Corporate Communications Manager

What you’ll be responsible for:

Reporting to the Head of Corporate and Media Relations, the Corporate Communications Manager is responsible for planning and delivering clear, credible and impactful communications that protect and enhance the reputation of Welsh Water. The role ensures that external communications are timely, accurate and aligned with the organisation’s strategic priorities, regulatory environment and purpose as a not-for-profit company serving customers and communities across Wales and Herefordshire. Working closely with senior leaders, operational teams and subject matter experts across the business, the Corporate Communications Manager helps shape the organisation’s external communications strategy. The role leads the development and delivery of proactive and reactive communications, including media relations, stakeholder messaging and reputation management, ensuring complex issues are communicated clearly and responsibly. The role also involves managing 1 FTE to triage complex correspondence to ensure that any reputational issues are dealt with swiftly on behalf of senior leaders.

Key responsibilities of the role:

• Lead the planning and support the delivery (with the Head of Corporate and Media Relations) of corporate communications strategies that support Welsh Water’s vision, strategy and long-term plans.
• Provide expert advice to senior leaders on corporate communications, reputation management and stakeholder engagement.
• Develop clear, compelling narratives that explain complex issues such as performance, investment, regulation and environmental impact.
• Oversee the development of corporate messaging, ensuring consistency across internal and external channels.
• Create digital content – plan, film and edit multimedia content to create video and copy for use on all communications platforms.
• Work closely with media, public affairs, digital and internal communications colleagues to deliver integrated campaigns and responses.
• Lead corporate content including key publications, briefings, reports and statements, ensuring accuracy, clarity and tone.
• Build strong relationships across the company to ensure communications are joined-up, timely and effective, working with other teams such as Company Secretary on collateral for Glas Cymru Members.
• Overseeing line management for managing complex correspondence from key stakeholders.

About you:

The following are essential requirements for the recruitment of the role:

• Degree or equivalent professional qualification in community engagement, communications, social impact, marketing, public engagement or a related discipline.
• Experience of working in a communications environment in a customer focused organisation/industry.
• Professional accreditation or membership of a relevant body (e.g. CIPR, CIM, IAP2) desirable.

• Experience working in a corporate communications role within a large, complex or regulated organisation.
• Experience of developing and delivering communications strategies and plans.
• Strong experience of writing and editing high-quality content for senior audiences.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to explain complex issues clearly and succinctly.
• Strong understanding of reputation management and stakeholder communications.
• Ability to build credibility quickly and work effectively across organisational boundaries.
• Sound judgement and resilience when working under pressure.
• Strong planning and organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Experience of evaluating communications activity and using insight to improve performance.
• A collaborative, proactive and solutions-focused approach.
• Understanding of the political, regulatory and media landscape in Wales.
• Awareness of Welsh language requirements and bilingual communications in Wales.

Good to know:

• Participate in the on-call rota.

Benefits:

As well as a market competitive salary, 34 days annual leave (pro rata, including public holidays), we offer a range of employee benefits and rewards including:

• Variable pay schemes (your salary will always stay the same, but depending on the performance of the company you could receive a yearly bonus).
• Enhanced employer pension contributions – Up to 11% employer contributions.
• Enhanced family friendly policies.
• Progression opportunities, including the ability to apply for funded training and coaching and mentoring programmes.
• Reduction on gym memberships and high street shopping.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Car-leasing scheme.
• Health CashBack scheme.
• An employee assistance programme for employees and their immediate family.

Who we are:

Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water keep 3 million people healthy each day with safe, reliable water, and take away wastewater to clean, before returning it safely to our beautiful rivers and seas. To be able to deliver high quality, essential services which help to protect the health of our customers, colleagues and our environment, we need the right people to deliver on our vision. This is achieved by living our core values and demonstrating the core behaviours that underpin them. The security of our people, assets and information is key to us, so we are looking for people who understand and comply with the company’s required security objectives. We know that the most successful teams are the most diverse teams. Equality, diversity and inclusion provide the very foundation to our culture at Welsh Water. We want every individual to feel confident, proud and able to bring their whole selves to work. To ensure an improved representation in our workforce, applications are particularly welcome from minority groups including Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people, Females, LGBT+, Non-binary and people with disabilities. Together we continue to build a workplace that not only celebrates the diverse voices of our colleagues but also represents each customer we serve. In essence, ours is a company based on trust, openness, respect, commitment and honesty. A company that our colleagues are proud to work for.