Internal Communications Manager

OpenWorks Engineering Ltd; Prudhoe; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 46,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary starting from £42,0

Discretionary annual bonus up to 25%

Up to 8% employer-matched pension

25 days holiday + public holidays + 5‑

Company breakfasts and lunches

Private healthcare

EV/cycle to work schemes

Regular team socials

£250 learning budget

Job summary

OpenWorks Engineering Ltd is seeking an Internal Communications Manager to strengthen culture, engagement and belonging across our UK and US sites. You will lead multi-channel initiatives, shape messaging, and ensure employees feel heard, valued, and connected to the company purpose.

Collaborating with stakeholders and our People & Talent team, you’ll develop intranet and newsletters, coordinate social events, CSR activities and employer branding to support growth in a defence-led engineering

Qualifications

• Pro-active, creative, and able to balance company direction with team needs.
• Embed the brand and culture while supporting organisational change.
• People-focused and engaging, build trust across teams and celebrate gaps.
• Experience in a fast-paced role with varied working styles and priorities.
• Line management experience required.

Responsibilities

• Work with internal stakeholders to enhance internal communications aligned to brand and strategy.
• Design, develop and deliver multi-channel initiatives for a diverse UK/US team.
• Develop and enhance channels: intranet, newsletters, community chats, and quarterly briefings.
• Lead company social events; manage social fund; create a social committee and activities.
• Partner with People & Talent to support employer branding in internal comms and recruitment.
• Support organisational listening and share insights with leadership.
• Lead Corporate Social Responsibility efforts with local stakeholders.

Skills

Pro-active mindset

Brand embodiment

Stakeholder engagement

Team leadership

Change management

Education

CIM / CIPR qualification (Desirable)

Job description

The Opportunity

We're looking for a Internal Communications Manager who is a people-focused communications professional to strengthen culture, engagement, and belonging through impactful internal communications.

The Opportunity

We're looking for a Internal Communications Manager who is a people-focused communications professional to strengthen culture, engagement, and belonging through impactful internal communications.

Role Summary

The Internal Communications Manager plays a key role in connecting employees to the organisation's purpose, strategy, and culture. Through engaging multi-channel communications, employee engagement initiatives, social events, and corporate social responsibility programmes, the role helps create an informed, connected, and motivated workforce across multiple locations. Working closely with stakeholders across the business, the role ensures employees feel heard, valued, and engaged while supporting a strong employer brand.

Who We Are

OpenWorks is a rapidly growing business operating globally with a passion for exceptional engineering and building on a legacy of defence innovation in the North East of England. Our products provide ultra-high performance, real-time detection, tracking, identification and targeting of dynamic aerial threats. They have been deployed internationally to protect high profile military and civilian assets, and contribute towards the defeat of nuisance, misguided and maliciously deployed drones during operations. We are very proud to have supported a wide range of law enforcement and military operators, protecting many of the most high profile sites and individuals around the world. The amazing things we do are only possible because of a dedicated and passionate team.

Security Vetting Information

OpenWorks Engineering operates within the defence sector. As part of our recruitment and onboarding processes, we collect information that may be required to support future security vetting and clearance requirements, should these become necessary during employment.

Why You'll Love Working With Us

Join a high-energy, collaborative team where great ideas thrive, challenges are embraced, and people genuinely love what they do.

Here’s what our benefits have to offer:

• Rewarding Success - Competitive salary, starting from £42,000, plus a discretionary annual bonus of up to 25% of salary alongside a structured pay progression framework.
• Enhanced Pension - Up to 8% employer-matched contributions to help you plan for the future.
• More Time to Recharge - 25 days' holiday plus public holidays, long-service rewards, and the option to buy up to 5 extra days.
• Breakfast & Lunch on Us - Enjoy team breakfasts and freshly prepared lunches every day courtesy of Chef Mark and his team.
• Health & Wellbeing - Private healthcare and life assurance for added peace of mind.
• Sustainable Travel - Salary sacrifice schemes, including EV car and Cycle to Work options.
• Team Socials - Regular events, from quiz nights and football to board games and more.
• Learning & Growth - A culture that empowers you to challenge, grow and make an impact, plus a £250 annual learning budget to invest in the development that matters most to you.

What you’ll be doing:

• Work with internal stakeholders to understand opportunities to enhance our internal communications, ensuring alignment with our brand, tone of voice and business strategy
• Design, develop and deliver impactful multi-channel initiatives taking into account the needs of a diverse team that works across multiple sites in the UK and U.S., and with different work settings
• Develop and enhance our existing channels, including our intranet, newsletter, community chats, and quarterly briefings
• Lead on our regular drumbeat of company social events, including managing our social fund, creating a social committee and delivering celebratory activities
• Partner with our People & Talent team to support brand representation in internal communications and recruitment efforts
• Support organisational listening, creating opportunities for employees to share insightful information with our leadership team
• Lead on our Corporate Social Responsibility strategy, developing relationships with key local stakeholders, and providing opportunities for our team to get involved in projects that matter to OpenWorks.

What we’re looking for:

Essential Skills, Experience And Attributes

• Pro-active, creative and discernible with a clear ability to balance company direction with the needs of our team
• Embody our brand and culture while supporting change
• Personable and engaging, able to build trust across our range of teams to understand where we have gaps and where there are opportunities to celebrate
• Experience in a similar role in a fast-paced environment with different working styles and patterns, with a proven ability to manage competing requirements
• Line management experience is required for the role

Desirable Skills, Experience And Attributes

• A relevant qualification or engagement with the Chartered Institute of Marketing or Chartered Institute of Public Relations
• Experience within a technical, engineering, manufacturing, defence or other complex B2B environment
• Experience developing internal communications strategies and channel plans, including intranets, newsletters, employee engagement platforms and company-wide briefings
• Experience supporting organisational change, communicating business transformation and culture-building initiatives, particularly within a growing organisation

More about us:

Vision

Help protect the territory and airspace of NATO countries and their allies.

Mission

Be a world-leading provider of autonomous technology for Surveillance applications and Defence

Values

• Be a Good Egg: Earn respect, have mutual trust and be honest
• Do cool stuff: We develop cool tech with an awesome team, and we get stuff done
• Be empowered: We are autonomous, reliable and take personal responsibility
• We are one team: Look out for each other and the team
• Things go wrong: Fail fast, learn and move on
• Have fun: We're doing amazing things with passionate people
• We Get It Done: Focus on what matters and work with energy to bring ideas to life