Reporting to: Head of Communications

The B Corp Movement

B Lab UK is the home of the B Corp movement, a community of over 2,000 UK businesses who meet high standards of social and environmental performance, legal accountability, and transparency. Some B Corps you might have heard of include Innocent Drinks, Patagonia, Tony’s Chocolonely, Finisterre, Jude’s Ice Cream and WeTransfer. B Lab UK’s purpose is to redefine success in business through building a community of engaged businesses, raising awareness of the B Corp Movement and influencing policy change in the UK economy.

The Role

Part of a nimble communications team, the communications manager will own our corporate communications plan and activate external channels to build B Lab UK’s profile and enhance the B Corp Movement’s reputation. You will have an externally focused mindset, spotting opportunities for us to deliver our message amongst target audiences and build the organisation’s credibility as a leader in economic systems change. You will be an experienced manager and exceptional communicator with a big picture mindset and ability to translate complex topics into compelling stories. 

Key Responsibilities

The communications manager will play a central role in enhancing B Lab UK’s credibility by leveraging our corporate milestones, data, insights, partnerships and public affairs work to reach priority audiences. You will work closely with our campaigns team to influence policymakers and develop thought-leadership to make a compelling case for an alternative to business as usual. You will lead and optimise B Lab UK’s press office function, including monitoring and responding to reputational risk. 

Communications delivery:

• Driving the delivery of core components of the communication strategy, specifically owning our corporate communications, press office and acting as the first port of call for media issues management

• Developing and owning media strategies to increase the organisation’s influence, build knowledge of evolving standards and support our policy and public affairs ambitions. 

• Optimising the press office function, ensuring resources, processes and tools are in place to achieve objectives and key results

• Establish and leverage relationships with key journalists, aligned organisations and B Lab UK partners

• Monitor and respond to reputational risk, managing briefings, liaising with internal stakeholders and liaising with media 

• Lead B Lab UK’s thought leadership agenda to raise the SLT and organisation’s profile and establish us as a leader in economic systems change

• Oversee the PR reporting process, recommending additional tools, expertise and insights

• Keep across the trends in media and communications, attending events and conferences and networking to gain wider perspectives and experience

People and stakeholder management: 

• Line-manage members of the communications team, including the communications coordinator and leading our communications internship programme  

• Advise and work with the B Lab UK senior leadership team to build their profile, supplying briefings for events and interviews 

• Deputise for the head of communications where needed and work closely to support and/or lead across the communications department

• Procure and manage the day to day business of external communications providers (agency/freelance), monitoring and managing budgets, timelines and deliverables 

• Collaborate with managers across the organisation, leading on cross-organisational projects where necessary

• Consult with colleagues managing challenging communications enquiries

• Collaborate with B Lab network counterparts, ensuring UK communications plans align with B Lab Global and other regions

• Promote a respectful, diverse, equitable and inclusive work environment 

The successful candidate will have

• Experience writing briefs and procuring and managing agencies  

• People management experience within the communications specialism

• A strong news sense and prior experience of delivering media relations campaigns or developing news stories

• Excellent written and oral communications skills, enjoying writing opinion pieces and developing thought-leadership alongside senior leaders 

• Experience contributing to crisis communications processes and responses 

• A good understanding, interest or experience in the UK public affairs environment 

• Confident and inclusive team manager, taking a coaching attitude to upskill others

Desirable but not essential 

• Existing relationships with relevant media. National and business media is a plus

• Experience using media monitoring and distribution tools (eg. meltwater, roxhill, coverage book) 

• Experience working within the social and environmental impact sector or third sector 

• Great ability to build relationships and manage stakeholders – and comfortable interacting with a range of businesses and individuals 

About you: 

• You are passionate about sustainability, and specifically about the role that business can play in creating the future that benefits all people and the planet

• You are comfortable exploring complex topics and communicating them in a way that’s relevant for target audiences 

• Curious, creative and focused on the world outside, you are a natural newshound and keep up to date with current affairs and what’s making headlines

• You work collaboratively and have a team mentality 

• You are comfortable working in a fast paced environment which can be changeable and sometimes uncertain, no two days will be the same

• You enjoy big picture thinking and creating narratives to help others build understanding 

• Eligible to work in the UK (we do not hold a sponsorship licence and therefore, are not able to provide visa sponsorship)

What we give you

• Purpose driven work enabling B Lab UK’s mission of redefining the role of business as a force for good

• Hybrid and flexible working, we have a high trust environment and are advocates for right place working

• Hybrid working

• Flexible working hours (based around core working hours)

• Opportunity to work 4 days a week 

• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays (pro rata for part-time staff)

• 1 additional annual leave day (pro-rata for part-time staff) for each complete annual year of service, up to a maximum of 30 days

• Our office is closed between Christmas and New Year, no need to take extra holiday!

• Private Medical and Dental cover

• £200 per annum tax free Annual Wellbeing allowance and Employee Assistance Programme

• 2 paid volunteer days per year

• Enhanced Parental Leave and family-friendly policies, including carers leave

• Learning and Development opportunities

• Enhanced Pension and Life Assurance

• Cycle to Work Scheme

• Income Protection policy

• Working in a flexible office workspace

How to apply:

All applications must be made through Be Applied.

If we can offer accommodations for you in the recruitment process, please contact hiring@bcorporation.uk. 

We use a blind recruitment process, to avoid biased screening, where the initial selection is based on answers to predefined questions which are scored by a panel against predefined criteria for the role.

N.B. the anonomysed scoring panel does not see the applicant's CVs or any other information about them (until interview stage). Please ensure your answers to the questions are specific and give real examples of what you have done to demonstrate your experience and skills that are required for the role.

All candidates will be contacted after the initial screening process. The short-listing process will consist of at least 2 panel interviews. Candidates may be asked to prepare and present a task. Interviews will likely to be remote, and one conversational in-person interview.

B Lab believes an equitable and inclusive work environment and a diverse, empowered team are key to achieving our mission. We’re not looking for candidates who are “culture fits.” We’re looking for candidates who can expand our culture and challenge business as usual. We strive to foster an environment where all staff can bring themselves to work, and we strive to provide all candidates with an equitable and accessible recruitment process.