Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) is one of the world’s most famous creative agencies. Founded in London in 1982, we now also have offices in Dublin, New York, Mumbai, Singapore and Shanghai. 

For 40 years BBH has made the public laugh, cry and their hearts flutter; we’ve made endlines, headlines, history, celebs and number ones in the charts - all to help our clients win at what they do. We are always on the hunt for more different thinkers, hustlers, dreamers and makers to make the best work of their lives and keep all this fun going.

Our logo, the black sheep, represents the power of difference. This BBH thinking, combined with our care, craft and magic, has secured BBH clients including Audi, Barclays, Burger King, Google, Marvel, Nike and Tesco.

Job Title: Communications Director (contract) 

Contract length: 9 months maternity leave cover + 1 month handover / handback (10 months total) 

Communications at BBH

The purpose of the communications function at BBH is to hunt out and tell the most compelling and creative stories about the agency, its people, its culture and its initiatives. A strong creative reputation not only acts as fuel for growth, it also reassures clients, engages prospects, attracts the best talent and motivates internal teams.

With our Communications Director going on maternity leave, we’re looking for an experienced communications director to join BBH and deliver on the set strategy, create opportunities for creative fame, and build profiles for a dynamic and creative leadership team.

About the role

This role is maternity cover, for a period of 10 months. This will include one month working with the existing Communications Director at the start and finish of the contract, for a handover / handback. 

The role sits within the business development team at BBH, consisting of specialists in new business, marketing, PR and content who all work together to ensure BBH has the best possible chance for creative fame and growth. The role reports directly to the managing director of BBH London. Supporting this role is a PR & marketing manager and a new business & marketing coordinator. 

This role demands the individual leads and implements the communications strategy for the agency, as well as being responsible for all day to day PR newsflow, outreach and management, and management of an external PR agency.

You will help identify the strongest and most engaging stories about BBH’s work, clients, people, initiatives and culture. You will play a critical role in enhancing and protecting the reputation of the business, including counsel on issues and crisis management. You will also help focus on BBH’s strengths in key areas including creativity, results-driven efficacy, DE&I, thought leadership and long-term client-agency partnerships, making the best use of our spokespeople and our clients, and coming up with innovative ideas for comments, insights, features and opinion, to build their profile in front of key stakeholders and press.

You’ll work closely with the leadership team (CEO, managing director, CSOs, CCO, ECD and chief production officer) and provide updates to them on a monthly basis.

Key Responsibilities

• Delivery of the communications strategy to build creative fame for the agency amongst chosen target audiences.
• Hands on media relations, pitching features, profile and opinion pieces and nurturing relationships with target journalists 
• Write press releases, reactive statements and Q&As
• Identify and secure profile and speaking opportunities.
• Management of an external PR agency 
• Proactively source opportunities for the company to comment on topics and issues that are relevant to our business / our clients business

About you

• You are an experienced comms professional with a track record of delivering communications strategies to achieve results. You’ll be used to working with CEOs and senior leaders and feel confident acting as an advisor to them. 
• You’ll be a thinker and a doer who can handle complexity and is highly organised with experience of working with creative people and / or businesses and an ability to manage several projects in tandem. 
• You’ll have a clear understanding of what makes creative work compelling and interesting to external audiences and stakeholders and be able to come up with strategies to ensure the work gets the spotlight it deserves.
• You’ll be an excellent writer and communicator, with an interest in the creative industries and a desire to keep on top of emerging trends and news that affects culture and creativity in Britain
• You’ll be able to think on your feet, be instinctive and enjoy the cut and thrust of media relations.
• You’ll be confident managing multiple stakeholders, be very action-oriented, organised and good on detail.

Essential expertise

• Confident writer, ability to write engaging stories and come up with ideas about the work, our craft, our people, and our culture
• Demonstrable experience of delivering communication and marketing campaigns to internal and external audiences.
• A proven ability to build relationships of trust with journalists and senior stakeholders, extensive knowledge of the media and ability to manage issues as they arise
• Naturally organised and meticulous about meeting deadlines, with excellent attention to detail.
• Confident, positive, enthusiastic, good at building relationships and taking feedback. 
• Ideally, corporate and b2b media relations experience with a communications agency or in-house, even better within a creative business, but we welcome applications from different experience backgrounds
• Ability to think on your feet, work in an agile manner and adapt to changing requests