Head of Communications

Job Introduction

We have an exciting opportunity to join our Communications team as the Head of Communications for our Corporate Services, Sports & Leisure, and Sodexo Ireland business. This is a fast-paced communications role working closely with two businesses that have wide and varied clients, and are bringing innovation and creative solutions to their evolving service offer.

You’ll create, deliver and measure the effectiveness of comprehensive strategic internal and external communications plans that promote growth, manage and enhance brand reputation and deepen employee engagement. Working within a matrix organisation you’ll take the lead on communications messaging and create corporate content to support business strategies and regional brand awareness campaigns. You’ll be accountable for advising and delivering on communications across various channels and ensure that plans and campaigns are strategically planned. Anticipating and managing reputational issues, you’ll support your business leaders to navigate issues and maximise opportunities in a face paced, complex environment.

With a growth and global mindset, you’ll be working closely with the executive leadership, marketing and global communications teams. You’ll build strong relationships enabling you to identify, advise / counsel and deliver integrated communications strategies through the team or appropriate agencies.

Delivering integrated communications strategies, you’ll be a passionate communications guru with a broad background of internal / external and PR experience, exceptional time and stakeholder management, able to bring innovation and creativity to communicate brand value, service offers, transformation and change programmes. You’ll relish the challenge and excitement of a busy role working for ambitious teams focused on client and consumer satisfaction. This is a unique and challenging role to get stuck into!

Role Responsibility

• Business partner with the business leadership teams to identify, advise and deliver integrated communications strategies for the segments, setting targets against business objectives and measuring success
• Member of Corporate Services, Sports & Leisure, Ireland, and communications leadership teams, providing strategic communications counsel and alignment
• Line management of Communications Manager, working closely with support roles across the communications team, ensuring output delivers effectively against the strategy
• Responsible for propositions, messaging and content to promote the Sodexo Corporate Services and Sports & Leisure brands to appropriate audiences, exploiting digital channels and social media
• Work closely with business marketing and regional PR, creative and internal comms teams to agree and deliver proactive communications support
• Managing reputation for the businesses, taking responsibility for supporting the team in a crisis Champion best practice, creativity and impactful communications

A full job description can be located in the below attachment

The Ideal Candidate

• Professional or higher qualification in communications / corporate communications or equivalent experience
• Experienced communications generalist, with exposure to internal and external communications, either in-house or agency, able to deliver a 360 external and employee communications programmes.
• Knowledge and demonstrable experience managing crisis and issues
• The ability to lead and manage both a direct reporting and indirect reporting team / consultancy
• Experience of working with multiple corporate stakeholders or across multiple industries, in complex matrix environment driving continuous improvement and innovation
• Demonstrable experience of developing and executing on communications plans that utilise a wide variety of channels and media, including digital creativity, setting KPI’s for communications and demonstrating personal and collective impact
• Brilliant communicator, both verbally and in writing, with the ability and gravitas to operate at all levels of an organisation.
• Practiced in developing working relationships and networks at all levels, with high impact and influence in a collaborative environment
• A self-starter - able to work to tight deadlines and manage projects independently with strong skills and experience in managing simultaneous projects. The ability to balance the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills of managing projects so that plans are well-laid and executed and that stakeholders are fully engaged and communicated with.
• Great organisational skills and excellent attention to detail with the ability to think ahead and pre-empt and mitigate possible setbacks and obstacles
• Knowledge of outsourcing, food service, direct or adjacent markets would be desirable but not essential

About the Company

In the UK and Ireland, Sodexo employs around 30,000 people, and partners with clients in many sectors across business and industry; schools and universities; sports and leisure; energy and resources; government and agencies; healthcare; justice and defence.

Sodexo’s connected; people-centric approach brings together a diverse range of expertise. The breadth of services it offers ranges from food and hospitality; cleaning; reception; concierge (Circles); security; property management and technical services through to data driven workplace strategy and design (Wx); employee engagement and recognition services (Sodexo Engage) and personal home services through Prestige Nursing + Care and the Good Care Group.  

Vital Spaces is Sodexo’s value proposition that puts people at the heart of everything we do, bringing together services and solutions and focusing on the productivity and wellbeing of people wherever they are.

Sodexo is committed to being an inclusive employer; we welcome and encourage applications from people with a diverse variety of experiences, backgrounds and identities.

We’re a Disability Confident Leader employer. We’re committed to changing attitudes towards disability, and making sure disabled people have the chance to fulfil their aspirations. 

We are building on our support to the Armed Forces community through the development of specific pathways within our recruitment process to  support ex-forces personnel and reservists, those applying for jobs with us who meet the ideal candidate criteria for the role advertised are guaranteed to progress to the selection process