PR and communications manager

This is an exciting opportunity for an individual to combine corporate communications with team/individual profile-raising PR activities. The individual will liaise with partners and senior lawyers across the firm on a daily basis advising on external communication strategies and overseeing media opportunities and will have regular contact with senior management for firm-related communications.

As a small PR team, this role will be fundamental to the firm’s overall perception in the market, managing both the opportunities and the challenges of maintaining the firm’s reputation. Profile raising is a key priority for senior management.

About Macfarlanes

We are a distinctive London-based law firm with a unique combination of services built and shaped around the needs of our clients. Our unrivalled blend of expertise, agility and culture means we have the flexibility to meet their most challenging demands and adapt to the changing world around us. While many of our services can be found at other firms, the mix cannot.

We find, recruit and train talented people from all backgrounds, building careers for the long term, to one day shape and lead the firm. We know each other personally which means we work together with more cohesion, and less formality. Our culture is thoughtful, challenging and supportive, and we are a place where everyone, at whatever level, can thrive. We remain focused on equal treatment in recruitment, retention and promotion.

The team

The PR and communications manager role sits within the firm’s marketing and business development team. The individual will report into the Director of Marketing and Business Development and line manage a PR and communications executive.

The individual will work closely with the Managing Partner, Senior Partner, the business development team, the Head of Brand and Marketing, the Head of Internal Communications and the wider partnership.

The role

Duties will include:

Corporate communications

• drafting and managing the external roll-out of key corporate communications such as partner hires and departures, financial results, surveys and other strategic firm announcements with the support of our PR agency;
• overseeing media engagement with national, trade and legal press;
• day to day issues management with the support of our PR agency;
• if it were to arise, working with our PR agency/another agency, in relation to crisis communications. This will include co-ordinating closely with the internal comms team;
• drafting, proofreading and editing strategic communications on behalf of the firm to a variety of external audiences; and
• managing the firm’s awards programme.

Practice area PR

• working closely with the practice heads, partners and business development team to proactively execute practice group profile raising initiatives with industry press in line with group priorities – including positioning partners as experts on particular topics through proactive pitching, news hijacking, campaigns and roundtables;
• scouring the newspapers, online sources and social media to identify PR opportunities through hot topics and liaising with fee-earners to generate news stories and PR hooks targeting key national and trade press;
• building and nurturing relationships with press contacts in target media, including national, trade and legal publications to generate media coverage that supports the firms objectives;
• drafting and issuing press releases, articles and media briefing documents with the support of the PR and communications executive;
• responding to incoming enquiries from the press;
• providing best practice PR advice and guidance including preparing partners for all media interviews and providing media training to key stakeholders;
• managing the reporting of PR activities to senior management with the support of the PR and communications executive;
• conducting daily media monitoring with the support of the PR and communications executive; and
• assisting with other profile-raising related activities such as award submissions and social media campaigns with the support of the PR and communications executive and the digital team.

This job description encompasses the main duties of the role and is by no means exhaustive. It is anticipated that duties may vary from time to time according to the needs of the department.

The candidate

The successful candidate will be an experienced PR and communications professional who can demonstrate a successful track record in-house within professional services or agency-side working with professional services clients.

Key skills:

• strong PR experience in professional services or professional services PR agency, with demonstrable experience of working with the UK media;
• ability to build and maintain relationships within the organisation, with journalists and other external audiences;
• excellent influencing skills with the ability to establish credibility quickly at senior levels;
• outstanding written and verbal communication skills including reputational management, media relations, copywriting and editing;
• exceptional attention to detail and accuracy;
• strong project management skills;
• capability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines with sound judgement; and
• team oriented, flexible and display a consistently positive attitude with a can-do approach.

Application screening

Any offer of employment with us is subject to our pre-employment checks which are conducted by a third-party screening provider. These may include but are not limited to your professional and academic qualifications, any criminal records and employment references. These checks will be initiated with your consent and your offer will be subject to the successful completion of these checks.

Our commitment to inclusion

We are committed to increasing the diversity of our employees and partners. Improving diversity is one of our key priorities and it is a goal we are actively working towards. We believe that an inclusive, forward-thinking culture is intrinsically important and enables us to provide innovative solutions to our clients.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, bringing different perspectives and experiences, making Macfarlanes an exciting and stimulating place to work. We seek to recruit the best candidates, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, social or economic background, religion, disability, sexual orientation or any other characteristic.

As part of this commitment, we will ask you certain diversity questions. We would really appreciate you and/or your recruiter completing these questions when submitting an application to Macfarlanes as this data enables us to measure our progress towards improving the diversity of our applicants, and ultimately, our hires. This data is anonymised to maintain the privacy of applicants. If you have any questions relating to how this data is used, please contact a member of the recruitment team.

Should you require any adjustments during the application and/or interview process, please do not hesitate to inform your recruiter or a member of the recruitment team. Please note, the job description is available in other accessible formats (for example, large print).

We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who best meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme, please email the recruitment team at recruitment@macfarlanes.com.