Head of External Communications & Media

Affinity Water; Hatfield; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave 26-30 days

Double match pension scheme

Family benefits

Wellbeing centre

Volunteer days

Job summary

Affinity Water is seeking a Head of External Communications & Media in Hatfield to lead our brand strategy and customer-facing communications. Reporting to the Director of Customer Experience, this senior role will define, protect, and deliver our brand across written, digital, social, web, campaigns and events, leading a team of about 18.

You will steer external communications, ensure messages are accessible, collaborate with senior leaders and agencies, and use data to continually build trust

Qualifications

• Senior leadership experience in brand, marketing, events, or customer communications.
• Strong digital, social media, and campaign experience.
• Excellent written, editorial, and presentation skills.
• Experience influencing executive and board-level stakeholders.
• Passion for customers, sustainability and organisational purpose.
• Understanding customer journeys in service-based organisations.
• Experience in regulated environments (e.g. Ofwat).
• Track record delivering large-scale campaigns and managing agencies.

Responsibilities

• Own external brand and customer communications strategy.
• Oversee campaigns, events, digital content, and channel communications.
• Use customer insight and performance metrics to drive improvements.
• Collaborate with senior leaders and manage external agencies.
• Maintain governance frameworks and use data to drive improvements.
• Participate on Emergency Controller standby rota.

Skills

Senior leadership

Brand & marketing

Digital & social media

Campaign management

Stakeholder management

Written & presentation

Executive stakeholder influence

Customer focus

Regulated environment

Agency management

Job description

We are looking for a Head of External Communications & Media to lead our brand strategy and customer-facing communications. Reporting to the Director of Customer Experience, this senior leadership role will define, protect, and deliver our brand across written, digital, social, web, campaigns, and events. You will lead a team of approximately 18 colleagues, championing the voice of the customer and building meaningful engagement.

The Role

You will own our external brand and customer communications strategy, ensuring messages are clear, consistent, and accessible. You’ll oversee campaigns, events, digital content, and channel communications, using customer insight and performance metrics to drive continuous improvement and trust in the Affinity Water brand.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and manage brand strategy, tone of voice, and voice of the customer across all external communications
• Ensure communications are consistent, accessible, and mapped to customer journeys
• Lead campaigns, events, digital content, and social communications that build engagement and trust
• Collaborate with senior leaders and manage external agencies to deliver high-quality campaigns
• Maintain governance frameworks and use data and insight to drive continuous improvement
• Participation on Emergency Controller standby rota

About You

We are looking for a strategic, creative, and customer-focused leader with a proven track record in brand, marketing, or communications.

• Senior leadership in brand, marketing, events, or customer communications
• Strong digital, social media, and campaign experience
• Excellent written, editorial, and presentation skills
• Experience influencing Executive and Board-level stakeholders
• Passion for customers, sustainability, and organisational purpose
• Understanding of customer journeys in service-based organisations
• Experience in regulated environments (e.g. Ofwat)
• Track record of delivering large-scale campaigns and managing agencies

Skills and attributes:

• Strategic thinking and creativity with attention to detail
• Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills
• Confident using data and insight to guide decisions
• Ability to mobilise teams to deliver ambitious results

Advert closes: Friday 9th October

• Salary circa £100,000 dependant on skills and experience
• Minimum 2 days per week in our Hatfield office
• Learning and development opportunities, including mentoring and a range of formal courses and open learning resources.
• Entry into the Senior Manager bonus scheme.
• Annual leave from 26-30 rising with length of service, and the option to purchase up to 5 extra days.
• A ‘Celebration Day’ in addition to public holidays that people can use to celebrate a religious festival or other occasion that is important to them.
• A generous 'double match pension scheme' that doubles the contributions you make (company contribution capped at 12%)
• We offer a range of family benefits including enhanced Maternity, Adoption, Paternity, Shared Parental Leave, Fertility Support Leave and up to 5 full or 10 half days of paid Carers Leave.
• Menopause policy and Reasonable Adjustment policy to help everyone perform at their best.
• Access to our Wellbeing Centre with support for looking after your physical and mental health.
• Discounts at a Range of Retail Outlets through our Tap4Perks scheme
• Discounts on Dental and Medical Insurance through our Tap4Perks scheme through salary sacrifice
• Up to 4 Affinity days a year to volunteer in the community.
• Life Assurance.

Disability Confident

As a Disability Confident employer, we’re committed to offering interviews to disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria and opt in on the application form. Ask the Talent Acquisition lead for the full job description to see all the criteria. If we have a very high volume of applicants and we’re not able to offer interviews to all, we’ll take a fair and proportionate number of disabled candidates through.

Affinity Water recognises the benefits of greater diversity in our workforce to better reflect the communities we serve. We are committed to building a more inclusive culture where every member of our workforce can thrive.

You can find out what it’s like to work at Affinity Water through our career site https://www.affinitywatercareers.co.uk/ where our colleagues share their career development stories and you can get a feel for our company culture.