Senior Communications Executive (Content)

About Columbia Threadneedle Investments

You'll find the promise we make to our clients is the same one we make to our employees: Your success is our priority.

Here, you'll find growth and career opportunities across all our businesses. We're intentionally built to help you succeed. Our reach is expansive with a global team of 2,000 people working together. Our expertise is diverse with more than 450 investment professionals sharing global perspectives across all major asset classes and markets. Our clients have access to a broad array of investment strategies and we have the capability to build tailored solutions matched to clients' specific requirements.

Columbia Threadneedle is a people business and we recognise that our success is due to our talented and dedicated people, who bring diversity of thought, complementary skills and capabilities. We are committed to providing an inclusive work environment that supports the diversity of our employees and reflects our broader communities and client-base. We encourage applications from returners to the industry.

We appreciate that work-life balance is an important factor for many when considering their next move so please discuss any flexible working requirements directly with your recruiter.

Job Purpose Statement

As part of the EMEA Corporate Communications team, you will help engage internal and external audiences, support strategic progress and grow Columbia Threadneedle's positive profile by bringing to life our business news, strategic themes, culture and values through the creation of distinct and compelling content. This may include articles, interviews, research and other reports, web copy, video/animation, social media posts and infographics for a range of traditional and digital channels (both earned and owned).

Role Responsibilities

The EMEA Corporate Communications team is responsible for managing the organisation's reputation in the region, enabling the firm's strategic objectives and supporting business growth. The team's activities include internal and external communications, stakeholder engagement, public affairs and community relations. The team is part of the Global Corporate Communications function and works closely with senior leaders, business and support teams across the global organisation.

The Corporate Communications team has a broad remit to protect and enhance the firm's reputation and you will play an important role in the team's success in delivering market-leading communications to its audiences, which include retail investors, wealth managers and other intermediaries, pension funds and other institutional investors, media and employees.

You will be the content specialist in the team, working with colleagues to generate ideas and produce a range of content products that attract and engage audiences, convey often complex information in effective ways and reflect the character and culture of the organisation. Key to your success in generating excellent content will be your ability to build a strong internal network to help source news and information from teams across the business and work with them as you meet your deliverables. Your communications expertise, commercial focus and creative ability will enable you to deliver content that reflects the character of the Columbia Threadneedle brand and supports the firm's key products, strategies and organisational priorities for its various audience groups.

Responsibilities will include

• Creating content including articles and reports, social media and web copy, video, infographics, intranet stories etc. Key topics will include investment themes and markets (including equities, fixed income, multi-asset, real estate, infrastructure and other alternatives), active management, responsible investment, diversity and inclusion, community engagement/philanthropy and responsible business/CSR.
• Collaborating with other members of the Corporate Communications team to deliver a variety of content 'products' as part of wider employee and media campaigns
• Managing the social media strategy for corporate posts - organising and planning a calendar, drafting/creating the content and posting. You should also keep abreast of themes and trends in social media, acting as social media specialist within the team.
• Managing the content of corporate sections of the company's websites
• Managing the annual responsible business report and associated content.
• Ensuring content you create meets appropriate approvals, including regulatory requirements

Whilst the role does not require previous experience in investment management, you will need to gain knowledge and understanding of the business and asset management sector more generally to enable you to have a finger on the pulse of the business, and on stakeholder needs and priorities, in order to deliver appropriate content and messaging. In addition to communications expertise, critical to success will be your ability to develop an ongoing understanding of industry and corporate themes, trends in asset management as well as corporate reputation drivers.

Key Capabilities

• Demonstrable experience in the creation of engaging content, specifically articles and editorial content, video/digital, inforgraphics, web and social media content
• Excellent news/business writing skills
• Good sense of design/creative flair
• A good understanding of social media strategies
• Innovative thinking and idea generation
• Be organised with excellent time management skills, the ability to meet hard deadlines and to multi-task across competing priorities
• Strong attention to detail
• Ability to build good working relationships with internal teams and external suppliers
• A willingness to be a flexible team player to help the team meet its overall goals

Desired Capabilities

Minimum 18 months experience in a content creation role