Interim Deputy Director, External Communications

About us:

King’s College London’s mission is to achieve excellence in education and research, using our knowledge with purpose since 1829 for the benefit of society. Our thriving and an award-winning External Communications team plays a key role in helping the University achieve its mission.

About the role:

The Interim Deputy Director, External Communications, has responsibility for leading all aspects of our communications campaigns and reputation management including media relations, research communication, social media and issues management. You will provide outstanding editorial leadership working across the university and with the Executive Director of Communications and External Relations, other senior colleagues in the team, and senior managers in the organisation, to build and protect the university’s reputation.

You will lead a team of external communications professionals in creating and placing compelling and engaging content aligned to the university’s strategic priorities in national and international news channels, on the website and across King’s digital channels; devising and implementing a series of communications campaigns that appeal to staff, students and external stakeholders; and supporting and designing and curating news and external campaigns aligned to strategic themes set out in the University strategy.  You will also have responsibility for Lead the application of brand and tone of voice across communications, contributing to their ongoing development and embedding across the university.

This is a full-time post, and you will be offered a fixed-term contract until 31/12/2027.

About you:
(the candidate)

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills & experience:

Essential criteria

• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience.
• Knowledge of communications best practice, including media relations, PR & crisis communications
• Significant experience of media handling and crisis communication management.
• Experience of leading a team of communications professionals.
• Experience of delivering digital communications, including social & digital media.
• Extensive experience of devising, writing and implementing effective communications and engagement strategies – including both traditional and digital communications – and evaluating outcomes.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to work sensitively with colleagues across the university, including senior management, and balancing professional skills in an academic environment.
• Lead the consistent application of the university’s brand and tone of voice across external communications, supporting its ongoing development and embedding across channels

Desirable criteria

1. Knowledge and experience of working in the higher education sector.

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. 

This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service and/or Occupational Health clearances.

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