Head of Corporate Communications & Engagement
in the Corporate Affairs & Engagement Team
When you look at L’Oréal, what do you see? If all you see is lipstick, look again and experience the Freedom to go Beyond the ordinary. That’s the beauty of L’Oréal. We operate in 150 countries on 5 continents. With 36 international brands and 86,000 employees worldwide, we’re well on our way to fulfilling our common purpose: to create beauty that moves the world.
By 2030 we want to capture over another 1 billion consumers around the world. How? By creating cosmetic products which meet the infinite diversity of consumers beauty needs and desires, and always through digital innovation. Not only that, but taking our sustainability goals seriously; moving us to a more inclusive and sustainable society, for every generation.
Our brands, dynamic culture, and always being our own challenger mean that we offer freedom and opportunity you won’t get anywhere else.
If you want the Freedom to go Beyond, we’ll see you at L’Oréal.
Our Corporate Division supports the 4000+ strong workforce in L’Oréal UK & Ireland. It’s a fast-paced and dynamic environment when you’ll have visibility over our 4 Divisions and play an integral role in moving our business forward.
We embrace our entrepreneurial spirit in everything we do, always challenging ourselves to new ways of doing things. That means looking for innovative solutions, sustainable developments, and having the freedom to go beyond the ordinary.
Our founder Eugène Schueller once said that “a company is not walls and machines, it’s people, people, people”. Joining our corporate teams means joining the world leader in beauty, at the cutting edge of innovation. But above all, it means becoming part of a team of talented and inspiring people.
You Will...
• You’ll be a multi-faceted professional, a brilliant organiser, excellent communicator, and a quick-thinking, natural problem solver
• You’re proactive and hands-on, comfortable moving between strategy ideation and tactical delivery
• You’re calm under pressure, resilient and manage ambiguity and complexity well
• You act with integrity and discretion and you’re confident in building relationships at all levels
• You’ll have demonstrable experience of both proactive and reactive media relations, with a passion for storytelling
• Your bias for action, growth mindset and project management skills mean you take charge of your topic area, you’re confident to act and work independently and balance long-term strategic projects with short-term changing priorities well
• You thrive in a fast-paced environment and can work under pressure to tight deadlines
• You have a passion for and an understanding of the impact of issues management in building reputation
Your key job accountabilities:
• Protect & secure the Groupe´s reputation by anticipating, mitigating, and managing reputational risk – as the Issues & Crisis lead
• Proactively identify and anticipate both internal and external issues, establishing robust procedures, policies and positions to ensure best in class preparedness and management
• Establish tools and processes to identify and monitor a full range of issues with the potential to negatively impact reputation. Lead and carry out ongoing management of those tools including issues listening, horizon scanning and mapping
• Lead the development of response strategies and positioning on key issues, creating relevant materials, working in partnership with local, regional and global teams for alignment and validation
• Lead on the media handling of key reputational issues and stories
• Develop messaging and narratives on critical topics for all key audience groups, drafting position papers, FAQs and reactive statements as required, ensuring effective positions and materials are in place as needed
• Champion effective issues management across the organisation, leading the review of, and contribution to, the development and of internal practices and policies that protect brand and Groupe reputation
• Advise brands on external activations, content and campaigns especially those that may be sensitive in nature, through the review of advertising and marketing materials to ensure adherence with relevant internal and external codes, providing a reputational risk assessment or support as required
• In-house expert in crisis communication, create and lead training and simulations, own and maintain country and function crisis management toolkits
• Collaborate with colleagues across the function to define and draft position papers and develop consistent messaging and review and input into critical announcements
• Provide strategic reputation management, advice and counsel across the business, including brand teams, working in partnership with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders as appropriate
• Provide counsel to senior management on aspects of communications, support senior business leaders through briefings and coaching
• Review corporate reporting carried out by finance, HR, legal and DEI teams, preparing communications materials as required
• Build corporate brand reputation with consumer and corporate audiences by contributing to the development and implementation of thought leadership, media and content strategies
• Contribute to the identification and development of local stories and content aligned with focus areas to secure engagement across key audiences. Maximise Groupe content and stories as relevant to local priorities and audiences.
• Identify opportunities for corporate advocacy, building collaborative relationships with key stakeholders and representing the Group on industry committees as require
You have….
• Minimum 8-10 years corporate communications experience, with an issues and crisis management background in a consumer-facing sector
• A blend of issues / crisis, corporate affairs, media relations and government relations experience as a credible and capable adviser at multiple levels
• First-hand issues and crisis management experience for a consumer brand, proven ability to provide strong communications advice in crisis situations.
• Strong judgement and understanding of the internal and external operating landscape and the ability to bring the outside in. Experience working with multiple external stakeholders on complex topics
• Strong writing skills with the ability to adapt messaging and style for diverse audiences and channels. Cultural sensitivity and resilience, strong understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion
• Ability to rapidly digest and distil complex issues, formulate strategy and execute tactically to a high standard
• Experience engaging and partnering with c-suite executives acting as a discreet, trusted advisor
• Strong prioritisation skills, able to balance multiple projects at any one time and move effortlessly between strategy, implementation and tactical opportunities. Capable of achieving results in a fast paced, dynamic environment, often to short deadlines
• Proven self-starter with the ability to work independently, think ahead, engage proactively and take initiative, while also working collaboratively as a team player
• Highly motivated with a bias for action, strong team player with positive, collaborative, problem-solving approach
You show
Ambition: You anticipate, think and dream big, demonstrating a high level of aspiration. You are self-driven and show proactivity, especially when seeing problems as challenges. You thrive for exceptional performance.
Judgement: You can balance operational and strategic thinking, challenging the status quo and managing confrontation effectively. You cut quickly through complexity and ambiguity whilst also thinking sustainably and are future-oriented. You reduce complexity to get things done.
Resilience: You always demonstrate purpose and ownership mindset but manage your own energy well. You uphold positivity for others and persist, bouncing back when faced with obstacles. You step back at times and accept limits.
Empathy: You cooperate and network effectively, creating genuine and trustful relationships with diverse people. You are sensitive to beauty and related emotions, always supporting others and showing benevolence. You understand and respect others’ feelings and motives.
Learning Agility: You are a self-motivated learner, showing self-awareness and demonstrating openness and curiosity. You experiment and learn from mistakes and past experiences, always showing courage and stepping out of your comfort zone. You support the development of a learning culture.
You get
We put people development and learning at the heart of our business; we’ll help you master your role and develop your technical expertise, and you’ll also benefit from exceptional management and leadership programmes. From face-to-face programmes and online bitesize sessions to our global online learning resources, you’re actively encouraged to embed learning into your daily life and are rewarded for continuous improvement. With world class upskilling platforms at your fingertips such as LinkedIn learning and Coursera, which allows you to gain qualifications from over 1000 universities from around the world, your learning and development really is in your hands.
Looking for a good work/life balance? With our new hybrid working scheme, you can take a flexible approach to work as well as benefit from early finishes on Fridays during the summer...so you can enjoy more time with your friends and family.
As any great employer should do, we make sure we look after your financial wellbeing. That’s why we have a great pension plan, profit share scheme and many more incentives to give you the security you deserve. We also put employee health and wellbeing at the front of everything we do; fully training employees as mental health ambassadors to support and educate ourselves further. There’s also the chance to enrol in medical and dental insurance, gym discounts, health check-ups and even yoga and Pilates classes to employees in all of our locations.
Oh, did we mention that as an employee you also get discount sales of up to 70% off throughout the year on our 36 brands? Plus, you also get the option to share that in our Friends and Family sales as well!
How we recruit
At L’Oréal, we take pride in creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment where everyone is welcome and their contributions are valued. When we recruit, hire, train, promote or engage in any other employment practice, we are committed to being an inclusive employer regardless of race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, socioeconomic status, medical condition or disability, or any other protected status. When we look for talent, we welcome difference - different backgrounds, experiences, personalities and perspectives. The beauty we find in our differences gives us the freedom to go beyond. That’s the beauty of L’Oréal.