PR & Social Media Manager

HBD is one of the most active developers in the UK, with a commercial development pipeline in excess of £1.25 billion. We now have an exciting opportunity for a PR & Social Media Manager to join our team in Manchester. 

HBD is part of the Henry Boot Group of Companies and operates nationally from six regional offices. Whilst our projects are diverse, they each reflect our ethos of creating places with purpose. Our people are the key to our ongoing success, and our collaborative approach ensures we continually deliver and manage high-quality, sustainable projects.

The Role

The role of the PR & Social Media Manager (PR&SMM) is to inform, create, seek approval, plan, and deliver the external Public Relations & social media strategy for HBD, with support and guidance from the HBD Senior Marketing & Communications Manager and the Henry Boot Group Marketing & Communications Director. This is a senior position responsible for formulating a strategy (supported by an approved annual plan of activity) reporting back regularly on effectiveness, and managing an agreed budget for external agency support.

As a PR & Social Media Manager, you will support HBD's commercial goals and brand aspirations, increasing our share of voice in the market, raising brand awareness for HBD in our target markets and championing our key messages through national and regional coverage.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Research, create, seek approval for, plan and deliver the external PR & social media communications strategy for HBD based on extensive knowledge of the business, its commercial / brand objectives, and a broad understanding of media requirements;
• Support the wider Henry Boot Group internal communications strategy through tailored HBD content;
• Identify and deliver impactful profiling and thought leadership opportunities for the HBD team;
• Support the wider marketing team with external partner and stakeholder engagement;
• Manage reactive press coverage opportunities, aligning creative communication campaigns to HBD key messaging and lead on issues / reputational management across all communications channels with agency support if required;
• Management and regular updating of the HBD ‘Issues Management Strategy’ and ensure it is adhered to by all HBD people and any appointed external agencies;
• To lead on HBD Corporate brand PR & social media campaign planning, creation, evaluation and reporting with support on delivery from the HBD Marketing Executive and external agencies when required;
• Engage with regional development teams to manage and deliver proactive and forward-looking regional / project PR & social plans;
• Build and maintain close relationships with regional, national and trade media contacts to keep abreast of the news agenda and secure inclusion in relevant features and news stories;
• Oversee the delivery of strategic social media content plans across all HBD channels, supported by the HBD Marketing Executive, in line with HBD corporate guidelines. 
• Manage appointed PR and social media agencies/freelancers to ensure delivery of coverage and strategy objectives, adoption of communications best practice, promotion of key messaging and that activity is well planned, and the effectiveness is reported back on;
• Provide reporting to HBD’s Strategic Board on a bi-monthly basis.

About You

Educated to degree level or an equivalent industry-recognised qualification, you will ideally have experience in a middle to senior PR or communications role. 

• You will be organised with a strong interest in media relations and stakeholder engagement;
• Excellent copywriting/journalistic skills;
• A good working knowledge and understanding of social media platforms (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter) and how they should be utilised for HBD content;
• Good time/project management is vital to deal with the seniority of the role and the challenging nature of its responsibilities;
• Able to observe strict confidentiality with respect of all sensitive information required to fulfil the role
• Keep up to date with the latest PR, content and social media trends, platforms and evaluation methods.

Our Offer

 We have a competitive and progressive benefits package to help shape and support you inside and outside of work. 

• We pay you a competitive salary – we are committed to promoting equality and diversity and gender pay parity; 
• We will provide you with access to electric and hybrid vehicle leasing through our salary sacrifice scheme; 
• We share our financial success with our bonus scheme; 
• We invest in your future with our pension plan provided by AVIVA; 
• We protect your loved ones by giving a life assurance benefit based on multiples of salary; 
• We support you when you might have health concerns for you or your family with our AVIVA Digital GP app; 
• We will help you manage the balance of work and home with agile working (where possible) and flexibility to ensure that you can be there for those important life events; 
• We give you 26 days of annual leave, with the ability to buy additional leave; 
• We support a complete business closure between Christmas and New Year, which does not require you to use your annual leave entitlement; 
• We give you enhanced pay if you take leave due to becoming a parent; however, you become a parent; 
• We support your career aspirations; we are committed to personal growth and internal talent development; 
• We offer you access to our Cycle to Work salary sacrifice scheme, which includes access to e-bikes; 
• We support you when you need external support with our Employee Assistance Programme. 

About Us 

One of the most progressive property companies in the country, HBD directly undertakes a broad range of projects throughout the UK. We continue to deliver and manage high-quality, sustainable projects from our seven regional offices (Sheffield, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester), with a commercial development pipeline in excess of £1.25 billion. 

We’re part of the Henry Boot Group of Companies. We’ve defined what makes working with us so special in our unique initiative, the ‘Henry Boot Way’. This influences our culture and how we do things, and most importantly, strengthens the relationship between employer and employee. 

Equality and Diversity 

Since 1886 our business has always put our people first, so we’re totally committed to offer equal opportunity to every individual who joins us. 

Due to GDPR, we cannot accept applications from agencies that have not been instructed to act on our behalf. 

The Henry Boot Group of Companies reserves the right to close this vacancy at any time if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.