DEI & Belonging Partner – Cultural Experience & Employee Impact

Job Description

Who We Are

Horizon Media, founded in 1989 by Bill Koenigsberg, is recognized as one of the most innovative marketing and advertising firms. We are headquartered in New York City, with offices in Los Angeles and Toronto. A leader in driving business solutions for marketers, Horizon is known for its highly personal approach to client service.  Renowned for its incredible culture, Horizon is consistently named to all the prestigious annual Best Places to Work lists published by Fortune, AdAge, Crain’s New York Business and Los Angeles Business Journal. Together we are building an agency of belonging.
At Horizon, we understand the value that different perspectives can bring to our clients and culture, so we strive for an environment where our employees feel welcomed, safe, and empowered. We value YOU and believe that your authentic voice and unique perspective allows us to create a more rewarding culture, and experience, together.

Our simple recipe for success? We hire talented people (thinkers, doers, dreamers, makers), challenge them and give them every opportunity to grow.

Job Summary
 

As a DEI & Belonging Partner for Cultural Experience & Employee Impact, you will play a critical role in bringing Horizon’s “Agency of Belonging” vision to life. Reporting to and working in close collaboration with the Director of DEI & Belonging, Cultural Experience & Employee Impact, you will focus on internal employee community engagement, cultural experiences, employee impact group management, and cross-office belonging initiatives across our New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto offices.

In this role, you will autonomously manage assigned Employee Impact Groups (EIGs) and drive independent cultural programs, heritage months, holidays, and celebrations from concept to completion. You will establish strong collaborative partnerships with internal departments, including Events, Facilities, and Communications, as well as external sponsors, vendors, and community partners. You will also partner closely with DEI team leadership to support and ensure employee connection into critical agency-wide programs that support our employees’ diverse needs and foster a culture of belonging and innovation.

What You’ll Do

Project & Event Management (40%):

• Cultural Program Ownership: Own the end-to-end planning, execution, and logistical management of independent Heritage Month celebrations, cultural programs, holidays, and agency-wide celebrations. Partnering with the Director of Cultural Experience & Employee Impact to ensure cultural programs align with and amplify Horizon’s DEI & Belonging strategic goals.
• Internal Coordination: Liaison directly with key internal departments (including Events, Facilities, and Communications teams) to ensure successful execution and high visibility of internal cultural and employee engagement programming.
• Communications: Autonomously write and manage all communications for cultural events across internal channels (e.g., Bluedot, Microsoft Teams, company-wide emails). Partner with Director of Cultural Experience & Employee Impact to plan the amplification of internal efforts on external communications channels; helping identify key initiatives that warrant external visibility and subsequently, lead development of content for external channels, once aligned.
• External Partnerships: Manage relationships and logistics with external partners, vendors, and sponsors involved in cultural events.
• Cross-Office Management: Coordinate and execute cultural programming and engagement initiatives across our New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto offices; adjusting for local nuance, as needed, while ensuring activations align with broader DEI & Belonging strategic standards, creating a unified agency experience.
• Budgeting & Tracking: Track spending, manage expenses, and maintain organized records for all assigned events and partnerships.

Employee Impact Group (EIG) Management (35%):

• EIG Community Ownership: Serve as the primary, fully responsible point of contact and business partner for assigned Employee Impact Groups (EIGs).
• EIG Core Team Support: Partner directly with EIG leaders to develop, plan, and execute their associated heritage month programming, community engagement initiatives, and operational budgets.
• Goal Realization: Guide and mentor EIG leaders to bring their distinct strategic visions, goals, and outcomes for their communities to life. Serve as the strategic liaison between core teams and DEI team leadership to ensure goals and associated strategies and tactics are aligned with broader agency initiatives.
• Community Trust & Relationship Advocacy: Build authentic and meaningful relationships with assigned communities, acting as an empathetic liaison and champion of employee feedback, ensuring a deep sense of psychological safety and advocacy for our EIG members. Attend individual core meetings at least once per quarter
• Brand & Alignment: Ensure consistency across assigned groups in relation to agency-wide messaging, branding, and the overarching DEI & Belonging strategy, proactively raising critical needs and insights to team leadership.
• Strategic Engagement: Identify opportunities for EIG member engagement, reward and incentives (i.e.: learning & development, conferences, programming, etc.), and resources needed to achieve their goals. Socialize identified opportunities with the Director of Cultural Experience & Employee Impact for alignment across broader DEI leadership.

Engagement of Strategy Projects & Initiatives (15%):

• Collaborative Engagement: Work closely with DEI team Directors to ensure strategic agency-wide programs and practices are developed with your community needs in mind and amplified within your assigned communities for maximum adoption. Examples include (but are not limited to) agency wide Sponsorship, Mentorship & Networking programs, DEI & Belonging learning experiences, process evolutions (i.e.: partner engagement, internal mobility, etc.), and more.
• Strategy Ideation: Contribute to the broader strategic planning of the Cultural Experience & Employee Impact vertical, in partnership with DEI & Belonging team leadership.
• Metrics & Auditing: Track program engagement, survey results, and participation data; partnering with the DEI & Belonging Director to translate these data points into insights that inform strategic enhancements and program improvements.

DEIB Benchmarking & Continuous Learning (10%):

• Industry & DEIB Expertise: Keep abreast of evolving DEIB and advertising/media industry best practices, particularly regarding cultural programming, mentorship, intersectionality, and employee engagement.
• Research & Application: Monitor external diversity and inclusion trends, research, and benchmarking data, making proactive recommendations to DEI & Belonging teammates to continually elevate Horizon's workplace culture.
• Team Participation: Actively participate in DEI & Belonging and HR team meetings, sharing program learnings, discussing challenges, and iterating internal execution processes.

Who You Are
 

You are self-motivated, deeply passionate about DEI & Belonging, and possess exceptional written and verbal communication, project management, and organizational skills. You are highly comfortable educating, advising, and collaborating with employees at all levels, departmental leaders, and external partners. You navigate ambiguity with grace, thinking steps ahead and resolving operational issues proactively. You are highly creative, process-focused, resourceful, and have a strong ability to translate community visions into tangible, impactful programming.
Crucially, you possess a high degree of business maturity at your career stage, with the ability to navigate complex organizational dynamics, nuance, and sensitive employee conversations with exceptional emotional intelligence, empathy, and sound judgment.

Preferred Skills & Experience

3-4 years of DEIB, Human Resources, event coordination, and/or program management experience Demonstrated ability to quickly establish rapport, build credibility, and maintain highly collaborative partnerships within the company as well as with external stakeholders Proven track record of planning and executing medium-to-large scale events, including budget tracking, logistics coordination, and cross-functional team alignment Outstanding written and verbal communication skills; strong copywriting ability for internal corporate channels and platforms Strong attention to detail, collaboration and interpersonal skills, and a commitment to meeting deadlines Excellent organization skills and proven ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment Ability to track and report on critical program metrics Strong organization skills, including setting priorities, planning, structuring project deliverables and problem solving Demonstrated sound judgment, emotional intelligence, and the ability to make effective, timely decisions; ability to perform with a sense of urgency while remaining forward-thinking and creative Experience supporting or administering mentorship programs or corporate learning initiatives is not required, but is preferred

Certificates, Licenses and Registrations
N/A

Physical Activity and Work Environment

N/A

The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees and are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified. Furthermore, they do not establish a contract for employment and are subject to change at the discretion of the employer.

#LI-JC2

#LI-HYBRID

Horizon Media is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.  We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.

Salary Range

A successful applicant’s actual base salary may vary based on factors such as individual’s skill sets, experience, training, education,  licensure/certifications, and qualifications for the role.  As an organization, we take an aptitude and competency-based hiring approach.  We provide a competitive total rewards package including a discretionary bonus and a variety of benefits including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, retirement savings plans, company paid holidays and unlimited paid time off (PTO), mental health and wellness resources, pet insurance, childcare resources, identity theft insurance, fertility assistance programs, and fitness reimbursement.