Communication Director

About the Role

Define and deploy DataOne's communications strategy in the United States, in line with the Group's brand platform and governance, around three objectives:

• Industry awareness and credibility: Establish DataOne as a recognized sustainable AI infrastructure player among specialist media, clients, and the wider ecosystem.
• Local acceptance: Build and maintain trusted relationships with stakeholders in Vineland and Cumberland County, and secure a stable environment around the project.
• Employer attractiveness: Support the recruitment and onboarding of US teams in a tight talent market.

Responsibilities

• External Communications and Media Relations
  • Build and manage the US media database: data center and cloud specialist media, national business press, energy and construction press, and regional press in southern New Jersey.
  • Produce corporate content: press releases, press kits, talking points, project fact sheets, client messaging, web and LinkedIn content.
  • Prepare and support spokespersons (US General Management, Technical Management) before every public appearance, with briefs, difficult questions, and red lines.
  • Lead DataOne's presence at industry trade shows and conferences, and secure speaking opportunities on panels.
• Local Acceptance and Community Relations
  • Map local stakeholders and keep the stakeholder map up to date: City of Vineland, City Council, planning departments, Vineland Municipal Electric Utility (VMEU), Cumberland County, Chamber of Commerce, residents' associations, environmental organizations, and educational institutions.
  • Design the local engagement program: public meetings, open-house days, construction-site information points, and a mechanism for responding to residents' questions.
  • Prepare DataOne's interventions at public meetings and council sessions, with materials, talking points, and anticipation of objections.
  • Translate technical topics (electrical connection, cooling, noise, water, and construction traffic) into understandable, verifiable, and non-promotional messages.
  • Monitor the local environment: press review, social media, and community groups, and alert management to early warning signals.
• Institutional Communications and Public Affairs
  • Support relationships with state and county institutional stakeholders, in coordination with US General Management and Legal.
  • Prepare institutional materials: project presentation materials, economic impact briefs, and contributions to public consultations.
  • Ensure consistency between public messaging, commitments made during permitting procedures, and the project's actual data.
• Sensitive and Crisis Communications
  • Develop and maintain the US crisis communications framework: scenarios, decision trees, crisis team, designated spokesperson, and pre-approved talking points.
  • Cover scenarios including: construction-site incident or workplace accident, operational incident or service outage, organized local opposition, environmental controversy, social issue, cybersecurity incident, and unfavorable press article.
  • Provide communications on-call coverage in the event of an incident, in coordination with headquarters and Legal.
  • Conduct a post-incident review after each event and update the framework.
• Employer Brand and Recruitment Support
  • Adapt the Group employer brand for the US market and provide content for recruitment channels.
  • Design local awareness campaigns to support recruitment of technical and operations profiles.
  • Work with the recruitment team and US HR on employment events, partnerships with local educational institutions, and employee content.
• Internal Communications and Brand Governance
  • Relay and adapt Group internal communications for US teams, taking construction-site and operations populations into account.
  • Ensure compliance with the Group visual identity guidelines and logobook across all materials produced in the United States, including those of providers and partners.
  • Select and manage local agencies and providers: media relations, creative, audiovisual production, and site signage.
  • Track the US communications budget and report results according to the KPIs defined with headquarters.

Requirements

• Education and Experience
  • Higher education in communications, journalism, political science, public affairs, or equivalent.
  • Seven to ten years of experience in corporate communications, media relations, or public affairs, including at least three years in a heavy infrastructure sector: data centers, energy, industry, logistics, real estate, construction, or utilities.
  • Demonstrated experience communicating projects to US local communities and elected officials, ideally in a permitting or opposition context.
  • Experience in crisis communications in an industrial or construction-site environment.
  • Experience working with a non-US headquarters and teams across multiple time zones is a plus.
• Skills
  • Excellent written English, native or equivalent level. Ability to write quickly, clearly, and without jargon.
  • French is a plus: headquarters and part of the teams work in French. This is not a disqualifying criterion.
  • Strong public-speaking skills and ability to command a room in a public meeting.
  • Ability to quickly understand technical subjects and explain them to non-technical audiences.
  • Proficiency with content-production and media-monitoring tools, agency management, and budget management.
• Expected Qualities
  • Autonomy: this is the first communications role in the United States and requires building before managing.
  • Factual rigor: no public statement should go beyond what the project can substantiate.
  • Composure and availability in sensitive situations.
  • Team spirit and respect for Group approval processes.