Senior PR and Communications Manager

King's College London; London; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading university in London is seeking a Senior PR and Communications Manager to enhance its reputation. In this role, you'll lead crisis communication strategies and cultivate relationships with media. The ideal candidate will have proven experience in managing communications, crafting compelling content, and advising senior colleagues during critical situations. This full-time position offers an indefinite contract with opportunities to contribute to significant events and campaigns.

Qualifications

• Proven experience working with media across print, broadcast, and digital.
• Experience managing crisis communications.
• Strong ability to craft and pitch stories to journalists.

Responsibilities

• Lead crisis communications response and provide expert advice.
• Develop and deliver compelling content across diverse channels.
• Build relationships with journalists and ensure effective communication.

Skills

Media relations

Crisis communications

Editorial judgement

Building relationships

Data evaluation tools

Cultural competence

Proactive and adaptable

Education

Degree level education or equivalent experience

Professional qualification in journalism, communications or PR

Job description

King’s College London is one of the world’s leading universities, supported by an award-winning Communications Team. With an ambitious vision for the future, clear and effective communications with our key audiences — including the media — are essential.

About The Role

As Senior PR and Communications Manager, you will play a pivotal role in protecting and enhancing King’s reputation. You will lead the university’s crisis communications response, providing expert advice and clear guidance to senior colleagues on messaging and lines to take. You will also build strong relationships with journalists and media outlets, ensuring that King’s strengths, research breakthroughs, and successes are communicated widely and effectively.

As a core member of the team, you will develop and deliver compelling content across a wide range of channels — from traditional print and broadcast media to digital platforms and social media. You will lead communications campaigns that engage staff, students and external stakeholders, and contribute to flagship events that showcase King’s and generate positive visibility nationally and internationally.

The role requires someone who can work confidently and constructively with colleagues across the university as well as with journalists and external stakeholders. They will need to communicate effectively across a wide range of channels — from traditional print and broadcast media to digital platforms and social media — ensuring our messages reach diverse audiences. The successful candidate will bring the maturity and expertise to offer sound advice under pressure, including in times of crisis, and the judgement to support senior colleagues in navigating sensitive or high-profile issues.

This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

• Educated to degree level or with equivalent professional experience.
• Strong track record of working with the media, either in communications or journalism, with experience spanning print, broadcast and digital.
• Proven experience of managing crisis communications and safeguarding organisational reputation.
• Excellent editorial judgement, news sense and the ability to craft, brief and pitch compelling stories to journalists.
• Skilled at building strong relationships and networks, with a collaborative approach to working across teams and with senior stakeholders.
• Proactive and adaptable: able to work independently with initiative, while also contributing effectively as part of a team.
• Enthusiastic self-starter with a positive and determined outlook.
• Experience of using data and evaluation tools to measure impact and drive continuous improvement.
• Knowledge and experience of working in the higher education sector.
• International experience including demonstrable cultural competence.
• A professional qualification in journalism, communications or PR.

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further Information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.

Seniority level

• Mid-Senior level

Employment type

• Full-time

Job function

• Management, Public Relations, and Project Management

Industries

• Public Relations and Communications Services and Higher Education