Ralph Lauren Corporate Communications Lead

Company Description

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) is a global leader in the design, marketing and distribution of premium lifestyle products in five categories: apparel, accessories, home, fragrances, and hospitality. For more than 50 years, Ralph Lauren's reputation and distinctive image have been consistently developed across an expanding number of products, brands and international markets. The Company's brand names, which include Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children, Chaps, among others, constitute one of the world's most widely recognized families of consumer brands. At Ralph Lauren, we unite and inspire the communities within our company as well as those in which we serve by amplifying voices and perspectives to create a culture of belonging, ensuring inclusion, and fairness for all. We foster a culture of inclusion through: Talent, Education & Communication, Employee Groups and Celebration.

Position Overview

The Corporate Communications Lead will drive ongoing external communications around Ralph Lauren's business, helping to strengthen and protect its reputation as a leader in the luxury lifestyle sector. This will include applying a strategic and discerning eye toward executive communications, external engagement opportunities including press and events, as well as developing multi-stakeholder communications strategies and narratives to support business goals and priorities. This person will also apply a deep understanding of the external environment and our corporate strategy to proactively identify opportunities and evaluate risks and play a key role in managing emerging issues and crises across the business. The role reports to the Head of Corporate Communications & Public Affairs.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Develops and maintains relationships with key business and financial beat reporters covering luxury/retail/apparel; maintains and provides team and business partners with insights on key trends and media conversation happening with competitors in the industry.
• Collaborates with global PR and communications team members to ensure accurate messaging around our business performance and strategy
• Partners closely with Head of CEO Communications & Engagement on messaging around our business performance for CEO engagements; advises on press opportunities and insights for CEO
• Supports the Head of Corporate Communications & Public Affairs in the development and execution of financial communications, including: earnings media relations, messaging and Q supporting milestones including annual shareholder meetings, proxy and other filings; and partnering with Investor Relations to prepare for investor conferences and other financial events as needed.
• Builds strong relationships with internal partners including Finance, Strategy, IR and Legal teams to support the above, including seeking inputs, reviews, and providing counsel from a communications and reputation management perspective.
• Contributes to the development of overarching corporate communications strategies and narratives that seek to differentiate RLC from competitors and showcase leadership.
• Manages external profile of the CFO and other leaders as required and collaborates with Employee Communications on their internal messaging.
• Provides counsel and supports communications activities related to business initiatives around technology, innovation, real estate and other corporate programs.
• Contributes to Corporate Communications measurement program by partnering with Agency leads to inform accurate and informed reporting.
• Advise and manage corporate issues and matters as the need arises, including advising on potential responses / communications posture, monitoring, drafting responses and Q&A, and contributing to issue briefs.
• Supports content creation for corporate website and other digital channels.
• Maintains crisis playbook and collaborates with agency team to develop and refresh.
• Prepare communications strategies, key message documents, talking points, press releases, briefing documents, memos and leadership advice notes.
• Shared responsibility in managing agency partners to acquire ongoing counsel to inform our external communications programs and strategies.
• Collect and utilize internal and external insights to support the development and execution of effective communications strategies
• Participate in relevant industry events to support own development and expertise.

Experience, Skills & Knowledge

• Strong business acumen, specifically in luxury, retail, and/or consumer industries with demonstrated ability to connect business objectives and communications strategies
• Demonstrated expertise in media relations, including working with business and financial press.
• Proficient in developing impactful, clear and effective communications strategies
• Financial acumen with an understanding of and familiarity with financial markets, the regulatory landscape, and the investment community.
• Ability to concisely articulate a company's equity story.
• Compelling writer with strong storytelling skills and hyper-attention to detail
• Experienced spokesperson
• Entrepreneurial and possesses ability to lead oneself and prioritize workload
• Excels in working collaboratively across a highly cross-functional environment
• Experienced in managing direct reports including delegation and workflow
• Experience partnering/providing counsel to senior executives, with courage to champion new ideas and approaches, challenge positions, express unpopular views, and influence outcomes
• Extensive knowledge of MS Office Suite (PPT, Word, Excel, SharePoint, CoPilot) and Collaborative Working with Microsoft 365 and Team with ability to quickly learn other applications, as necessary
• Understands and is highly curious about AI's evolving role in shaping PR and communications; ability to leverage these tools to inform work products
• Collaborative
• Ability to facilitate meetings with internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to distill high volume of data and insights into executive summaries, reports and presentations.
• Succinct, clear and confident communications style