Responsibilities

• Develop a regional PR strategy to complement our national output - Coordinate and manage our roster of PR agencies, and feed into strategic discussions about optimising our agency model across the UK
• Work closely with our sector marketing teams to integrate external communications with marketing activity
• Be the first port of call for media enquiries in the firm, developing strong relationships with key journalists and demonstrating excellent judgment and instincts
• Proactively identify media opportunities and develop content ideas for commentary topics and campaigns
• Maintain our media training programme, ensuring our spokespeople are appropriately trained and briefed ahead of interactions with the media
• Oversee and contribute to producing entries for strategically important awards and surveys
• Review and add value to a range of external communications materials: press releases, articles, social media posts, etc.
• Create a profile as a credible and capable counsel to the firm's leadership on external communications and engagement
• Deputise for the Communications Director where required including in critical areas such as crisis response and reactive communications
• Support on key corporate reports including Financial Statements, Transparency Report and Sustainability report

Requirements

• Experience in a busy press office (either in-house or agency) is essential, and understanding of the structure of professional services firms is an advantage
• Proactive, motivated and enthusiastic: contributes energy and a positive attitude
• Ability to manage ambiguity and set clear expectations around deliverables and timescales
• Accountable, visible and willing to take personal responsibility
• You will naturally take the initiative and see tasks through to completion
• Confident and positive attitude, with a proven ability to work effectively with a wide range of stakeholders and personalities
• Proactive, self-motivated team player used to working under pressure from multiple internal clients with proven ability to prioritise workload and manage time to meet commitments
• Calm, diplomatic and persuasive manner – ability to listen and ask questions, and challenge where necessary
• Demonstrate understanding of external communications processes and best practice – and exhibit the confidence to draw upon previous experience and share this knowledge across the team and business
• Excellent drafting and copy-editing skills are essential, with total attention to detail