External Communications Manager

About Dot
Dot is home to a set of businesses united by a bold ambition: to redefine student living and support over one million students each year.

Spanning 180+ cities in 30 countries, our companies include, Global Student Accommodation (GSA), Yugo and Student.com. Together, we bring global scale and local insight, powered by more than 2000 passionate people. We believe progress happens when people come together with purpose. We're committed to building long term value through everything we do. With three decades of continuous evolution, Dot's strength lies in how we work. We are pioneering, purposeful and positive, driving smart, sustainable growth across our portfolio. We connect expertise with opportunity to turn ideas into impact and momentum into lasting change

Our Values
At Dot, we live and work by our values every day:

Pioneering:

With three decades of groundbreaking achievements and a passion for international expansion, our distinctive proposition remains stronger than ever.

Purposeful:

Every action we take is intentional, designed to align with our values and create lasting benefits for our people, communities, and the planet.

Positive:

We tackle challenges with resilience and seek to create a supportive and empowering environment for our teams and communities.

Role Purpose
You will lead the delivery of external communications for Dot and its portfolio companies, turning the Group's communications strategy into high-impact plans and results across media relations, public affairs, corporate communications, digital content and events.

Working closely with the Global Head of Communications, you will own delivery and move quickly, while building the experience to shape strategy yourself. You will be one of the Group's senior media voices, a trusted adviser to leaders on reputation, and the first line of defence when issues arise across our 30 countries.

Key Responsibilities
Planning and delivery

Translate the Group's external communications strategy into an annual plan with clear priorities, owners and measures

Own delivery of the plan at pace, focusing on delivering impact and balancing the priorities of multiple brands and markets

Contribute to the development of strategy, narratives and messaging frameworks, taking increasing ownership of defined areas of strategy over time

Apply the Group messaging framework across all businesses so each brand speaks in its own voice to tell one Group story

Work in partnership with brand and marketing teams to align commercial priorities and spot cross-brand opportunities

Coordinate with Internal Communications so colleagues hear significant news first and announcements land consistently, inside and outside the business

PR and media relations

Run a busy proactive and reactive press office

Build and maintain senior media relationships internationally

Lead campaigns, announcements and thought leadership programmes from idea to coverage

Draft and sign off press releases, statements, Q&As, briefing notes and leadership content

Prepare and brief spokespeople, including media training and interview preparation

Corporate Communications

Deliver communications for GSA and the Group's corporate activity, including capital raises, joint ventures, acquisitions, disposals and other milestones

Work closely with the Investor Relations, Legal and Finance teams so investor-facing messaging is consistent, accurate and well timed, and commercially sensitive information is protected

Monitor policy and regulatory developments in our priority markets and assess what they mean for the business

Develop policy positions, briefings and key messages with the Global Head of Communications and business leaders

Coordinate consultation responses and Dot's participation in sector forums and coalitions

Reputation, issues and crisis

Support on issues and crisis communications planning, protocols, scenario playbooks and holding statements

Identify reputational risks early and advise on mitigation, working with Legal, Compliance, Operations and brand leaders

Lead the communications response to live incidents across time zones, including out of normal working hours

Run post-incident reviews and keep protocols tested and up to date

Support regular reputational risk reporting to leadership and the Board

Insight, listening and measurement

Translate insight from data into clear recommendations

Set KPIs against an agreed baseline and report on performance, aligning to clear business outcomes

Digital, content and GEO

Oversee the corporate website(s) and social channels, ensuring accuracy, consistency and strong governance in line with brand guidelines and tone of voice

Oversee content creation across written, visual and video formats

Lead Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) to improve how Dot and its brands appear in AI-powered search tools

Events and platforms

Shape the events, speaking and awards programme across industry, investor, higher-education and policy moments

Oversee event communications, spokesperson positioning and follow-up content

Developing others

Coach and develop more junior colleagues, building writing, media and insight capability across the team

Experience and Knowledge
Essential

8–10 years in external communications, in-house or agency, with a track record of leading the delivery of communications plans

Communications experience across more than one region (e.g. UK, Europe, Middle East, US, APAC), including working across time zones and cultures

Excellent writer and editor, able to adapt tone for different audiences

Strong, established media relationships and a track record of securing quality coverage

Proven experience in issues and crisis management, with sound judgement under pressure

Corporate / B2B media experience in at least one of: real estate, financial services, or hospitality and leisure

Understanding of institutional investor audiences and real estate investment, and experience working alongside Investor Relations, Finance or Legal on corporate announcements

Public affairs, government relations or policy communications exposure

Willingness to work flexibly, including out of hours and across time zones when issues arise

Desirable

B2C communications experience in an operational, customer-facing business

Experience using media and social listening tools and translating data into insight and recommendations

Video storytelling experience: planning, scripting and directing content

Experience of GEO, SEO or AI search visibility

Sustainability / ESG communications experience

Additional languages relevant to our markets

Personal Attributes & Competencies

Delivery-focused: moves quickly from plan to action, prioritises well and gets results with a lean team

Curious about the business, commercially minded and keen to build and own strategy over time

Confident, credible adviser to senior leaders, able to challenge constructively

Calm, sound judgement under pressure

Insight-led: comfortable with data and able to turn it into a clear 'so what'

Influences without authority across brands, functions and countries

Global mindset and cultural awareness

Coaches and develops others

What success looks like in year one

The external communications plan delivered to agreed priorities, with a rolling 90-day calendar in place

A tested issues and crisis protocol, with scenario playbooks and an out-of-hours rota

The media and social listening platform live, with a regular insight report that leaders act on

Measurable growth in quality coverage and share of voice in target media, against a baseline set in the first 90 days

A public affairs monitoring and positioning framework for priority markets and issues

Corporate and investor announcements delivered smoothly in partnership with Investor Relations

A GEO baseline in place and measurable improvement in how Dot and its brands appear in AI search

Ownership of defined areas of the next year's external communications strategy

Explore all opportunities across the Dot Group at https://careers.thedotgroup.com

Bonus scheme, Pension, Private Healthcare + other benefits.

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