PR & Communications Consultant

About the role

Working closely with our Head of Communications, you will be responsible for the execution of our day-to-day PR & External Communications activity at Cera – running our press office, pitching to national and international media, and managing and defending Cera’s reputation across crisis & issues management.

• Running our National PR programme - managing an exciting pipeline of industry-shaping announcements & delivering ongoing national & broadcast coverage which position Cera as a beacon of excellence in our industry
• Running our Crisis Communications response - we are looking for an experienced player with strong expertise in this area, to maintain a steady hand and defend the reputation of the business
• Supporting with our CEO’s events calendar - identifying high-profile speaking opportunities, & supporting on briefings across events & external relations
• Driving Thought Leadership: developing, ghostwriting & securing high-profile op-ed opportunities aligned with Cera’s key themes & narratives
• Collaborating closely with departments across the business - from Growth & Marketing, to Product, Tech & Data, to People & Operations, to communicate our impact internally & externally
• Uphold media compliance and governance standards - keeping a vigilant eye on industry trends and regulations

Responsibilities

Running our National PR programme - managing an exciting pipeline of industry-shaping announcements & delivering ongoing national & broadcast coverage which position Cera as a beacon of excellence in our industry

Running our Crisis Communications response - we are looking for an experienced player with strong expertise in this area, to maintain a steady hand and defend the reputation of the business

Supporting with our CEO’s events calendar - identifying high-profile speaking opportunities, & supporting on briefings across events & external relations

Driving Thought Leadership: developing, ghostwriting & securing high-profile op-ed opportunities aligned with Cera’s key themes & narratives

Collaborating closely with departments across the business - from Growth & Marketing, to Product, Tech & Data, to People & Operations, to communicate our impact internally & externally

Qualifications and Skills

• Experience at a senior level within a busy communications team, with expertise spanning PR, crisis comms and reputation management, strategic & stakeholder communications, social media and some internal communications
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills and editing skills
• Strong existing network of press contacts and journalist relationships (ideally with national press outlets)
• Exceptional stakeholder skills with proven experience of providing communications counsel to senior stakeholders
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and resourcefulness to establish rapport, credibility and strong working relationships
• Adept at media relations skills - selling in stories to journalists
• Substantial experience in crisis comms and reputation management to adeptly manage the media and defend the company in times of crisis
• Team player, able to collaborate across organisational boundaries, embrace change and make improvements to working practices
• Ability to plan, deliver and evaluate work in order to improve future campaigns and coverage
• Constant eye on all topical news and ability to react quickly to topical news items which may be relevant to our business or its leaders
• Experience in building the professional profiles of executives through press and media (press coverage, broadcast, podcasts, social strategy)
• Experienced in getting broadcast opportunities, ideally with the BBC, Sky News etc, and skilled in preparing outstanding briefings in preparation for media appearances
• Experienced in managing design and creative aspects of a campaign, and executing this to a premium standard
• Strategically minded and creative, able to bring together a story or announcement from a 360 perspective, encompassing social media, internal/external comms and personnel management
• Experience in managing budgets and running projects efficiently