EMEA Communications Director, Activision & Blizzard

As the EMEA Communications Director for Activision and Blizzard, you will lead our EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) Communications efforts to deliver world class PR and creator programs across the region. This role will facilitate region-specific communications, campaigns and events relating to Activision and Blizzard gaming franchises. This role will oversee communications in all Activision and Blizzard markets in EMEA, coordinating across regional teams, local agency teams and marketing partners in line with the global comms strategy.

This position will give you the opportunity to thrive in a challenging, creative environment, and grow with a strong and supportive team who are committed to excellence at every level. The ideal candidate is a collaborative but self-motivated leader with a proven track record of developing best in class communications strategies and executions that align to a global comms strategy and a larger integrated marketing plan. The role requires very strong communication and critical thinking skills, the ability to work constructively with stakeholders at different levels across regions/teams, and to directly lead, manage, and set priorities for a team. You must thrive on high pressure deadlines and be able to consistently achieve results on time and within budget. Industry experience is highly desirable coupled with an intricate knowledge of the nuances across the EMEA region.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead the development of the EMEA communications holistic strategic plan that ties to the overarching company and region objectives focused on Activision and Blizzard franchises and games.
• Provide expertise on how to build engaged audiences through delivering culturally relevant compelling content for players that we already know and players we are yet to meet.
• Support and execute on major events including participation in regionally-relevant industry events such as Gamescom.
• Direct, coach and mentor team members to develop world class executions, including budget management, reporting, prioritization, across all facets of communications.
• Select and manage overarching relationships with agency partners to build programs that fulfil the communications strategic plan and add to gaining commercial success for the franchises.
• Stay up to date on all gaming, esports, media & entertainment news, monitor competitors and other industry leaders for learnings, insights and best practices.
• Partner closely with Microsoft communications teams incl. Xbox, Bethesda, and King to ensure alignment across media outreach, events and key comms beats, as well as providing regional and/or Activision or Blizzard-specific perspective, where needed.

PLAYER PROFILE

• Significant communications experience across video games, communications agencies, technology, or entertainment.
• Have a proven track record of developing best in class communications strategies that have provided commercial success.
• In-depth knowledge of EMEA markets, including cultural nuances that impact strategies and media engagement.
• Ability to lead medium to large size teams, setting clear priorities, creating development plans and driving cohesion to gain commercial results.
• Strong understanding of the evolving games market across the EMEA region and experience in driving storytelling and creator programs.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented problem-solver who thinks fast and finds solutions when others may see a dead end.
• Equally left and right-brained with analytical skills to evaluate program effectiveness, and strong creative judgment to recognize what's on-trend/on-brand.
• Innovative, strategic thinker who is motivated to execute exceptionally and work independently within a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent team player with the ability to build, foster and nurture strong relationships across internal functions and external partners.
• Experience in managing a large set of internal stakeholders, agency partners, media, and ambassadors.
• Passion for gaming, lifestyle, and entertainment industry.
• Must possess exceptional ability to craft fresh, engaging, and innovative digital experiences intended to grow the cultural relevance and earned media awareness for Activision and Blizzard's products and properties.
• Excellent verbal and written skills.
• A strong network of media contacts and a proven way of building new relationships with existing and emerging media and influencers.
• Written and verbal language capability to be successful in EMEA is highly desirable.
• Passion for data and consumer insight driven decision making.