Senior Communications Specialist

The BBC’s international news services command a level of respect, reach and trust that is unmatched around the world, attracting a global weekly audience of more than 458 million people.

**Main Responsibilities**

The role is responsible for external communications (e.g. strategy development, media relations, ad hoc agency management and stakeholder engagement) across the APAC region. This post will oversee the planning, development, implementation and reporting for consumer, trade and corporate publicity for the BBC’s English language news services and the BBC News brand in the region.

**THE POSITION**

This is a fascinating and challenging role for a first-class communicator, based in Singapore, with an interest in international news, advertising and media.

They will be the main regional expert, regularly feeding insights, knowledge and advice back to the global Senior Head of Comms to help inform local and global strategy and initiatives.

This role is the sole full time position covering the APAC region for news and will report to the Global Senior Head of Communications in London, whilst working closely with the rest of the news publicity team around the world, including publicists in Japan and India, and the wider BBC Studios comms team in APAC. There will also be a dotted line to the Communications Manager, BBC Studios, APAC.

The postholder will be expected to work flexibly depending on priorities and work demands including, potentially, some out of hours work.

The postholder will be confident in taking a senior role within the team, leading on initiatives, thought leadership ideas and creating publicity moments which could potentially be rolled out across other regions.

Responsible for raising the profiles of the commercial teams within the region, the postholder will be expected to efficiently and effectively manage engagement with senior stakeholders within the region and globally for this region.

They will need to be proactive in collaborating with teams across the BBC and work closely with other disciplines in editorial, sales, marketing and insights to deliver a coordinated approach.

**MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES**
- Lead proactive, international publicity for news across the APAC region.
- Be an expert in the consumer and corporate media landscape in your region, including national/international media, and feed insights back effectively to the global team.
- Take a senior role within the team, advising on and creating initiatives, strategies, pitches and ideas that may work in other regions.
- Create and devise thought-leadership pieces for the business and ensure the regional strategy achieves a consistent and ongoing flow of coverage for the commercial business.
- Promote major interviews and breaking news from key news programmes whilst working to tight deadlines.
- Develop and implement publicity campaigns for key business announcements such as partnerships, product launches and new distribution deals.
- Work closely with the global team on a communications programme to grow awareness of the organisation’s successes and future ambitions, including speeches, media and digital opportunities.
- Write blog posts, press releases, briefing documents and Q&As to maximise PR opportunities.
- Provide clear advice to senior stakeholders e.g. SVPs on issue management and lead, as necessary, on reputational issues in the region.
- Closely manage local stakeholders and build positive working relationships.
- Offer advice to stakeholders on strategy and tactics to raise the profile of the commercial business across priority markets in the region.
- Manage and attend media interviews and media events and where required. Prepare briefing materials for interviewees for key spokespeople including high-profile talent.

**KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE**
- Proactive publicity skills, including proven record of accomplishment in generating press coverage. Experience in both B2B and B2C comms, with strong contacts in consumer and trade outlets across APAC.
- Experience of developing creative long-term campaigns which have the potential to create impact across the region from Australia to India.
- Demonstrated experience devising and implementing online and traditional communications plans. Experience working with digital brands a plus.
- Good eye for a story and the ability to think creatively when placing news stories and publicity across a range of different media, including digital and social media.
- Experience of managing media interviews, press conferences and other events, including making all necessary organisational arrangements and preparing briefing materials.
- Experience of managing reactive issues and ensuring key team members and stakeholders are fully briefed and on message.
- Good press material writing and editing skills, plus a strong attention to detail.
- Strong knowledge of the APAC media landscape. International PR experience or experience working in PR for an inter