Brand Manager

Strategy and Communications sits at the centre of the organisation, bringing together several teams with organisation-wide remits and mutual collaboration opportunities. The work of the directorate’s teams includes delivery of major events, designing and leading public affairs or marketing campaigns, providing data, evidence and analysis, leading cross-organisational programmes, to making sure we plan for and can respond to emerging events or emergencies in our city.

About The Team

The StratComms team sits within the External Relations unit. Our role is to help the Greater London Authority communicate more cohesively, more coherently, and with greater impact. We ensure that the organisation reaches the right audiences with priority messaging.

About The Role

The Brand Manager will be responsible for strategic management of the Mayor of London and Greater London Authority (GLA) brands. They will ensure that use of the brands is coherent and consistent, helping build a trusted and impactful communications portfolio. The Brand Manager will deliver a clear branding strategy aligned to Mayoral priorities, oversee governance across the GLA Group, and ensure visual brand integrity in a high-profile political and public service environment. As the senior brand guardian, the Brand Manager will advise the Marketing and Creative teams, Mayor’s Office, London Assembly and policy teams on brand visibility, and be responsible not only for the correct application of the brand architecture but for spotting further opportunities for visibility.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of the Mayor of London and GLA visual branding strategy, ensuring alignment with Mayoral priorities, statutory responsibilities, and organisational objectives.
• Drive clarity and consistency across the GLA’s communications materials (including marketing, design, policy and other comms teams), ensuring the elements of the brand are used in a clear and consistent way.
• Review and enforce how the brand is applied across all internal and external materials, ensuring that all communications are accurate, consistent and aligned with the brand architecture.
• Manage brand and design agencies to produce high quality strategic and creative outputs.
• Ensure brand assets are compliant with accessibility standards, intellectual property rights, equality duties and public sector communications requirements.
• Work closely with partners (internal, external and across the GLA Group) to identify and take advantage of more audience touchpoints.
• Deliver the brand and logo architecture across the GLA Group, driving clarity and consistency while recognising the distinct roles of functional bodies.
• Monitor and enforce brand application across all external and internal communication materials, ensuring accuracy, visual consistency and alignment with agreed brand architecture and attribution requirements.
• Establish and oversee robust brand governance frameworks ensuring compliance with accessibility standards, equality duties and public sector communications requirements.
• Act as the senior brand guardian, advising the Marketing and Creative teams, Mayoral Head of Marketing & Brand, Mayoral Head of Digital, and policy teams on brand visibility, reputational risk and audience engagement.
• Identify and support the delivery of partnership opportunities related to the Mayor of London and GLA brands, where those opportunities help deliver the Mayor’s strategic priorities.
• Build strong working relationships across External Relations, the Mayor’s Office, Deputy Mayors’ offices, policy units, functional bodies and delivery partners to ensure brand coherence in high-profile announcements, projects and initiatives.
• Work closely with colleagues to manage the development, implementation and continuous improvement of comprehensive brand guidelines and toolkits, ensuring adoption across City Hall and partner organisations.
• Work closely with policy teams and the Mayoral Policy & Delivery Unit to identify wider GLA opportunities to deliver a cohesive branding experience across all audience touch points.
• Support the monitoring and evaluation of brand performance, attribution and audience perception, using insight and data to inform strategic decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Commission and manage creative, design and media agencies in relation to visual brand identity development and delivery, ensuring value for money and high-quality delivery.
• Oversee brand asset management, intellectual property and trademark protection in collaboration with legal and governance colleagues.
• Champion inclusive and representative communications, ensuring the Mayor of London and GLA brands reflect London’s diversity and promote trust and accessibility.

Qualifications (Essential Criteria)

• Significant experience of delivering branding strategy within a large, complex, and high-profile organisation, ideally with experience managing a re-brand or roll-out of a new brand.
• Proven project management capability, with experience planning and delivering complex, multi-workstream branding initiatives—ensuring strong organisation, clear milestones and effective cross-team coordination.
• Demonstrable experience of setting brand architecture and governance frameworks across multi-stakeholder environments.
• Strong understanding of political context and the ability to manage reputational risk within a public sector setting.
• Experience of advising senior leaders and influencing decision-making at executive level.
• Proven track record of leading integrated communications across PR, digital, marketing and stakeholder engagement.
• Experience commissioning and managing agencies, with a focus on quality, performance and value for money.
• Strong analytical capability, with experience using audience insight and performance data to shape strategy.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate brand positioning clearly and persuasively.
• Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, and to public service values.

Desirable

• Strong understanding of political context and/or managing reputational risk within a public sector setting.
• Analytical capability, with experience using audience insight and performance data to shape strategy.
• Hands-on experience with design products such as Adobe or Canva.

Key Relationships

• Accountable To: Senior Strategic Communications Manager (G11).
• Principal Contacts: Head of Marketing Campaigns, Head of Creative, Mayor’s Office, Deputy Mayors and senior policy leads, Press, Campaigns and Digital teams, Policy Communications Officers, Functional bodies (e.g. TfL, MOPAC, LLDC), Creative, media and research agencies, London boroughs and other strategic partners.

Benefits

GLA staff are hybrid working up to 3 days a week in our offices and remotely depending on their role. They are required to split time between home working and coming into the office. In addition to a good salary package, paid every four weeks, we offer a range of benefits including 30 days annual leave, interest-free season ticket loan, interest-free bicycle loan and a career average pension scheme.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

London’s diversity is its biggest asset, and we strive to ensure our workforce reflects London’s diversity at all levels. We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability. We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic candidates and disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. We are committed to being an inclusive employer and are happy to consider flexible working arrangements. Application of the Disability Confident Employer scheme will be automatically considered for eligible candidates.