Communications Lead, Europe

Freenow by Lyft; Barcelona; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working arrangements

Sabbatical & special leave policies

WeRoad partnership

Birthday, 24th + 31st December off

Mobility Credit

Health Insurance

Employee assistance program

Job summary

Freenow by Lyft seeks a Communications Lead, Europe to steer external communications across Europe, build Lyft’s reputation, and protect its narrative in a dynamic market. You’ll shape AI-driven discovery, coordinate with policy, and guide a team of five across multiple European markets.

You will lead flagship messaging, executive visibility, and regional media relations, reporting to the Director of Corporate Communications.

Qualifications

• Extensive senior communications experience across multiple markets, including crisis management.
• Proven ability to build relationships across organizational boundaries and time zones.
• Experience shaping reputation, discoverability and executive visibility in a tech/ mobility context.
• Experience with both in-house teams and external agencies is preferred.
• Fluency in Spanish and English is required for stakeholder interaction across Europe.

Responsibilities

• Own external communications strategy across Europe to drive brand awareness and consideration.
• Create pitches and content to advance Lyft’s overall narrative.
• Lead planning for senior leader visibility and interview/speaking engagements.
• Coordinate with Public Policy on regulatory and industry issues and crisis messaging.
• Lead Spanish-market consumer and corporate comms and manage local media relationships.
• Manage a team of communicators across European markets and oversee agency support.
• Analyze data to optimize strategies and maximize impact.

Skills

Senior communications experience

Multi-market leadership

Crisis communications

International stakeholder management

AI-driven media strategy

Executive communications

Budget & ROI management

In-house & agency experience

Spanish & English fluency

Job description

At Freenow by Lyft, we are on a mission to empower smarter mobility decisions, helping people to move freely and cities to thrive.

We are looking for a Communications Lead, Europe to lead our external communications strategy across the region. This person will be responsible for building Lyft’s reputation, visibility and credibility across Europe, during a major period of growth and transformation, overseeing all communications for our growth in current and future European markets, and protecting the company’s reputation along the way. This role also means shaping how Lyft is discovered and understood in an AI-first information landscape, from how the brand surfaces in search and AI-driven answers to how audiences form perceptions of Lyft.

In this role, you’ll be a key leader in the development of strategic planning, proactive media engagement, and tactical execution of our communications strategies, as well as being a trusted advisor to internal and external stakeholders.

Successful candidates will be able to balance multiple priorities across Lyft’s global business. You will ensure that Lyft speaks with one clear voice while maintaining the local relevance and credibility needed in individual markets. Ideally, you’ll have previous experience leading global communications teams, supporting high-visibility and business-critical announcements, interfacing cross-functionally with both internal and external teams, and being a trusted advisor to executives.

This is an opportunity to join a creative, collaborative team and help tell the next chapter of the Lyft growth story. The role reports to the Director of Corporate Communications.

YOUR DAILY ADVENTURES WILL INCLUDE:

• Own Lyft's external communications strategy across Europe, driving brand awareness, favorability, and consideration in service of growth across traditional channels and next-generation discovery surfaces, ensuring Lyft's narrative holds up wherever European audiences are forming opinions.
• Partner with communications colleagues to create pitches, stories and content to advance Lyft’s overall narrative.
• Create and maintain messaging on Lyft’s Europe presence, operations and performance aligned with the company’s global narrative.
• Partner with Executive Communications Manager to build a plan for senior leader visibility in the region; help evaluate opportunities; support prep doc creation and by staffing interviews/speaking engagements/filming videos/etc.
• Partner closely with Public Policy to develop communications strategies around regulatory, policy and industry issues and position Lyft as a credible voice in the future of mobility.
• Lead reactive and crisis communications planning for European issues and high-profile reputational challenges, including drafting messaging, building outreach plans for external stakeholders, and serving as spokesperson when needed. Partner with Legal, Public Policy, Operations and leadership on sensitive issues.
• Lead Spanish-market consumer and corporate communications, liaise with local and European policy leaders on regional issues/campaigns, manage local agency support, and build relationships with local media in key cities.
• Manage a team of 5 communicators spread across European markets; oversee global and local agency support.
• Analyze data and insights to optimize communication strategies and maximize impact.

TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THIS ROLE:

• Extensive senior communications experience, including leading multi-market teams and managing crisis communications
• Previous experience managing international communications teams; a track record of building strong relationships across organizational and geographical boundaries, managing senior stakeholders, and working in cross-functional teams; ability to effectively work across time zones and languages.
• Interest in how reputation and discoverability are evolving in an AI-driven media environment. Comfortable thinking beyond traditional earned/social metrics to newer signals like AI search visibility and answer-engine representation. Experience or strong point of view on this a plus, but curiosity and adaptability matter most.
• Experience working in technology, mobility, transportation, platforms, consumer technology or another complex, highly regulated industry.
• Ability to fluidly navigate between strategy and execution (can develop high-level strategic plans and also ensure high-quality execution).
• Proven success building strategic communications plans across external channels including owned, earned, social, and emerging media.
• Expertise in corporate reputation, executive communications and strategic media relations.
• Comfortable with a collaborative style of working, is flexible, adaptable and has a willingness to learn from peers and other team members.
• Ability to navigate and negotiate obstacles, can pivot with ease, highly organized and knows how to manage difficult conversations.
• Budget and reporting: experience managing multi-market regional budgets, optimizing resource allocation, managing agency retainers, and delivering measurable ROI across campaigns.
• Experience both in-house and agency preferred.
• Fluency in Spanish and English is required due to regular interaction with local external stakeholders and international internal teams.
• Experience working directly with global, national, international and local media to shape stories proactively and reactively, driven by a deep understanding of the EU media landscape and current European news agenda.

BENEFITS & PERKS IN A NUTSHELL:

• Flexible working arrangements
• Sabbatical & special leave policies
• WeRoad partnership
• Birthday, 24th + 31st December off
• Mobility Credit
• Health Insurance
• Employee assistance program

Plus more local benefits depending on your work location!

DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION:

Freenow by Lyft is an equal opportunity employer and we consider qualified applicants regardless of race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or age. We want you to grow and evolve, bring your true self to work .

ABOUT FREENOW:

Freenow by Lyft empowers smarter mobility decisions, helping people to move freely and cities to thrive. Through our multi-mobility app, we feature broad options for everyone across 9 European markets and over 180 cities. Millions of passengers can access services including taxis, private hire vehicles, carsharing, car rental, e-scooters, e-bikes, e-mopeds, and public transport within a single app.

In July 2025 Freenow was acquired by Lyft, a global mobility platform, which connects riders and drivers for billions of rides across North America and Europe. Together, Freenow and Lyft are creating a more caring and connected world, with transportation for everyone. We are a global, diverse, highly motivated, and collaborative team that strives for excellence and likes to have fun. Ready for your next ride?