Please note this is a hybrid role based on the successful candidate working at least two days a week in our London office. Remote contracts would not be considered for this role. 

​​Comic Relief reserves the right to close the role early if a large number of applications are received.

PURPOSE OF ROLE

As our Head of Communications and Brand Marketing, you’ll join our Fundraising and Communications department in leading the re-imagination of Comic Relief’s external consumer positioning, working across our organisation to position Comic Relief as a relevant; future facing organisation, inspiring joyful generosity to create a just world free from poverty.     

You’ll lead a small team working across Comic Relief to strengthen and champion our unique brand, grow relevance, drive support, showcase the work we fund, and build impactful partnerships.     

This role includes developing strategic and creative brand, media, and communications plans, managing our social channels, and using insight and data to raise awareness and drive action. Your team will equip the organisation with essential messaging tools and branded assets, and oversee brand governance, corporate messaging, and reputational issues.  

You’ll hold responsibility for executing collectively owned activities that span public affairs, corporate communications and earned and owned channel marketing.      

You'll also lead on cross-organisational efforts in public affairs, corporate comms, and marketing, supporting teams across Comic Relief to deliver behaviour change and revenue objectives, working with internal and external partners    Working closely with Senior Leadership, you’ll play a leading role in protecting and enhancing the reputation of Comic Relief.     

​​Key responsibilities: ​     

Brand Planning, Marketing & Communications  

•  lead in fostering a culture that thrives on collaboration and matrix working to protect, strengthen and leverage Comic Relief’s brand, by being externally aware of market factors, audience needs/ brand perception. Lead on increasing  internal understanding of brand and communications opportunities that will support delivery of organisational goals, ensuring the work of the Communications, Marketing and Brand team is rooted in data and insight for maximum effect  

• Lead the development of cross-organisational communications and content plans, ensuring these are rooted in audience and channel insight, meet campaign goals and raise awareness of and drive consideration to support Comic Relief and its funded partners 

• Work with colleagues across the Strategy and Production directorates to , develop and manage a suite of impact and issue area positions, messaging and communications tools and assets in line Comic Relief’s impact framework and funding, fundraising & partnerships strategies..  

• Working with senior leaders and teams, to shape the strategies for how we use our owned and earned external channels to grow relevance and build audience.   Define KPIs, set direction, and ensure activity is coordinated with delivery teams to achieve organisational goals. 

• Create and maintain communications guidelinesand toolkits that the rest of the organisation can use and refer to, working closely with the Head of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) on our representation and diversity goals 

Brand Oversight 

•  Act as a thought generator in the creative space and an ambassador for the brand, staying abreast of current trends and representing the organization externally to showcase Comic Relief as a world-class, relevant cutting-edge brand 

• Work closely with colleagues in Production to consistently enhance Comic Relief’s brand positioning, holding collective responsibility for maintaining our brand, spanning reputation, brand strategy and guidelines and standards 

• Ensure communications activities align with brand values and are driven by Comic Relief’s strategic objectives 

• Create and oversee a cross-organisational framework to support teams to deploy Comic Relief’s brand for maximum impact, recognising and facilitating cross-organisational working to review and approve branded assets. 

Owned & Earned Channels 

• Oversee the strategy and operational plans for Comic Relief's owned and earned channels, supporting and facilitating colleagues to leverage CR’s own reach for maximum impact 

• Work closely with colleagues in Production to identify and manage relationships with talent and influencers to extend the reach of the CR, and sub, brands ensuring all partnerships enhance CR’s reputation and audience reach 

  Public relations and external affairs 

• Coach, champion and mentor the Public Relations (PR) Lead and team, supporting them to:  

• Oversee the efficient management of CR’s Press Office and create far reaching media strategies with a focus on driving awareness of and consideration for our brand, what we fund, and driving engagement with our cause and issue areas 

• Manage reputational issues and risks – acting as a trusted advisor to Senior Leadership and key stakeholders within the organisation, identifying, escalating and overseeing the management of reputational considerations and issues  

• Be the first point of contact for urgent/ reactive PR and communications matters, including for crisis communications, managing upward escalation where relevant – this includes occasional out-of-hours hours on-call support when media-related issues arise Be accountable for the direction, creation and communication of the charity’s strategic communications, including our Annual Report and issues based positions and media responses 

• Seek and be accountable for earned media opportunities across press / channels 

  People management 

• Manage a team that includes PR, marketing and a communications 

• Proactively undertake business planning, prioritise activities and set clear and realistic objectives based on capacity, expertise and aspirations 

• Provide balanced, constructive feedback, undertake effective performance management to embed accountability and proactively support the professional development and growth of staff 

• Maintain regular two-way communication and dialogue with staff, ensuring information is cascaded and escalated as needed 

• Model an enabling, inclusive and empowering leadership style that builds a values-based culture throughout Comic Relief 

Operational Leadership 

• Be a visible and responsive operational leader, ensuring own teams are collaborating and co-operating with others to ensure shared success  

• Support the advancement of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging through inclusive behaviours, actions and leadership.  

• Ensure there is quality management information for all organisational areas that enables knowledge sharing and proactive decision making 

• Build a strong, effective and well-ledteam, with the necessary capability, expertise, systems and processes to deliver the organisation’s strategic and annual plan 

• Work collaboratively with the Head of DEIB, the Employee Network Groups (ENGs), and the Funding Team to ensure our brand and communications strategies and activities deliver against CR’s values and DEIB commitments 

Person specification​: 

 Essential criteria:

• Demonstrated ability to operate both strategically and tactically 

• Capability to assimilate and process large volumes of complex information and translate this into external communication messaging for a wide and varied audience 

• Evidence of using strategic communications skills, both written and verbal, demonstrating the ability to influence at a senior-level and manage high-impact, high stress and urgent situations 

• A proven ability to deploy a strong, focused sense of visual style and taste alongside the ability to clearly articulate a communications vision with a focus on communicating organisational goals and impact, while remaining open to new ideas and opportunities 

• Experience of managing a diverse communications function spanning at least two disciplines, ie brand, marketing, PR, strategic communications, earned and owned media 

• Experience of crisis comms / reputation management  

• Capability to influence and work collaboratively with others, as well as leading cross-organisational projects 

• Specific expertise in building mutually beneficial media and / or communication partnerships and initiatives with a broad spectrum of partners  

• Knowledge of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging principles.  

• Flexibility and willingness to work outside of normal work hours  

• Skilled in evaluating multi-channel communications effectiveness and optimising digital media strategies using performance insights” 

Desired Criteria   

• Relevant international and UK work experience  

• Awareness of the issues related to our vision of a just world free from poverty, including through an equality, diversity, inclusion and justice lens. 

• A well-rounded portfolio of experience that includes multiple examples of online and offline campaigns and content with a focus on storytelling and emphasis on innovative experiences 

• A successful background of change management and leading teams to maximize growth and efficiency 

• Experience using emerging technologies — VR, AI, holograms, etc. — as part of your creative approach and background 

• Proven expertise within a medium/large non-profit organisation or a growing tech / media business.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Comic Relief we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles. 

Why work at Comic Relief 

There are lots of good reasons to join us at Comic Relief. You can read more about our employee benefits, such as our commitment to flexible and hybrid working. We ask staff to come to the office twice a week, normally on agreed team days, so that we can do all those things that are difficult to do online. Our office is based in Whitechapel, London, There are lots of opportunities to develop your skills and experience at Comic Relief, including opportunities to become a Mental Health First Aider or to participate in our Employee Network Groups that focus on making Comic Relief a more inclusive place to work 

Disability Confident employer 

As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we take positive action by providing first-round interviews to candidates who have a registered disability, provided they meet the minimum criteria for the role, as demonstrated on their CV or application scores. We ask that candidates that wish to be considered for this scheme email  to discuss further. Please do not email CV's/cover letters.