What is the opportunity?

Reporting to Senior Director, Global Marketing, the Senior Manager, Public Relations and Communications will be responsible for developing and implementing comprehensive communication strategies that enhance the organization’s brand image, promote positive relationships with key stakeholders, including analysts and research firms (such as Gartner, Celent, and others), and drive overall business objectives.

In this role, you will be at the forefront of developing and executing robust communication plans that align with the organization’s overarching goals and objectives. As a thought leader, you will drive our PR efforts, building a pipeline of subject matter experts, and expertly managing external communications from conception to execution. Your influence will extend to innovative and impactful communication tactics delivered across diverse external channels. 

Beyond this, you will play a pivotal role in providing strategic guidance for regional and global stakeholders and researching opportunities to elevate leader profiles at both regional and global levels. Collaborating closely with key stakeholders, including global public relations agencies, you will be instrumental in handling brand awareness, reputation and issues management, advising on PR protocol and key messages. Your expertise will extend to crisis communication, and establishing key performance indicators for continuous improvement, making you an indispensable asset to our growing team. 

Mode of Work: Hybrid

What will you do:

• Develop and implement an external communications framework to ensure consistent messaging and brand voice across all channels
• Develop and execute strategic communication plans aligned with the organization’s goals and objectives
• Govern and oversee the adherence to communication standards and protocols globally
• Collaborate with global PR agencies across regions. Provide strategic guidance and supervision, ensuring their efforts contribute to the overall success of the communication strategy
• Build and maintain strong relationships with media outlets, journalists, influencers, analysts, and research firms
• Collaborate with leadership to identify key messages and communication priorities. Lead the development of thought leadership content to help position the organization as a key influencer or contributor towards industry topics
• Work collaboratively with digital and design teams with a view to client-facing campaigns, ensuring messaging alignment where needed with the organizations thought leadership
• Lead/collaborate with the marketing copywriter for the creation of compelling content for various channels, including press releases, articles, blog posts, and social media
• Ensure consistency in messaging across all communication platforms
• Manage editorial calendars for all channels ensuring alignment with business priorities and technology roadmap
• Facilitate communication training for key staff members
• Develop and maintain a crisis communication plan
• Act as the primary point of contact during crisis situations, managing communication to internal and external stakeholders
• Manage Zafin’s reputation by collaborating with colleagues to provide issues and crisis communications support including drafting reactive and proactive messaging and fielding inbound inquiries for media and clients
• Ensure all communications initiatives have clear goals, metrics and a measurement approach that fosters continuous improvement and a return on investment. Monitor, measure, and report on the effectiveness of communication strategies
• Use data to continually refine and improve communication initiatives
• Partner with People & Culture team to align on internal communications messaging to drive employee engagement, champion Zafin culture and support execution of enterprise business objectives
• Define key metrics to measure, monitor and report progress on public relations/ media relations efforts/performance, strategy execution and driving external engagement through media placement, paid, earned, and owned opportunities

What do I need to succeed?

Must Have:

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, Public Relations, Marketing, or a related field
• Master’s degree in a relevant field is a plus
• Continuous professional development and training in the latest trends and best practices in communication and public relations
• Proficiency in English (written and spoken)
• Bilingualism in English and French is considered an asset
• 8-10+ years of experience in corporate communications public relations for a B2B company selling technology or software solutions 
• Track record of developing strategic, impactful communications plans that deliver quantifiable results aligned with business priorities and integrated across traditional and digital channels
• Compelling storyteller with a strategic and analytical mindset who can engage and educate to influence and motivate internal and external stakeholders
• Proven experience in direct media and analyst relations
• Demonstrated strategic media planning and implementation
• Intellectual curiosity and deep understanding of key economic and business trends
• Exceptional writing skills, including drafting OpEds, editing articles, crafting press releases, and overseeing interviews with senior leaders
• Strong ability to develop a strategic PR approach aligned with business priorities
• Familiarity with the integration of social media into PR campaigns
• Excellent interpersonal skills, stakeholder management skills, and ability to work in a matrix organization
• Ability to execute under tight timelines, pressure, and competing priorities with limited supervision
• Ability to think and plan both tactically and strategically