding of one area of the business’ priorities with an enterprise lens, ensuring executive messaging, planning, and sequencing align with organizational narrative and employee insights.

 

Job Responsibilities

  • Build trusted partnerships with executive leaders to understand business strategy, priorities, and operating model impacts, and translate these into clear communications and engagement approaches.
    •    Act as a strategic advisor by diagnosing communications, engagement, and visibility challenges, and providing clear, well reasoned communications recommendations.
  • Enable executive leaders to communicate with clarity, confidence, and consistency by advising on messaging, timing, tone, and audience considerations, particularly in periods of change or transformation.
  • Lead the development and ongoing quality oversight of line of business specific communications plans, ensuring alignment with enterprise priorities, CEO narrative, and the national communications calendar.
  • Incorporate employee feedback, sentiment data, and engagement insights into line of business communication strategies and leader messaging.
  • Manage competing priorities across a complex portfolio by making informed trade offs, sequencing work effectively, and balancing line of business needs with enterprise direction.
  • Support leaders through organizational change by providing communications guidance that strengthens understanding, trust, and adoption.
  • Provide strategic writing, editing, and distribution support for line of business-wide communications, ensuring content is clear, accurate, aligned with enterprise narrative, and delivered through appropriate channels.
  • Support line of business wide events and town halls by advising on structure and flow, and contributing to agenda development, presentation content, and speaking notes to enable effective leader communication.
  • Increase visibility of executives in creative ways.
  • Partner closely with other Senior Communications Business Partners to compare timing and strategic communications approaches, and planning documents provided to executives. 
  • Build capability within the business by coaching leaders on communication practices.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, English, Marketing, Public Relations, or a related discipline, or equivalent experience.
  • Minimum of 10 years’ progressive experience in corporate or employee communications, including senior advisory or business partner style roles supporting senior leaders.
  • Proven ability to build trusted relationships and influence leaders through credibility, sound judgement, and business insight.
  • Demonstrated experience translating business strategy and change into integrated communications approaches.
  • Strong capability to diagnose complex communications and engagement issues and provide practical, enterprise aligned recommendations.
  • Experience partnering across functions and organizational levels.
  • Ability to manage ambiguity, competing priorities, and complex stakeholder environments with confidence.
  • Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, including the use of employee insights and feedback to inform recommendations.
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
  • Executive presence with the ability to operate effectively with senior leaders in high visibility and evolving environments.


Diversity Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

At Wawanesa, we are committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) and believe that our strength lies in the diversity of our people – this is supported by having a representative workforce.

We welcome applications from all qualified candidates, including racialized persons, women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, gender-diverse and neurodiverse individuals, and anyone who can contribute to the further diversification of thought and ideas. 
 

We aim to ensure our recruitment process is accessible to all candidates. If you require accommodations during any stage of the recruitment process, please reach out in confidence to jobs@wawanesa.com.
 

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Please note that the recruitment process for this position may involve the use of AI tools to screen, assess, or select applicants. All final decisions are taken or reviewed by human recruiters and human hiring leaders in compliance with all applicable legislation.