Vacancy Title :  External Communication Manager   

Department :  Marketing  

Location : Abu Dhabi 

Reports to: Marketing and Communications Director 

The External Communication Manger will be responsible for the creation, implementation, delivery and execution of the Communication plan for Sky News Arabia. 

Reporting to the Director of Marketing and Communications, you will have a proven track record delivering results and working collaboratively  across a diverse group of stakeholders to drive and execute Sky News’s Communication agenda to influence outcomes. Managing a team of Communication professionals, you will also manage public relations, external communications and crisis communications for the organization.

Leveraging your strong experience working in the media industry as well as your passion for journalism and solid understanding of the political landscape within the MENA region you will also be responsible for:

Communication strategy:

• Lead the development of the communication strategy for Sky News Arabia.
• Deliver a results orientated approach. Constantly evaluating the exposure received and looking for ways to optimise and learn from the results.
• Update key stakeholders on the strategy and results.
• Effectively manage the brand’s reputation.

External communications:

• Identify opportunities to develop media relationships and keep our brand front of mind.
• Integrate with campaign activity to maximise the impact of all offline and online communications. Work alongside the Social Media and Digital Content Editors to ensure alignment and utilize own and social media channels to deliver key PR messages.
• Oversee the management of the daily press office functions including press releases, briefing materials, Q&A’s, website copy, merchandise and other collateral.
• Develop and regularly review all templates, messaging matrix and processes to ensure we deliver a consistent and effective message to all parties.
• Write speeches, literature and other composition assignments requested for the purpose of the organization.
• Manage our spokespeople and presenters, ensuring we represent our brand to maximum impact, constantly looking for opportunities to promote our programs and presenters.
• Ensure that our management team, spokespeople and presenters have the right briefings, profiles, documentation and training required to best represent our brand.
• Benchmark our communications against our competitors. Create a process to notify key parties about high profile announcements and create a format to share monthly competitor reviews.
• Identify and effectively manage budget, ROI and third-party relationships.

   

  Internal communications and employee engagement:

• Closely align with other departments to deliver an integrated calendar of activity to keep staff informed and engaged with company developments.
• Manage and write the internal communication and company-wide announcements in both Arabic and English.

   

  Crisis Communications:

• Lead the development of the new crisis communication strategy.
• Play a crucial role in the crisis management team and ensure the team and aligned and aware of their roles and responsibilities.
• Draft Arabic and English crisis communications statements and lead the implementation and roll out as required.

   

Key Skills, Experience & Education 

• Minimum 10 years’ experience in Public Relations and Communication within the MENA region
• Fluency in both written and verbal in Arabic and English is essential
• Must be educated to degree level
• Must have a proven track record of developing effective communication initiatives from strategy to execution within the media industry
• Must be experienced in Public relations, external Communication and crisis management
• Experience working collaboratively, building relationships across diverse group both internally and externally with an ability to influence across with a solid understanding of editorial and commercial imperatives.
• Be the subject matter to the business, providing in-depth knowledge and understanding of all communication channels within the media landscape across the region including all social media platforms i.e. (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.) and how  best to  deploy in different scenarios.
• Proven track record managing budgets and ROI across marketing and communications initiatives
• Possess strong project management and organisational skills with the ability to work under pressure to meet tight deadlines.