Communications Specialist

The Team
Morningstar's Global Communications team protects and strengthens the company's reputation, amplifies our mission to empower investor success, and helps employees, leaders, clients, and the media understand the company's priorities with clarity and credibility.

The Role
As Communications Specialist you'll help turn Morningstar's research, business priorities, and company moments into clear, credible communications across internal and external audiences. This is a hands-on communications role for a strong writer who can move quickly, simplify complex topics, and support both planned and fast-moving communications needs.

In this role, you'll draft and adapt content for press releases, internal announcements, social posts, executive materials, media responses, FAQs, and event communications. You'll support the PR team's newsroom response, amplify research insights from Morningstar's Equity, Retirement, and Policy research teams across media and internal audiences, and contribute to communications for M&A, change, and other sensitive company moments. This is a role where your voice shapes how Morningstar's work reaches the world and where your expertise grows with every story you tell.

This role reports to the Director of Public Relations. To be successful in this role, you'll possess excellent writing, sound judgment, strong organization, curiosity about financial services and investing, and the ability to work across internal and external communications without losing clarity or audience focus.

Responsibilities:

Develop multi-channel communications content: Draft press releases, media pitches, employee announcements, intranet posts, social posts, talking points, FAQs, and other communications that make complex topics clear for employees, managers, media, and external stakeholders.

Amplify Morningstar research: Partner with our Equity, Retirement, and Policy Research teams to turn research into media-ready and employee-facing content, helping connect Morningstar's insights to timely conversations and business priorities. Support visibility of analysts and experts across earned, owned, and shared channels.

Support newsroom management: Participate in the shared media inbox rotation with members of the PR team. Triage journalist inquiries, connect reporters to appropriate Morningstar experts and data, draft responses, coordinate approvals, and support pitching and reporter follow-up as needed.

Create internal communications: Draft employee announcements, leader messages, FAQs, manager guidance, and other materials that keep employees informed and aligned during routine and high-sensitivity moments.

Support M&A, change, and sensitive communications: Help develop messaging, timelines, stakeholder materials, and supporting content for acquisitions, organizational changes, restructurings, and other confidential or high-impact topics.

Support events and media moments: Contribute communications support for company events, town halls, media engagements, and key business milestones, including drafting materials and coordinating logistics.

Qualifications:

Required:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

• 2-4 years of experience in communications, public relations, journalism, internal communications, external communications, or a related field.

• Strong writing, editing, and proofreading skills, with the ability to make complex topics clear and accurate.

• Sound judgment, attention to detail, and comfort working with sensitive or confidential information.

• Strong organization and project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple deadlines and stakeholders.

• Interest in media relations, employee communications, financial services, investing, or research-driven storytelling supported by responsible AI.

Preferred:

• Experience drafting press materials, internal announcements, executive messages, FAQs, social content, or media responses as well as filming and editing short-form video.

• Experience working with journalists, media inboxes, monitoring tools, or pitching processes.

• Experience supporting communications for events, business changes, acquisitions, or other high-visibility moments.

• Familiarity with financial services, investing, retirement, policy, research, technology, or similarly complex industries.