Global Head of Social & Community (Speedo) in London

Who we are: Pentland Brands is a global family business behind some of the world’s most iconic active and footwear brands. With over 1,500 team members worldwide, we pride ourselves on a diverse, inclusive culture where people speak up, support one another and do the right thing. We move fast, act boldly and trust each other to deliver - with kindness, honesty and high standards at the heart of everything we do.

Reports to: VP Brand Marketing (Speedo)

Location: London, Farringdon

Hours: 36.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday (4:30pm finish on a Friday)

The Global Head of Community (Speedo) Mission: As Speedo’s Global Head of Community, you will define and lead a global strategy that builds authentic connections with consumers, creators, and brand partners across the water‑loving community. You will shape Speedo’s cultural and social presence through industry‑leading, social‑first storytelling that drives relevance, engagement, and conversion. This is a visionary leadership role that combines strategic thinking with a bias for timely, high‑quality execution. Success requires a hands‑on mindset, strong collaboration, and clear communication across a complex, matrixed organization. You’ll move seamlessly between big‑picture planning and agile problem‑solving, enabling teams to act quickly on cultural moments while maintaining strategic consistency.

You will oversee social media, community engagement, creator and ambassador programs, affiliate initiatives, grassroots activations, brand partnerships, and the build toward LA28 and beyond—ensuring Speedo’s voice is authentic, resonant, and impactful across markets. Reporting to the VP of Brand Marketing, you’ll partner closely with regional marketing and community leads, brand marketing, sports marketing, creative, paid media, and DTC teams to align social and community efforts with global business objectives—while asserting the Speedo brand and celebrating its role in culture, competitive swimming, the swim lifestyle, and the joy of being in the water.

How you'll drive success:

• Develop and implement short‑ and long‑term social media strategies across all platforms, ensuring alignment with brand marketing, product launches, and business goals.
• Lead regional teams in adapting and executing the global strategy to support local marketing initiatives.
• Design and deliver breakthrough, data‑driven, social‑first campaigns that resonate with diverse global audiences.
• Drive creative excellence to ensure that all content reflects brand principles and programs.
• Continuously explore new ways to engage and grow the brand’s digital community.
• Leverage insights and industry trends to create meaningful interactions with our audience across social platforms.
• Lead the global influencer and affiliate programmes, building strong relationships with sponsored athletes, content creators, ambassadors, and influencers.
• Develop disruptive, industry‑leading content to drive engagement, brand awareness, and conversion.
• Collaborate with regional leads, internal teams, and external agencies to execute cohesive global and regional social media strategies.
• Manage and optimise customer review platforms, ensuring timely and authentic responses to social media comments, maintaining positive brand sentiment and brand engagement.
• Measure and optimise the performance of social media campaigns. Provide monthly reports on KPIs, trends, and insights, using data to inform future strategies and continuously improve performance.
• Lead, manage, and develop a high‑performing social and community team. Foster a culture of creativity, collaboration, and innovation, ensuring that the team is equipped to execute day‑to‑day strategies effectively.
• Stay ahead of global social media trends, tools, and best practices to ensure we consistently innovate in the digital space.

What you'll need to thrive:

• Extensive experience in leading global social media strategies for major brands.
• Expertise in managing influencer and affiliate programmes, with a strong understanding of community engagement.
• Proven ability to create innovative, data‑driven social media campaigns that resonate across diverse markets.
• Strong leadership skills with experience managing and developing high‑performance teams.
• Excellent cross‑functional collaboration skills, able to work with internal teams and external agencies globally.
• Data‑driven mindset, with the ability to leverage insights to optimise social media strategies and deliver measurable business results.
• A passion for social media, digital marketing, and building online communities.
• Strategic, visionary, and deeply curious about culture.
• Excited by the opportunity to shape Speedo’s role in culture and contribute to the evolution of swimming as both a competitive sport and a lifestyle.

Benefits: Alongside a competitive salary and discretionary bonus, we offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your wellbeing, flexibility, and life outside work. This includes generous holiday allowance with the option to buy more, hybrid and flexible working, enhanced family leave, pension and financial protection, wellbeing support, travel schemes, and generous discounts across Pentland Brands and selected retail partners. Full details of our perks and benefits can be found on our UK Benefits page.

The Interview Process: We want our interview process to feel clear, straightforward, and supportive. If your experience and expectations look like a strong match for the role, here’s what you can expect next:

• Talent Team Intro Call – A 30‑minute video call with our Talent Team to get to know each other, talk through the role and your experience, and answer any questions you have.
• Experience Interview – A more in‑depth interview (usually online) with the hiring manager to explore your skills, experience and approach, and how these align with the role, our principles, and our ways of working.
• In‑Person Interview – An in‑person meeting at our office to continue the conversation from your experience interview. This stage may also include discussion of any task or preparation shared in advance.
• Final Interview – A final in‑person interview at our office, focused on deeper discussion and practical application, giving you the chance to meet more of the team and see Pentland Brands in action.