Change and Communications Manager

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Job Description

Your team: News UK has embarked on a transformation programme focused on delivering fit for the future systems, processes and reporting that is supported by greater automation and efficiency of key processes, and greater standardisation and centralisation across all Finance functions - all underpinned by higher quality data, analytics and reporting. It will also provide a more simple and aligned technology landscape with a more comprehensive, robust, and timely data integration capability.

We have mobilised a large programme team to deliver this ambitious change, partnering with Deloitte as our system implementation partner, spanning process, functional, data, testing, technology, training and change workstream areas. Our team is based in both Peterborough and London Bridge. We also have a large network of business stakeholders who will work closely with us to ensure the business requirements are met.

Your role:As Change Management and Communications Manager, your role will be to support the programme's change management and communications agenda, embedding this transformational change into News UK, and critically taking News UK colleagues on this important journey.

This role is within the News UK Finance team. It is a hybrid working model however there will need to be travel to both the London Head Office and our Peterborough Office.

Day to day you will:

• Supporting the Change Lead to build the Finance Transformation Programme Change Management and Communications function, including: Change impact assessments, Change impact action plan, Stakeholder / Audience analysis, Business readiness to support the Go/No Go decision from a people readiness perspective, Communication and stakeholder engagement, and Change network, to successfully deliver the change.
• Developing and managing the overarching Communications Strategy, Approach, and Plan to ensure the correct messaging and communications are made to the business and other stakeholders at the right time.
• Developing the communications messages for the overall programme and individual deployments aimed at both internal and external audiences.
• Responsible for managing and developing the key communication channels utilised by the programme and measuring the impactfulness of communications, then tailoring approaches appropriately.
• Support with building and fostering a wide change network within the News UK business, creating a self-supporting network to educate and inform users of the new systems and processes.
• Providing the necessary advice, education, and coaching to the business and other stakeholders regarding the proper implementation of a Change Management and Communications methodology.
• Work closely with key programme colleagues such as the Finance Transformation Programme Manager, and Business and Technical Leads, to understand any further requirements of the function.
• Work hand-in-glove with the System Implementation (SI) Partner,to ensure that they are fully supported to successfully deliver the change.
• Support the PMO and programme leadership to develop governance materials such as weekly reporting and SteerCo reporting.
• Coordinate with other projects and programmes and internal communications in News UK that may have an impact on the programme and manage those impacts from a change perspective.

All colleagues will have to work together as a team, supported by leadership, to deliver this programme. This also means there may be times when everyone has to support other workstreams at peak load times.

What we're looking for from you:

We're looking for a Change and Communications Manager who is eager to learn and develop their experience in a large scale and complex programme, including:

• Prior experience of supporting similar change and communications functions or teams in complex transformation programmes in a change or communications role
• Experience working with content publishing systems and email marketing system is desirable
• Knowledge of change communication theory and internal and external strategies and best practice
• Proven experience in creating and delivering change project communications to both internal and external audiences
• Comfortable managing or leading a team of change communication analysts in a complex change programme.
• Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders and the programme team
• A proactivity to be curious; pre-empt issues, challenge, ask the right questions and propose solutions and 'lean into' challenging situations
• Be able to cut through complexity and get to the 'so what?', enabling effective communication to senior leadership and all levels of the business by providing clear, polished, and concise outputs
• Calmness under pressure and an expert ability in problem solving under ambiguity
• Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously with effective time management and prioritisation
• Be a great team player and be happy to get stuck-in to support others - the Finance Transformation Programme is a very supportive and collaborative team - we would like anyone who joins us to build on this culture

We are News UK: One of the leading media businesses in the UK and Ireland, our newsbrands include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun, The Sun on Sunday and The TLS. Our national broadcast brands include talkSPORT, Times Radio, talkRADIO and Virgin Radio UK, and we have market-leading local radio stations across Ireland.

In 2022 we launched TalkTV, a major new TV channel available to everyone across the UK, delivering a schedule of news, current affairs, entertainment and sport, with Piers Morgan in a primetime evening show. Our world-famous brands provide news, analysis, opinion and entertainment to almost 40 million people each month. Spanning digital and print, audio and video, events and experiences, our brands are home to a plurality of opinion, representing the diverse communities we serve. News UK is wholly owned by News Corp.

Life at News: At News UK our people are our heartbeat - they are the driving force behind our brands and we want to enable people to thrive. Some of us work flexibly, in many different ways. We encourage you to talk to us about the flexibility you would like. Many of us work in a hybrid way between one of the News UK & Ireland offices and remotely.

We champion diversity and inclusion, we strive to maximise and encourage every individual's potential and ensure everyone feels valued. We support this through our Diversity Board, D&I strategy & training, creating more diverse content and our intern and apprenticeship programmes. We also have 11 employee-led networks.

We take pride in looking after our amazing talent at News UK supporting the Health and Wellbeing of our staff. Some of what we offer includes:

• A generous pension scheme with employer contributions of up to 5%;
• 25 days holiday and up to 4 volunteering days per year;
• Maternity leave up to 18 weeks full basic salary & paternity leave up to 2 weeks;
• Wide range of training available, plus full LinkedIn Learning access.
• Private medical insurance covering pre-existing conditions
• Discounted gym memberships, ClassPass at Home, weekly virtual HIIT, yoga and run club classes
• 'Bikes for Work' scheme
• Access to wellbeing benefits such as physio/massage and counselling

We want to ensure that everyone we meet has the opportunity to perform to their best when interviewing. Please let us know, at any stage, whether you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, and we will do our best to accommodate.

News UK is an official partner of the Journalism Diversity Fund, founder of the Journalism and Disability Forum, and proud member of the Valuable 500. At News UK, we will continue to promote an inclusive and diverse workplace, to help people with visible and non visible disabilities create careers in media and aim to make our content accessible to all.