Job Description

Who is Weber Shandwick? 

At The Weber Shandwick Collective, you are welcomed, valued and empowered to grow and we believe that opportunity grows in a collective

We create cultural value and help brands navigate the ever-changing age of earned: an age where consumers actively say no to advertising; an age where everyone is an influencer that can make or break your brand; an age where content can be turned into commercial opportunity. Our talented team builds brands by finding connection points in the real world. We energise the right mix of talent, using the right platforms and latest technology to choreograph stories that make a real and meaningful impact for some of the world’s leading brands and businesses.

We earn affection, attention, affinity and purchase by delivering value to people around the world, with deep specialisms across food & drink, travel & tourism, consumer tech, consumer health, social impact, automotive, sports sponsorship, entertainment & lifestyle and energy. We are known for:

• Developing data driven insights and strategies to drive measurable impact
• Creating impactful campaigns that tap into culture
• Creating channel and platform agnostic campaigns that grow organically
• Delivering integrated campaigns that are earned-first but deliver for paid and owned

What’s happening?

Weber Shandwick is looking for a talented Senior Manager to join the Social Impact team on a 12 month FTC Maternity Cover in our London office.

Our specialist Social Impact division is dedicated to supporting organisations at the forefront of positive global change. Our clients include foundations, NGOs, and purpose-driven companies. We work across global health, development, humanitarian and environmental issues. Within these themes, our team holds deep expertise in food security, malnutrition, climate adaptation, gender, ocean conservation, education, infectious and non-communicable diseases, women’s health, development finance, agriculture and humanitarian response.

We partner with our clients to deliver integrated communications strategies that shift perceptions and policies on key issues. This includes designing creative campaigns to engage wider audiences, as well as media relations and social media support, taking our clients’ messages and stories onto the channels that influence their target audiences.

We’re a tight-knit team – expert, high-performing and dynamic. We collaborate closely with a global network of Social Impact colleagues across Weber Shandwick, channelling our collective passion and knowledge. We show up with energy, purpose and a shared belief that smart communications can drive change at a global scale.

The role

The opportunity involves working on a portfolio of impactful global organisations, executing integrated campaigns involving strategy, earned media, creative, social and digital. The candidate will lead the day-to-day running of projects, provide counsel, support in the development of campaign and media strategies, manage budgets, and contribute to the strong execution of activities.

As a Senior Manager in the team you would follow the Africa health agenda, who is shaping conversations at COP climate talks, and keep up with how BBC Africa, Devex and Al Jazeera frame global stories. The role involves understanding the agenda-setters; recognising the kinds of people who shape global conversations whether that’s key journalists covering African countries and global health, leaders in major foundations (like Gates Foundation or Wellcome), UN and Africa CDC voices, influential researchers, frontline advocates, or the communicators driving narratives on climate, gender, health and human rights.

The successful candidate will demonstrate the following key skills and attributes:

CLIENT AND WORK

• Develop and draft media strategies, press releases, reactive media statements, talking points, FAQs, memos, crisis plans, and other deliverables as needed
• Oversee and execute proactive media outreach and reactive media relations strategies as needed
• Drive development of tactical plans, translating strategies into tactics, ensuring deliverables align with strategies
• Lead/manage multiple integrated work streams and partner with clients to deliver on time/on budget work plans with minimal supervision on complex global Social Impact issues
  • Serve as the day-to-day client contact flagging, triaging and managing client issues as they arise
  • Oversee project management, maintaining overall account tracker and other trackers as needed
• Proactively support and suggest ideas and improvements to exceed client expectations by leveraging sector knowledge/experience

SELF LEADERSHIP AND TALENT MANAGEMENT

• Demonstrate creative problem solving and teamwork
• Build and lead productive relationships internally, with interagency teams, and a diverse array of agency colleagues

GROWTH AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

• Participate in brainstorms and planning
• Support new business pitch content creation and organic business growth efforts
• Hone presentation skills, participating in pitches when possible

BUSINESS ACUMEN

• Develop budgets, support analysis of budget and time entry, and account invoicing
• Assist in financial management for clients, including development of invoices and activity reports to maintain profitability of engagements

Minimum Criteria:

To be considered for this role, you must have experience delivering integrated communications strategies across topics such as global health, development, humanitarian and / or environmental issues.

Ideal Experience Required:

We are hoping to meet an experienced communications practitioner who is insatiably curious, analytical, proactive and open-minded. You’ll be immersed in international issues, a voracious consumer of relevant media, and interested in deploying communications in the service of lasting change. You’ll be a strong writer and media relations operator with creative flair to bring stories to life.

• Ideally you will possess many of the above skills and attributes
• A deep interest in international issues, whether global health, development, climate, environment or human rights
• Fluency in media relations with an instinctive understanding of what makes a good story and how to shape stories from our clients’ activities
• Strong awareness of media in top tier and specialist UK/global/African media (FT, Economist Guardian, BBC World Service etc.) and an understanding of how journalists operate
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, particularly the ability to digest complex information and turn it into crisp, compelling written copy
• Mastery in copywriting a range of external and media materials including press releases, key message documents, pitches, social media content, etc.
• Experience of working in a fast-paced environment, juggling multiple projects and deadlines, adapting approaches when the needs of clients change
• Experience working with multiple disciplines and specialists to deliver integrated campaigns
• Strong presentation skills and a desire to be involved in new business pitching
• A proactive approach to identifying opportunities for the client, practice and team
• Attentive to detail and delivery of high-quality work
• Fluency in Microsoft programmes and digital/social media platforms, tools and solutions
• Positive, problem-solving attitude
• Ambitious with an entrepreneurial streak

Maybe you’ve worked in community organising, campaigning or journalism rather than PR or agency. If you bring sharp strategic thinking, curiosity and real-world insight, we want to hear from you especially if you deeply understand media & storytelling, have a strong interest in global social justice and are excited by this role.

Join us and help make an impact.

Together, we'll set the bar, cheer each other on and multiply your potential.

Note from the Talent Team:

At Weber Shandwick we are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.

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