PR & Comms Associate Director

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At EssenceMediacom we want to eradicate inequity. We don't tolerate it and when we see it, we act. We attract, support and develop our talent without bias and strive to foster the empathy, creativity and diversity of thought needed to drive meaningful change for our people, our clients, our industry and our society. WPP and GroupM have already made strong commitments to combat racial injustice. While we are part of this group, we know we have an individual responsibility as an employer and an industry leader to fight against racism. That’s why we have pledged the following seven commitments.

Even if you don’t meet all the requirements, that’s okay, and we encourage you to apply anyway to find out more about whether this is the right match for you.

Did you know that marginalised groups including women, people of colour and people with a disability are more likely to discount themself for a role if they don't feel they meet every requirement or understand the reasonable adjustment that can be made? This is why we encourage connection and conversation to ensure that everyone has the opportunity and information needed to find the right role, for them. If this role isn’t quite right, you may be the perfect fit for another – so go ahead, apply and find out!

Overview of role

EssenceMediacom is the UK’s largest agency with over £2bn of billings across 6 offices (London (2), Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Edinburgh).  Our client list includes some of the UK’s most well-known and well-loved brands such as Tesco, DFS and Boots as well as some of the world’s most prestigious ones like Coke, Mars and Google. 

The Marketing and Business Development team is integral to the growth of our business. As such, it is fast paced, challenging and offers people the chance to experience all facets of EssenceMediacom.

It is our responsibility to market EssenceMediacom to clients, prospects, journalists and the wider industry, whilst also overseeing internal communications to EssenceMediacom London employees. It is our role to promote EssenceMediacom as the thought leader in the media industry through a distinct and/or differentiated point of view. A crucial part of the Marketing team’s remit is landing (both internally and externally) the agency’s messaging, ensuring that EssenceMediacom is positioned as a future-facing agency within the industry.

The PR & Comms Associate Director will play a key role in showcasing EssenceMediacom’s industry expertise and the work we do for our clients.

Reporting of the role

The role will report into the Head of Marketing. 

3 best things about the job

1. The team is lively, hard-working, warm, welcoming and fun.
2. The team is an exciting part of the business where you work with the best people in the agency across a variety of industry-leading projects, with significant exposure to the senior leadership team.
3. Marketing goes hand in hand with Business Development as we grow the business by reinforcing our position as industry leaders. As such this is a multi-faceted and varied role.

Measures of success

• You are able to effectively input and shape content output working with our PR agency to deliver exceptional Thought Leadership that raises EssenceMediacom’s profile
• You are trusted by senior stakeholders to manage the awards process, working collaboratively with the relevant client leads to ensure all deadlines are managed proactively and all material finalised on time 
• You can set in place a comms strategy for the year, keeping wider stakeholders informed and the teams focused and motivated 

In 3 months you will have set a comms strategy that will help position EssenceMediacom and its employees as leaders within the media industry.

Responsibilities of the role

• Oversee the day-to-day execution of the marketing team’s activity around communications, awards, PR & thought leadership
• Oversee EssenceMediacom’s awards effort and ensure the team execute this effectively – including written entries, design, video entries and stakeholder management
• Draft and monitor internal communications, ensuring alignment with global and group comms plans
• Curate and manage a pipeline of profiling opportunities for executives and experts from across the business to elevate the profile of the agency and its talent
• Work closely with the business development team to establish closer integration between the two functions
• Manage PR agency – working collaboratively to identify editorial opportunities and collate necessary internal information for press releases, feature responses and blog posts
• Manage the annual awards budget, working closely with the Head of Marketing to ensure budget is allocated effectively across both people and work ceremonies
• Act as brand guardian by ensuring output of high-quality and inspiring content
• Work with design and production to develop artwork and video content for both internal and external channels

What you will need

The most important attributes we are recruiting this role on are energy, attitude and values.

• Significant experience in a similar role with a strong understanding of the media/marketing industry landscape, including in-depth knowledge of media campaigns
• Energetic and dynamic leadership
• Organised
• Demonstrable project management skills and an innate capacity for organisation
• Robust understanding of current and future integrated marketing concepts, strategy and best practice
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with strong attention to detail
• Excellent copywriting and editing skills
• Proven ability to engage and manage senior stakeholders
• Friendly, approachable manner with a flexible attitude to work, with the ability to build relationships collaboratively across the business at all levels
• Ability to use own initiative whilst working to tight deadlines in a demanding environment
• Experience in Agile methodology and/or willingness to work in an Agile way using Microsoft project management tool Planner

About EssenceMediacom

We are a global communications agency leading with breakthrough thinking, building explosive growth for brands, and helping our clients see the bigger picture. Our daring global network of 10,000 influencers help our clients breach traditional boundaries in media, uncover novel ideas, and unleash exponential growth. EssenceMediacom challenges conventional thinking to build, propel, and supercharge our clients’ businesses at scale and lead our industry in critical areas such as diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability.  

EssenceMediacom understands that our people are tasked with big goals: building breakthrough growth for brands and leading with breakthrough thinking in our industry. Our people are at the heart of this work because their ideas will enable us to decode the intersections of people, content, and technology to bring our aspirations to life. Our success is down to our eclectic, diverse, and talented people. EssenceMediacom is a place for us to grow our careers and expand our horizons. EssenceMediacom is committed to building an agency culture that supports our people, puts diversity at the forefront of our operations, and creates opportunity for all. This collective culture will be our “new power” where ideas are freely exchanged, and collaboration is actively encouraged in a place where you can innovate in our hyperconnected world.  

*Although we cannot make guarantees, we welcome conversations about flexible working for all roles at EssenceMediaCom London*