Overview
Established in 1981 with a single store in the Northwest of England, the JD Group is a leading omni-channel retailer of Sports Fashion, Outdoors and Gyms with our colleagues working in stores across several retail fascias in many markets around the world. JD Sports Fashion Plc was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996 and has been a FTSE100 publicly quoted company since 2019 and continues to grow in the UK and internationally. We want to be the leading global omnichannel retailer in the sports and outdoor industry. To be a part of this successful company and help us to achieve this you will have the desire to ingrain our strategic goals of being a people-led, innovative and customer-focused organisation which provides operational excellence whilst identifying new areas of growth as part of our day to day objectives.
Role title and reporting
GROUP CORPORATE COMMS & PR SENIOR MANAGER
GROUP FINANCE
BURY, GREATER MANCHESTER
Reporting to: (job title)
GROUP INVESTOR RELATIONS DIRECTOR
Context and job purpose
The purpose of JD Group’s (“JD”) Corporate Communications function is to deliver clear, consistent and impactful messaging that protects and elevates the Group’s brand, reputation and strategic narrative across all audiences. Our aim is to provide timely, accurate and engaging comms that support the Group’s strategic objectives and reflect its performance, values and ambitions. Our mission is to build a world class Corporate Comms function that supports and strengthens trust, enhances brand equity and JD’s positioning as a leading global retailer and responsible corporate citizen.
We are seeking an experienced and dynamic Group Corporate Comms & PR Senior Manager to lead and execute the UK and global external comms strategy for our multi fascia Group. The role is responsible for driving earned media coverage, strengthening stakeholder relationships, building external comms and PR best practice within the Group, and ensuring consistent, on brand messaging across all touchpoints. The candidate will support the development and delivery of an external comms strategy that reinforces the company’s reputation and supports both the business\'s needs and JD’s broader equity story for investors. This is a high profile position within the organisation, with significant exposure to teams across the business, including senior and executive management. This newly created role offers an exciting opportunity to join a high performing team, working closely with and reporting to the Group IR Director, supported by exceptional colleagues and a global corporate comms agency. You will have the autonomy to seize opportunities and shape a role that is both personally fulfilling and highly impactful for JD. The successful candidate will bring strong media relationships, exceptional storytelling skills and deep experience operating in a fast paced listed company environment. They will differentiate through these attributes, as well as a positive, proactive attitude, strong willingness to learn, excellent verbal and written communication skills, numerical confidence and a drive to continuously improve and innovate.
Responsibilities
* Strategic Leadership: Develop and own JD Group’s corporate comms and public relations strategy, ensuring alignment with overall business objectives, brand positioning, and commercial priorities
* Centre of excellence – act as an advisor to fascias within JD Group for building up best practice on comms and PR at local levels, while ensuring overall consistency with the JD Group comms and PR strategy
* Act as an advisor to the Group IR Director and executive team on reputational issues, media strategy, and external stakeholder engagement
* Media & Public Relations Engagement: Develop, implement and/or amplify PR strategies that support JD Group’s equity story, commercial goals, and global campaigns
* Build and maintain strong relationships with journalists, editors, consumer media, trade publications and key industry voices
* Manage press office operations, including proactive story pitching and media enquiries
* Oversee the creation and distribution of press releases and corporate statements, briefing documents, speeches, Q&As, media kits, and editorial content to relevant media
* Support colleagues in media outreach across fashion, retail, business, sustainability, lifestyle and influencer channels
* Proactive External Comms & Storytelling: Work alongside colleagues to shape a clear, compelling narrative that communicates JD Group’s strategic objectives and developments, values, performance, retailing and customer experience innovations, talent and sustainability commitments
* Partner with internal teams to identify credible storytelling opportunities that will resonate with target audiences, while ensuring consistency between corporate and consumer-facing narratives
* Amply Events, Launches and Influencer/Talent Partnerships: Amplify press events for key campaigns, maximising the opportunities around key store openings, strategic developments, new collection / brand launches, and international activations
* Work with our Influencer Marketing teams to amplify ambassador programmes and event collaborations
* Monitoring, Reporting & Insights: Track media coverage, sentiment, competitor activity and cultural trends; Deliver regular performance reports and strategic recommendations to senior stakeholders
* Budget: Manage the Corporate Comms budget effectively
* Executive profiling: Support the visibility and reputation of the Group CEO, CFO and IR Director through speaking opportunities, interviews, thought leadership, LinkedIn presence, and industry events. Ensure leadership messaging is consistent, compelling, and aligned with corporate strategy
* Internal Comms consistency: Support our Internal Comms team with leadership announcements, company announcements, town hall events and corporate messaging
* Crisis & issues management: Serve as the external comms lead for all reputational risks and crises, working cross-functionally to assess issues and provide rapid, strategic, and effective responses. Input into crisis comms playbooks, protocols and escalation processes, and train leadership teams and spokespeople on media handling and crisis preparedness
Skills and experience
* Cultural and personality fit will be crucial. The successful candidate will bring strong media relationships, exceptional storytelling skills and deep experience operating in a fast paced listed company environment. They will differentiate through these attributes, as well as a positive, proactive attitude, strong willingness to learn, excellent verbal and written communication skills, numerical confidence and a drive to continuously improve and innovate.
* Demonstrable track record of success in public relations and corporate comms within well-established companies, including (preferably) global consumer retail, staples or brands.
* Adequate balance of strategic vision and hands-on style, low ego and real intellectual curiosity. Comfortable with detail while offering a holistic, strategic view of the organisation both internally and externally. Strong relationship-building and multiple stakeholder management skills. Drive and determination; comfortable operating at all levels of the organisation.
* Ability to operate in environments with some uncertainty and ambiguity.
* At least 5 years’ PR or comms experience, ideally in consumer retail, staples or consumer lifestyle brands
* Proven success in managing global or multi-market PR campaigns
* Experience managing and briefing external agencies
* Strong existing relationships with UK and international media
* Exceptional written communications and storytelling skills
* Confident spokesperson with strong stakeholder-management abilities
* Experience navigating and managing reputational issues
* Ability to work in fast-paced environments with shifting priorities
* Knowledge of sustainability comms (desirable but not required)
Other relevant information
* Working in the Bury head office for a minimum of 4 days a week (Monday to Thursday) is required
* European and international travel may be required
* Office and remote working policies are applied as appropriate to circumstances by teams within JD
* We offer staff discounts on JD Group and other brands within the organisation and personal development opportunities
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