Vice President / Associate Director, Crisis & Risk in London

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Edelman is a voice synonymous with trust, helping businesses and organisations evolve, promote and protect their brands and reputations. We are the world’s leading independent communications firm, with more than 6,000 people in over 60 offices globally. Our independence and family ownership give us the freedom to invest in original thinking, long-term client relationships and work that helps organisations earn the lasting trust of their stakeholders.

In the UK, more than 600 people are based in our Victoria office. We advise some of the world’s best-known businesses, brands and institutions across corporate reputation, crisis, public affairs, health, technology, capital markets, energy, research and analytics.

Edelman’s London Crisis & Risk team is the global Centre of Excellence for Edelman’s crisis communications capability and sits at the heart of our international crisis network. We counsel leading global corporations, brands and institutions through reputational challenges that matter. Our work spans live incidents and longer-burn issues, including litigation, regulatory scrutiny, cyber incidents, digital disinformation, executive transitions, corporate governance crises, societal issues, workplace misconduct, campaign controversies and geopolitical events.

We advise far beyond media relations. Our work considers the full stakeholder picture, from regulators, policymakers, investors and employees to customers, campaigners, digital communities and the media. We work closely with colleagues across Edelman’s integrated practices, including Corporate Reputation, Public Affairs, Employee Experience, Digital, Creative, Edelman Smithfield, Trust and DxI.

We’re looking for an Associate Director with strong litigation communications, legal affairs and crisis communications experience to join our UK Crisis & Risk team. This is a senior client-facing role, reporting to the Head of UK Crisis and Risk. You will operate across a number of clients, providing specialist litigation communications and legal affairs advice to clients and Edelman teams, while also contributing to wider crisis and reputational risk work.

You will advise organisations facing complex legal, regulatory and reputational challenges, helping them communicate with judgement, discipline and credibility. This may include active litigation, regulatory investigations, class actions, employment disputes, corporate governance issues, competition matters, inquiries, enforcement action, activist pressure or matters where legal process and public scrutiny intersect.

You will need to be comfortable working alongside legal teams, senior executives and communications leaders, translating complex legal issues into clear communications strategy while respecting legal constraints. The role is not only about managing media interest. It is about understanding how legal issues are judged by multiple audiences, how narratives develop, where reputational risk sits, and what clients should say, do and avoid under pressure. The role involves occasional out of hours work during live issues and fast-moving situations.

Key responsibilities

• Provide calm, clear and well-informed litigation communications and legal affairs counsel to clients facing complex reputational challenges.
• Advise clients and internal teams on communications strategy around active or potential litigation, regulatory scrutiny, investigations, disputes and other legally sensitive matters.
• Develop high-quality client materials, including risk assessments, stakeholder maps, legal and reputational scenario planning, communications strategies, messaging, Q&As, reactive lines, holding statements, briefing materials and escalation protocols.
• Work closely with lawyers, in-house legal teams, senior executives and communications leaders to ensure communications support legal strategy without allowing legal caution to create reputational exposure.
• Support and lead day-to-day client relationships across a varied portfolio of Crisis & Risk accounts.
• Provide strategic counsel across the full stakeholder environment, including media, regulators, policymakers, employees, investors, customers, campaigners and digital communities.
• Help clients prepare for hearings, judgments, regulatory decisions, inquiries, announcements and other moments where legal and reputational pressure may intensify.
• Contribute to live crisis response, including rapid counsel, issues assessment, messaging and coordination across teams and markets.
• Work within integrated Edelman teams and with colleagues across the global crisis network to support multi-market client challenges.