Head of Communications

BRAND: Publicis Groupe
Job Function: Marketing Communications
Location: London, United Kingdom
Experience Level: Senior Management
Workplace Type: Hybrid

Company description

Publicis Groupe is a global leader in communication, operating in over 100 countries with 114,000 people globally. We help the world's leading brands drive growth by combining creativity, media, data, technology and consulting.

We are designed to help our clients thrive, with the capabilities, the experience and the understanding needed to help our clients unlock growth in a platform world. Through our Power of One approach, we bring together the right expertise from across our agencies to deliver joined up, end to end solutions.

"Viva la Différence" sits at the heart of our culture. We value individuality, encourage different perspectives and believe our differences make us stronger. We are committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone can learn, grow and do the best work of their career.

Overview

About the comms team

In the UK, we are an in-house team of 12 communications practitioners whose job it is to build the reputation of Publicis Groupe's capabilities and agencies in the UK. We have close links with comms teams from other regions and business areas so there is a wider network and a wealth of opportunities to learn within the team. We regularly run specialist training and have access to the whole suite of Publicis Groupe training programmes.

About the role

This is a 12 month maternity cover role, and a great opportunity for someone who wants to join a well-established communications team. You'll be part of a bigger team with direct line management of a senior comms manager and a comms manager.

About the candidate

We're looking for a warm and engaging communications leader who is a self-starter, highly organised and comfortable working into senior stakeholders. We need someone with experience in reputation management, ideally in the advertising or adjacent sectors, who has strong judgement. We need someone who's strategic but not afraid to roll their sleeves up, a natural communicator with influencing skills, ideally with experience of working in-house in complex organisations or working in an agency environment managing several clients. You'll have a good news instinct, able to identifies opportunities and come up with new ideas and not afraid to get on the phone to a journalist and sell-in a story when it's needed.

Your responsibilities will include

• Lead the internal communications programme to cascade messages through clear and relevant internal communications including newsletters.
• Write and edit a range of media materials including press releases, op-eds, factsheets and reactive statements.
• Regularly update UK messaging and Q&As across a range of industry issues.
• Manage issues, providing clear guidance and strategic counsel while keeping stakeholders updated.
• Lead on operations across the UK comms team to maximise effectiveness and efficiency including reporting and evaluation, Campaign school reports, gender pay gap reporting, overseeing media databases, subscriptions and budget planning.
• Overseethe LinkedIn leadership programme.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with senior stakeholders across the business to foster trust and demonstrate the value of communications.
• Build and nurture relationships with top-tier and relevant trade journalists.
• Lead on training and awaydays to foster a high-performance culture.
• Representthe business at external meetings and events.

Personal qualities and skills

• Energy and confidence.
• Natural gravitas, comfortable providing consultancy and counsel.
• Strong people person and people manager and team player.
• Self-starter and proactive, happy working independently and taking the lead.
• Experience working in a fast-paced environment.
• Skilled in project management, advance planning and able to operationalise activity and mobilise teams quickly as needed.
• Conscientious, reliable on deadlines with excellent attention to detail.
• Able to think on your feet, work in an agile manner and adapt to evolving needs.
• Engaging, positive with an infectious enthusiasm, someone that people naturally gravitate to and want to work with.
• Excellent written English.

Additional information

Publicis Groupe offers a wide range of benefits to support our employees. Full details are shared when you join, but highlights include core benefits such as Pension, Life Assurance, and Private Medical cover, alongside enhanced policies like Reflection Days and Shared Parental Leave. You'll also have access to a range of additional initiatives, including:

Please check out the Publicis Career Page which showcases our Inclusive Benefits and our EAG's (Employee Action Groups).

Publicis Groupe works primarily from the office or our clients' office four days per week.

At Publicis Groupe , we are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, and do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion or belief, disability, age, citizenship, relationship status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected characteristic.

We are committed to providing a fair, accessible, and inclusive recruitment process. If you have any access needs - for example, related to disability, neurodivergence, or a health condition - please let us know. We'll work with you to ensure the process works for you. Sharing this information will never impact your application.

Guided by our values, we listen with empathy, uplift each other, take responsibility, and embrace change - building a culture where everyone feels seen, respected, and genuinely included.

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