Director of Strategic Communications – UK & EMEA

GlobalGiving UK is undergoing an exciting growth phase. We aim to increase brand awareness and new donor engagement by inspiring and stimulating new forms of giving from corporate and major donors in the UK and across Europe. Our initial focus for Europe will be on France and Germany where we have facilitated mechanisms to ensure donors based in these territories are able to make tax efficient, cross border donations to GlobalGiving in the UK.

 

The Director of Strategic Communications will be integral to the success of our market-making approach, by creating and deploying a highly effective Marcomms strategy for the UK and our movement into Europe. The strategy will identify new ways of increasing brand awareness through the formation of strong relationships with influential donor driven philanthropic networks and collaborations in the region, and maximising our profile with existing and new corporate and major donors and wealth intermediaries.

 

This is a senior role within the UK organisation – initially an 18-month contract, with a view to becoming permanent, working with and reporting to the CEO, and contributing to our global Marcomms function, under the leadership of the Senior Director of Marketing and Communications. This position will develop and implement comprehensive communications and external affairs strategies that support and advance the charity’s mission and global multi-year strategy. The Director of Strategic Communications will draft speeches, media posts and other organisational statements for our UK and EMEA markets, whilst retaining our global brand guidelines. We seek a seasoned communications generalist with proven experience of turning strategic aims into successful actions. They will have demonstrated experience of collaborating with global teams and leading communications strategy for a mission-driven organisation. We are a small team and the successful candidate will be equally happy working at both a strategic level and getting their hands dirty in the weeds.

 

Primary Responsibilities

GlobalGiving UK’s Director of Strategic Communications will work closely with the global Communications and Marketing Team, remaining aligned to a unified strategy and brand, whilst increasing brand recognition and impact with our UK and EMEA target audiences.

You will work closely with people across the organisation to develop goals, strategies, tactics, and key messages that position GlobalGiving as a credible and trustworthy option for its donor audiences and a thought leader among its peers and constituents. This will require you to understand our core differentiators, be able to talk about our innovative products and solutions, and to develop compelling reports, talking points, narratives, and special events that elevate the GlobalGiving brand among target audiences.

To do this well, you will need to understand who our targets are and how to motivate them. Working with an external PR agency and using audience insights, media monitoring and business intelligence software, you will learn what works, and launch content distribution and audience engagement tactics that drive results. Needless to say, this role requires a high level of creativity, attention to detail, and project management skills.

You will also work closely with our Disaster Recovery and Growth teams, as well as our CEO, to develop and iteratively improve our public relations communications strategy and raise GlobalGiving’s visibility in the UK & EMEA, starting with France and Germany in 2025.

 

Strategic Communications

• Develop and implement a comprehensive communications and external affairs strategy for our defined territories (UK, with Germany & France from 2025), including defining short and long-term goals and objectives related to GlobalGiving’s mission, multi-year strategy and the work of our partners.
• Develop and implement strategic communications campaigns.
• Develop and execute communications plans for key external events and awards.
• Ensure cross-collaboration between UK Marcomms and other departments and ensure that adequate support from communications is provided for priority projects and campaigns.
• Draft or coordinate drafting of regular learn articles and op-eds by staff.
• Compile data to analyse and report to staff on communications impact.
• Conduct regional market research to keep abreast of trends, consumer preferences, and competitors’ marketing movements. Identify product improvements, gaps, and opportunities for growth.

• Draft and edit relevant regional content, including GlobalGiving UK’s Annual Impact Report.
• Help us to design, run, track, analyse, and report on marketing experiments to find out what works for our users (and help us identify our failures).
• Oversea the event management of fundraising and brand building events in collaboration with our Growth team, and led by the Marketing and Communications Manager.

 

Public Relations/External Affairs

• With a retained PR agency for the UK market, build and maintain relationships with journalists, draft press materials including press releases, talking points and op-eds. Pitch stories and respond to media inquiries. Conduct regular media monitoring.
• Swiftly support UK spokespeople with appropriate and up-to-the-moment talking points, content and other material. Draft scripts, speeches, and social media posts, for and in partnership with leadership to ensure consistency in messaging.
• Work with our global Public Relations Specialist and PR Agency to help Identify and cultivate a network of influencers, affiliates, and brand advocates that help GlobalGiving UK to develop more sustainable, meaningful, and lasting relationships.
• Develop and lead the marketing and communications response to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and emergencies relevant to our proximate donor audiences.
• As required, represent the organisation to external stakeholders, potential clients, and strategic partners. Take a leading role in public relations crisis management.
• Coordinate opportunities for externally facing staff to receive coaching and training for public speaking, social media, and op-ed writing coaching and training.

 

Digital Communications

• Represent the needs of the UK entity and its target market with the global marcomms team, specifically regarding GlobalGiving’s website and other digital properties, and monitor analytics.
• WIth the Marketing & Communications Manager, draft, edit, and disseminate email marketing communications.
• Maintain visual brand identity and usage guidelines.

 

Leadership

• Line manage and support the Marketing and Communications Manager, and provide strategic leadership when working with internal stakeholders.
• Play a proactive role as part of the UK Senior Leadership Team.
• Develop strong relationships and effectively collaborate with other senior leaders across the wider, global team.

 

• 10+ years of experience in marketing and communications, which might also include public relations, journalism or brand-awareness building.
• Demonstrated experience in a leadership role managing communications for an organisation.
• Proven record of using communication strategies to successfully influence target audiences to donate and help shape and/or change opinions on urgent as well as more long-term issues of interest to the organisation(s) they have represented.
• Demonstrated excellence in sourcing opportunities for organisational spokespeople, crafting media outreach that works, and developing lasting relationships with media and influencers.
• Skilled communicator and people manager who can strategise, plan and delegate effectively.
• Passion for advancing GlobalGiving’s voice and brand across a variety of media.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills.
• Self-starter who can launch, prioritise and execute activities with minimal supervision.
• Partnership approach and ability to effectively collaborate with different workstyles and build good relationships with leaders, staff, external agencies and stakeholders.
• Fluent in English, with proficiency in French, German or another European language a bonus.
• Digital tools: A knowledge of Hubspot, Meltwater, and Adobe Creative Suite would be helpful but not essential.
• Open-minded and committed to honest and candid conversations and self-reflection about race, equity, diversity and inclusion.
• A passionate belief in the mission of GlobalGiving and a

• , creativity, and the desire to change the world.

 

 

Salary + Benefits

Salary range: £62,000 – £72,000

 

The initial contract term is 18-months with a potential of becoming permanent. The position holder will report to the CEO. Benefits include remote work (within the UK), professional development opportunities, International travel and a meaningful job where you can go home at night and say,