External Communications Executive
About the company
Dot is home to a set of businesses united by a bold ambition: to redefine student living and support over one million students each year. Spanning 180+ cities in 30 countries, our companies include Global Student Accommodation (GSA), Yugo and Student.com. Together, we bring global scale and local insight, powered by more than 2000 passionate people. We believe progress happens when people come together with purpose. We're committed to building long term value through everything we do. With three decades of continuous evolution, Dot's strength lies in how we work. We are pioneering, purposeful and positive, driving smart, sustainable growth across our portfolio. We connect expertise with opportunity to turn ideas into impact and momentum into lasting change.
At Dot, we live and work by our values every day:
- Pioneering: With three decades of groundbreaking achievements and a passion for international expansion, our distinctive proposition remains stronger than ever
- Purposeful: Every action we take is intentional, designed to align with our values and create lasting benefits for our people, communities, and the planet
- Positive: We tackle challenges with resilience and seek to create a supportive and empowering environment for our teams and communities
About the role
You will deliver the Group's external communications day to day across Dot and its portfolio companies - from drafting press materials and managing website updates to creating social content, gathering insights and supporting events. It is a hands-on role with broad exposure, suited to a strong writer with ambitions to develop experience across all elements of communications.
Responsibilities
- PR and media relations
- Draft press releases, media pitches, statements, Q&As and briefing notes
- Build relationships with journalists across corporate, property, higher-education, investment and consumer titles
- Handle routine media enquiries and coordinate interviews and spokesperson requests
- Prepare spokesperson briefing packs, researching journalists, outlets and topics
- Insight and listening
- Monitor media coverage, social conversation and trends for the Group on key issues, including on platforms where students are active
- Track policy and sector news to help shape our communications plans
- Website and GEO
- Keep the corporate website(s) up to date, accurate and on brand using the CMS
- Publish news, case studies and campaign content, applying SEO, GEO and accessibility best practice
- Track how Dot and its brands appear in AI-powered search and answer tools, and flag inaccuracies
- Social media and content
- Plan and manage the social media calendar across channels
- Write, edit and publish content including articles, blogs, newsletters and posts
- Create and edit short-form video and visual content, and brief designers or videographers where needed
- Use generative AI tools responsibly to work efficiently, in line with Group policy
- Events
- Coordinate logistics and communications for conferences, awards entries and owned events
- Prepare speaker materials and capture content for use across channels
- Risk awareness
- Follow approval processes and brand guidelines for all external content
- Spot and escalate emerging reputational risks quickly, in the media or on social platforms
- Support issues and crisis responses, including monitoring, logging and drafting holding statements, and join the out-of-hours rota when required
- Reporting
- Compile regular reports on coverage, website and social performance, highlighting what's working and what to change
- Maintain media, content, events and stakeholder trackers
Qualifications
Essential
- Up to 5 years in communications, PR, marketing or journalism (ambitious graduates with relevant internships welcome)
- Excellent writing skills, with strong attention to detail and accuracy
- Confident using social media professionally and creating engaging content
- Comfortable working with data and explaining what it shows
- Willingness to work flexibly, including out-of-hours support when issues arise