Director of Communications and Public Affairs

Director of Communications and Public Affairs

EBF - European Banking Federation

Brussels, Belgium

The Position

The European Banking Federation seeks to recruit, for a full-time position based in Brussels, a Director of Communications and Public Affairs to lead the Communications and Public Affairs team.

The purpose of the role is to drive the external impact and image of EBF by developing and delivering a coherent, result-oriented and data driven communications and public affairs strategy.

As a campaign orchestrator at an executive level, you work with senior policy experts, EBF members and other stakeholders in an engaging, driven manner, bundling expertise and integrating different perspectives into one attractive and relatable overarching EBF narrative.

You lead the individual members of EBF’s Communications and Public Affairs teams and, together, design and deliver a variety of high quality and professional communications products and services, based on a focused plan with measurable KPI’s, clear target audiences, appropriate communications channels and a dashboard for measuring impact. You forge strong and effective relationships with senior stakeholders both at EBF, EU institutions, the media and more widely and can act as an EBF media spokesperson.

Detailed Responsibilities

• Design and oversee the implementation of EBF’s communication and advocacy strategy in line with the organizational strategy and policy priorities;
• Build a relevant and attractive portfolio of communication products and services;
• Oversee the design, the co-creation and the implementation with EBF’s members organizations of an impactful annual campaign agenda, including (social) media activities, events and other outreach activities, reports and other publications;
• Gather and disseminate advocacy intelligence from the different European regulatory and supervisory institutions, supporting the outreach activities of EBF’s policy teams;
• Work with and advise EBF’s Senior Leadership Team on strategic communication and advocacy to implement EBF’s strategic objectives and its policy priorities;
• Manage the Communications & Public Affairs team and ensure the departments deliver effective advocacy in alignment with the organisational strategy;
• Stay up to date on policy topics, aligned with EBF’s priorities and develop a strong understanding of our audiences;
• Ensure continuous innovation and improvement by gathering and sharing best practices in the areas of communication and public affairs, both from EBF members and from authoritative external parties;
• Actively build and maintain media and press relations in close cooperation with EBF’s Senior Leadership Team and the different policy teams;
• Manage a continuous PDCA (Plan – Do – Check – Act) cycle, gathering and reporting impact data on a periodical basis.

Successful candidates fit the following profile

• Minimum 5 years of experience in a similar role in the private sector (preferably at a bank or another financial institution), at a European institution, or in financial journalism;
• University degree in a relevant field (communications, public affairs and/or marketing, journalism or political science);
• A proven track record in managing high-profile communications and public affairs campaigns at a European level;
• Strong verbal presentation and writing skills in the English language;
• Fluency in at least one other European language;
• Proven strategic communication, multimedia and web management skills;
• Established leadership and project management skills;
• Good understanding of the EU decision making process;
• Effective interpersonal and team working skills;
• Excellent influencing skills and natural authority in own field of expertise;
• Ability to blend the different views and inputs provided by EBF members to draft joint communication statements;
• Expert at combining strategic and technical aspects in communication, whilst keeping it simple and accessible;
• Hands-on mentality to assume responsibilities on a variety of activities and projects;
• Flexible, communicative team-player – willing to lean into and support on communication issues as required;
• Thrives under pressure and knows how to set priorities and maintain deadlines in a dynamic environment.

The ideal candidate will show considerable commitment to their work, enthusiasm and a positive can-do attitude towards the various projects for which they will be responsible.