Senior Communications Manager

About the IA

The Investment Association is the trade body that represents UK investment managers. Our 250 members collectively manage over £7.7 trillion on behalf of clients in the UK and around the world. Our members manage the pensions and savings of millions of households in the UK to help them lead more prosperous lives. They also own over a third of the FTSE and as such our members perform a critical role of holding big business to account. Investment managers use their investments in the UK plc to help drive up productivity, and grow vital sectors such as infrastructure and green finance to help people live better lives.

Our purpose is to ensure investment managers are in the best possible position to:

• Build people’s resilience to financial adversity
• Help people achieve their financial aspirations
• Enable people to maintain a decent standard of living as they grow older
• Contribute to economic growth through the efficient allocation of capital

The money our members manage is in a wide variety of investment vehicles including authorised investment funds, pension funds and stocks & shares ISAs. The UK is the second largest investment management centre in the world, responsible for 6% of the UK’s exports and manages 37% of European assets.

More information can be viewed on our website.

About the Corporate Affairs team

The IA’s Corporate Affairs team is led by the Corporate Affairs Director and is a hard-working, sociable and dynamic team. The team, which has grown to ten people over the last eighteen months, with a strong mix of domestic and international backgrounds and speak 7 languages between us.

We are immensely proud to have been shortlisted for the PR Week Awards in two categories (City and Corporate Campaign of the Year; and Public/Third-Sector In-House Team of the Year) this summer.  

The team encompasses a media relations team and a UK government affairs team. We work extremely closely with the CEO and interact daily with member firms in the corporate affairs space as well as the IA’s policy teams, since a big part of our role is shining a light on the expertise within the organisation which we turn into materials to use for advocacy or communications.

The team ethos is one of service - service to one another (we all help each other out); service to our IA colleagues (we help provide briefing materials for anything from media interviews, to meetings with senior stakeholders, to advising on messaging in policy documents) and most importantly, service to our members (everything we do ultimately must be of value to those we represent every day and a big emphasis culturally in the team is given to ‘member satisfaction’).

Overview of the role

As Andy Haldane, The Bank of England’s Chief Economist, said ‘it is quite possible the age of asset management is upon us’. The last few years has seen this less well known sector in the financial services (compared to banks and insurance) be thrust into the spotlight due to its sheer structural importance to the UK economy. This does not however equate to systemic risk. As our industry adjusts to ‘life on the public square’, with all the added responsibility this naturally brings,  we are looking for a proactive, media hungry, self-starter to fill the role of Senior Communications Manager, to help the industry better tell the story of what it does and why it matters to the person on the street.

The space in which our industry operates – such as productivity, corporate governance, delivering public services for an ageing population in an age of continued fiscal constraint and how to get our nation saving for the long term - has never been more central to the public debate. This is an exciting time to be in this industry and the IA is embracing the opportunities this newfound public awareness is bringing. Against this background, the Senior Communications Manager will work closely with the Head of Communications to drive and implement the IA’s communications strategy and help protect, promote and enhance the reputation of the asset management industry.

Main duties

• Implement a proactive communications strategy to promote the IA and the asset management industry in the media and with stakeholders; make the IA a ‘go to’ commentator on its issues of expertise and bring to life some of the IA’s principle policy priorities
• Manage the day-to-day media relations, from responding to press calls and drafting reactive lines, to preparing press releases, quotes, and Q&As
• Act as an official spokesperson for the IA on all media outlets, both on and off the record
• Deputising for the Head of Communications to lead the team and to represent the IA to senior stakeholders.
• Work with Corporate Affairs Director and Head of Communications to develop an industry narrative, policy messaging and produce compelling collateral demonstrating the value of the asset management industry
• Work with IA colleagues, identify and proactively develop a pipeline of data driven and policy stories
• Develop media plans and messages on the IA’s strategic priorities to position it as leading in these areas
• Manage relationships with consumer journalists, business and personal finance press
• Build up the IA’s network with key lobby/political journalists, positioning the IA in stories of political relevance to the government’s agenda and at the ‘front of the book’
• Develop and maintain a strong network of relationships with IA member press teams across the IA membership, as well as other financial services and business trade bodies, and consumer groups
• Build strong relationships with press officers for relevant ministers and press teams in key government departments and work closely with these peers to inform them of relevant IA communications and coordinate any press work where relevant
• Support the Head of Communications in running a senior member committee (‘Communications Committee’) made up of industry communications professionals to oversee, plan and react to major developments that will impact the industry through media or social media
• Integrate digital media into the IA’s communications campaigns, execute the IA’s social media strategy, increasing the IA’s social media interactions and engagements, and develop compelling collateral for use in social media 
• Work with the Head of Communications to develop and execute an internal communications strategy, including integrating use of digital into internal comms collateral
• Represent the communications team internally to senior colleagues within the IA and give counsel on the potential impact of IA policy in the media and provide sound judgment and advice to colleagues on media relations and communications issues 
• Develop internal briefing materials in advance of meetings held by the IA CEO or senior ExCo colleagues with journalists
• Develop external briefing materials in advance of meetings with journalists held by the IA Chair or other senior members as required
• Oversee the coordination of broadcast media bids for the Chief Executive and IA policy directors
• Provide an out of hours media duty service as part of a rota system within the press team monitor and flag developing news coverage online and on Twitter throughout the day as part of a wider team monitoring rota to keep ExCo and policy colleagues abreast of breaking news that affects the industry
• Work with policy colleagues to draft keynote speeches for the CEO and Chairman as well as regular opinion pieces/op-eds for newspapers, blogs and trade press
• Work with government relations colleagues in the corporate affairs team to ensure work is integrated across media and government relations and ensure consistency of messaging

Education and experience

Qualifications/education required:

• Graduate level or equivalent 
• Computer literacy, particularly good knowledge of Microsoft Office Applications

Required experience

Proven substantial experience of working in a high pressure, fast moving media relations team in a PR agency, a political party or a government department press office with experience of:

o   executing communication strategies and developing key messaging

o   drafting media plans, press releases and ‘hostile’ Q&As

o   media handling, press office management and crisis comms

o   political, consumer and/or business media across broadcast, print, regional and/or trade press

o   strong social media and digital expertise 

o   preparing senior executive for interviews

o   working on campaigns across press and public affairs

• Experience of generating proactive media stories delivering widespread media coverage (online, print, broadcast) with a strong social media element  
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in a communications and media relations role (preferably with a campaigning focus)
• First class written and verbal communications skills
• Strong organisational and project management skills
• Good team management skills

Desirable experience (but not essential)

• Knowledge of financial services and the sector’s regulatory environment in UK and/or EU
• Experience of having worked in a political environment
• One or more foreign languages

Personal Attributes

• Excellent communicator: articulate and succinct, excellent command of written and spoken English, capable of acting as an ambassador and advocate with senior stakeholders
• Good political awareness and business judgement
• Proactive, determined, enthusiastic and ‘can do’ attitude who takes the initiative and works well under pressure
• Strong people skills and ability to build relationships with policymakers, politicians and other stakeholders
• Excellent time management skills, ability to juggle multiple tasks simultaneously and prioritise  to deliver on time
• Rigorous attention to detail (proofing etc.) and high standards in all work
• Numerate and confident with numbers 
• Outgoing and team spirited: comfortable working alone or in a team, with an ability to get on with people at all levels and from all backgrounds and political beliefs
• ‘Service’ mentality –  taking pride in going above and beyond for team members, colleagues and especially members to deliver great and helpful service
• Strong work ethic, resilient and willing to work longer hours and flexibly when required
• Ability to hit deadlines and deliver to the highest standards, first time around