Senior Communications Manager, UK

Whatnot; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading live shopping platform is seeking a Senior Communications Manager based in London to shape their storytelling across varied priorities. The role focuses on building relationships with media, executing high-profile campaigns, and managing crisis communications. Ideal candidates will have over 7 years of public relations experience, strong communication skills, and a proactive approach in a fast-paced environment. This position offers flexibility to work from home or onsite in London, along with a comprehensive benefits package.

Benefits

Generous Holiday and Time off Policy

Health Insurance options

Work From Home Support

Care benefits

Retirement plans

Paid parental leave

Qualifications

• 7+ years of Public Relations or corporate communications experience.
• Experience developing key messages and content for media.
• Comfortable with crisis management and operational challenges.

Responsibilities

• Lead the communication strategy in the UK for Whatnot.
• Advance Whatnot’s brand and build media relationships.
• Manage crisis communication and issues management.

Skills

Public Relations experience

Written and verbal communication skills

Understanding of the media landscape

Crisis management experience

Job description

Join the Future of Commerce with Whatnot!

Whatnot is the largest live shopping platform in North America and Europe to buy, sell, and discover the things you love. We’re re‐defining e‑commerce by blending community, shopping, and entertainment into a community just for you. As a remote co‑located team, we’re inspired by innovation and anchored in our values. With hubs in the US, UK, Germany, Ireland, and Poland, we’re building the future of online marketplaces –together.

From fashion, beauty, and electronics to collectibles like trading cards, comic books, and even live plants, our live auctions have something for everyone.

And we’re just getting started! As one of the fastest growing marketplaces, we’re looking for bold, forward‑thinking problem solvers across all functional areas. Check out the latest Whatnot updates on our news and engineering blogs and join us as we enable anyone to turn their passion into a business, and bring people together through commerce.

Role

The Communications team at Whatnot works across all areas of the business in both a proactive and reactive capacity, and helps to shape and protect external and internal perceptions of Whatnot. We’re hiring for an experienced Senior Communications Manager to lead our storytelling across a range of corporate, Trust & Safety, consumer, and policy‑related priorities in the UK. This role will be based in London and report into our VP, Communications.

In this role, you will be responsible for developing and leading our communications strategy in the UK, highlighting the power of live commerce and our incredible sellers, while building credibility in our platform as a trusted place to build a business and discover things you love. You’ll be an integral part of the team in building Whatnot’s brand and reputation, including media relations, crisis communications and external communication. In this role, you’ll:

• Advance Whatnot’s brand externally: Build and leverage exceptional relationships with media and other third parties to educate key audiences on Whatnot’s business, policies and values.
• Create high‑profile corporate and consumer campaigns: Work closely with company leaders to plan, develop and execute communications plans that tell the story of Whatnot and live shopping. Synthesize research, media and industry insights to identify areas of risk and opportunities to support larger business goals.
• Build and scale issues management: Manage company response for crisis and navigate high‑profile escalations in real‑time with key stakeholders. Establish and own a communications playbook for strategic and rapid response best practices.

We offer flexibility to work from home or from one of our global office hubs, and we value in‑person time for planning, problem‑solving, and connection. Team members in this role must live within commuting distance of our London, UK hub.

You

Curious about who thrives at Whatnot? We’ve found that low ego, a growth mindset, and leaning into action and high impact goes a long way here.

As our Senior Communications Manager, you should have 7+ years of Public Relations or corporate communications experience, plus:

• A strong understanding of the media, cultural, and policy landscape in the UK
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with experience developing key messages and content for media as well as owned and operated channels
• A self starter who is able to prioritize in challenging situations and balance between two‑sided community needs and business and seller priorities
• Experience working on Trust & Safety issues and crisis management
• You are comfortable operating on a small team and will get in the weeds to produce results in a highly ambiguous environment. You are scrappy and no job is too small.
• A curiosity and interest in doing things differently to promote Whatnot and our business

Benefits

• Generous Holiday and Time off Policy
• Health Insurance options including Medical, Dental, Vision
• Work From Home Support
  • Home office setup allowance
  • Monthly allowance for cell phone and internet
• Care benefits
  • Monthly allowance for wellness
  • Annual allowance towards Childcare
  • Lifetime benefit for family planning, such as adoption or fertility expenses
• Retirement; 401k offering for Traditional and Roth accounts in the US (employer match up to 4% of base salary) and Pension plans internationally
• Monthly allowance to dogfood the app
  • All Whatnauts are expected to develop a deep understanding of our product. We're passionate about building the best user experience, and all employees are expected to use Whatnot as both a buyer and a seller as part of their job (our dogfooding budget makes this fun and easy!).
• Parental Leave
  • 16 weeks of paid parental leave + one month gradual return to work *company leave allowances run concurrently with country leave requirements which take precedence.

Please find our Whatnot Candidate Privacy Notice here.

EOE

Whatnot is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value diversity, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, parental status, disability status, or any other status protected by local law. We believe that our work is better and our company culture is improved when we encourage, support, and respect the different skills and experiences represented within our workforce.