External Communications Manager

Job Description

Job Description

About Dot

Dot is home to a set of businesses united by a bold ambition: to redefine student living and support over one million students each year.  

Spanning 180+ cities in 30 countries, our companies include, Global Student Accommodation (GSA), Yugo and Student.com. Together, we bring global scale and local insight, powered by more than 2000 passionate people. We believe progress happens when people come together with purpose. We're committed to building long term value through everything we do. With three decades of continuous evolution, Dot's strength lies in how we work. We are pioneering, purposeful and positive, driving smart, sustainable growth across our portfolio. We connect expertise with opportunity to turn ideas into impact and momentum into lasting change

Our Values

At Dot, we live and work by our values every day:

·       Pioneering: With three decades of groundbreaking achievements and a passion for international expansion, our distinctive proposition remains stronger than ever.

·       Purposeful: Every action we take is intentional, designed to align with our values and create lasting benefits for our people, communities, and the planet.

·       Positive: We tackle challenges with resilience and seek to create a supportive and empowering environment for our teams and communities.

Role Purpose

You will lead the delivery of external communications for Dot and its portfolio companies, turning the Group's communications strategy into high-impact plans and results across media relations, public affairs, corporate communications, digital content and events.

Working closely with the Global Head of Communications, you will own delivery and move quickly, while building the experience to shape strategy yourself. You will be one of the Group's senior media voices, a trusted adviser to leaders on reputation, and the first line of defence when issues arise across our 30 countries.

Requirements

Key Responsibilities

Planning and delivery

• Translate the Group's external communications strategy into an annual plan with clear priorities, owners and measures
• Own delivery of the plan at pace, focusing on delivering impact and balancing the priorities of multiple brands and markets
• Contribute to the development of strategy, narratives and messaging frameworks, taking increasing ownership of defined areas of strategy over time
• Apply the Group messaging framework across all businesses so each brand speaks in its own voice to tell one Group story
• Work in partnership with brand and marketing teams to align commercial priorities and spot cross-brand opportunities
• Coordinate with Internal Communications so colleagues hear significant news first and announcements land consistently, inside and outside the business

PR and media relations

• Run a busy proactive and reactive press office
• Build and maintain senior media relationships internationally
• Lead campaigns, announcements and thought leadership programmes from idea to coverage
• Draft and sign off press releases, statements, Q&As, briefing notes and leadership content  
• Prepare and brief spokespeople, including media training and interview preparation

Corporate Communications

• Deliver communications for GSA and the Group's corporate activity, including capital raises, joint ventures, acquisitions, disposals and other milestones
• Work closely with the Investor Relations, Legal and Finance teams so investor-facing messaging is consistent, accurate and well timed, and commercially sensitive information is protected
• Monitor policy and regulatory developments in our priority markets and assess what they mean for the business
• Develop policy positions, briefings and key messages with the Global Head of Communications and business leaders
• Coordinate consultation responses and Dot's participation in sector forums and coalitions

Reputation, issues and crisis

• Support on issues and crisis communications planning, protocols, scenario playbooks and holding statements
• Identify reputational risks early and advise on mitigation, working with Legal, Compliance, Operations and brand leaders
• Lead the communications response to live incidents across time zones, including out of normal working hours
• Run post-incident reviews and keep protocols tested and up to date
• Support regular reputational risk reporting to leadership and the Board

Insight, listening and measurement

• Translate insight from data into clear recommendations
• Set KPIs against an agreed baseline and report on performance, aligning to clear business outcomes  

Digital, content and GEO

• Oversee the corporate website(s) and social channels, ensuring accuracy, consistency and strong governance in line with brand guidelines and tone of voice
• Oversee content creation across written, visual and video formats
• Lead Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) to improve how Dot and its brands appear in AI-powered search tools

Events and platforms

• Shape the events, speaking and awards programme across industry, investor, higher-education and policy moments
• Oversee event communications, spokesperson positioning and follow-up content

Developing others

• Coach and develop more junior colleagues, building writing, media and insight capability across the team

Experience and Knowledge

Essential

• 8–10 years in external communications, in-house or agency, with a track record of leading the delivery of communications plans
• Communications experience across more than one region (e.g. UK, Europe, Middle East, US, APAC), including working across time zones and cultures
• Excellent writer and editor, able to adapt tone for different audiences
• Strong, established media relationships and a track record of securing quality coverage
• Proven experience in issues and crisis management, with sound judgement under pressure
• Corporate / B2B media experience in at least one of: real estate, financial services, or hospitality and leisure
• Understanding of institutional investor audiences and real estate investment, and experience working alongside Investor Relations, Finance or Legal on corporate announcements
• Public affairs, government relations or policy communications exposure
• Willingness to work flexibly, including out of hours and across time zones when issues arise

Desirable

• B2C communications experience in an operational, customer-facing business
• Experience using media and social listening tools and translating data into insight and recommendations
• Video storytelling experience: planning, scripting and directing content
• Experience of GEO, SEO or AI search visibility
• Sustainability / ESG communications experience
• Additional languages relevant to our markets

Personal Attributes & Competencies

• Delivery-focused: moves quickly from plan to action, prioritises well and gets results with a lean team
• Curious about the business, commercially minded and keen to build and own strategy over time
• Confident, credible adviser to senior leaders, able to challenge constructively
• Calm, sound judgement under pressure
• Insight-led: comfortable with data and able to turn it into a clear 'so what'
• Influences without authority across brands, functions and countries
• Global mindset and cultural awareness
• Coaches and develops others

What success looks like in year one

• The external communications plan delivered to agreed priorities, with a rolling 90-day calendar in place
• A tested issues and crisis protocol, with scenario playbooks and an out-of-hours rota
• The media and social listening platform live, with a regular insight report that leaders act on
• Measurable growth in quality coverage and share of voice in target media, against a baseline set in the first 90 days
• A public affairs monitoring and positioning framework for priority markets and issues
• Corporate and investor announcements delivered smoothly in partnership with Investor Relations
• A GEO baseline in place and measurable improvement in how Dot and its brands appear in AI search
• Ownership of defined areas of the next year's external communications strategy

Explore all opportunities across the Dot Group at

Benefits

Bonus scheme, Pension, Private Healthcare + other benefits.