Head of Communications

The Times and The Sunday Times represent a combined 400 years of covering news and providing comment and analysis on the UK and the world. We are authoritative, credible, responsible, trusted and a part of the nation’s cultural heritage.

Your role: The Times and The Sunday Times are seeking a Head of Communications for a maternity cover contract.

The successful candidate will promote The Times and The Sunday Times journalists and their journalism to readers in the UK and overseas on broadcast and digital outlets, lead innovative PR initiatives and events, and manage issues as they arise.

The role requires a self-motivated, energetic individual, experienced in representing a major news/media brand and used to operating within a very fast moving organisation with matrix stakeholders. Weekend working and unsociable hours may be required.

Apply with a covering letter and your CV by July 12th.

Day to day you will:

• Develop and implement a broadcast and digital-first PR and media relations strategy, across The Times and The Sunday Times and Times Radio, with a particular focus on building strong relationships in the digital space.
• Liaise daily with journalists to drive the broadcast/digital media programme for The Times,The Sunday Times and Times Radio. This includes all sections of the newsbrands, scoops, exclusives, interviews, investigations and serialisations.
• Be a spokesperson for the brands on important editorial issues and take responsibility for issues management, working closely with the editors and managing editor to agree and execute responses.
• Work closely with marketing, digital, social and audience teams to inform, shape and deliver ideas that help to promote The Times, The Sunday Times and Times Radio to readers and advertisers.
• Manage the speaker programme to ensure that the Editor of The Times, the Editor of The Sunday Times and its journalists speak at events, debates and conferences that target key audiences and amplify brand messages.
• Provide PR support for key annual events such as The Times CEO summit and The Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year awards.
• Create PR plans for podcast launches, Times Radio presenters and shows, and flagship editorial projects, including The Rich List, Good University Guide and Best Places to Live, usually independently and occasionally with PR agency support.

• Oversee the editorial awards strategy, identifying opportunities and managing submissions with editorial teams.

What we’re looking for from you:

• Experience working in a senior communications role at a fast moving and complex media company or within a news environment
• A proven track record of managing public scrutiny, legal sensitivities and rapid-response reputational issues under tight newsroom deadlines
• An active, high-level network of contacts across major broadcasters and media operations
• Exceptional ability to gain trust, work collaboratively and manage relationships across newsrooms and association business teams, including News UK’s corporate affairs team.
• A strong understanding of editorial compliance and regulatory issues
• Persuasive presentation skills, well-developed interpersonal skills, with the ability to solve problems and negotiate positive outcomes
• A strong interest in the news agenda

We are News UK: One of the leading media businesses in the UK and Ireland.  Our newsbrands include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun, The Sun on Sunday and The TLS. Our national broadcast brands include talkSPORT, Times Radio, Talk and Virgin Radio UK, and we have market-leading local radio stations across Ireland. Our world-famous brands provide news, analysis, opinion and entertainment to almost 40 million people each month. Spanning print and pixel, audio and video, events and experiences, our multiplatform brands are home to a plurality of opinion, representing the diverse communities we serve. News UK is wholly owned by News Corp.

Life at News

Driven by passion, guided by principles and acting with purpose. We represent, reflect and reach the nation, telling the stories that matter. We inform our audiences so that they can make decisions based on trusted information.

To do this, we believe our employees must represent different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences. We strive to maximise and encourage every individual’s potential and ensure everyone feels valued. We support this through our Diversity Strategy, which focuses on three main priorities – attracting talent from a wider, more representative pool, developing equity programmes to drive better representation in our leadership, and ensuring diversity in our workforce as well as the journalism and content we produce. We also currently have 13 employee led networks and groups that support our strategy and connect like minded employees socially.

Benefits

Some of our benefits include:

• Maternity leave up to 18 weeks full basic salary & paternity leave up to 2 weeks
• Wide range of training available, plus full LinkedIn Learning access
• Private medical insurance including coverage for pre-existing conditions
• Discounted gym memberships, free ClassPass at Home, weekly virtual yoga classes
• ‘Bikes for Work’ and ‘Electric Car’ scheme
• Up to 60% discount on Harper Collins books
• Access to exclusive events and competitions with exciting brands such as talkSPORT, Virgin Radio UK & The Times. Weekly virtual panel chats with top journalists and celebrities
• Access to wellbeing benefits such as EAP, physio/massage and counselling
• A generous pension scheme with employer contributions of up to 5%
• 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays and up to 4 volunteering days per year

We are committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process. If you require reasonable adjustments due to a disability or health condition at any stage of your application or interview, please let us know. You can contact us at [email protected] to discuss how we can support you to perform at your best.