Employee Communications VP

As an Employee Communications VP, you will be a key member of the Investment Bank (IB) Corporate Communications team, working within the team responsible for creating high-quality communications strategies for the IB. They will support the execution of employee communications plans specifically for our Global Markets business which includes Equities, Rates, FX, Securitized Products and Credit. As a VP on the team, you will be proficient in written communications, with experience writing for both internal and external channels, such as intranets, Viva Engage, and company-wide announcements. You will translate complex and often technical messages into clear and simple articulated stories that colleagues can understand and relate to as well as develop impactful content and assets, targeting audiences in an engaging way.

You will use detailed, systematic data and insight to help senior leaders understand employee sentiment and empower them to communicate empathetically with their teams and help build believe in the strategy and the progress being made.

Key Accountabilities:

• Collaborate and execute on a comprehensive internal and external communications plans which aligns to the commercial, strategic, and client plans of the business

• Plan and support on global colleague engagement strategies for the Global Markets businesses in partnership with our colleagues in the press office and on the social media and marketing teams
• Work alongside senior leaders in Global Markets to create compelling stories and strategics that help colleagues understand and believe in the business strategy, and their role in it
• Collaborate and build relationships with broader Barclays Corporate Communications teams, sharing best practice, learning about the different areas of the business, and developing coordinated communication campaigns
• Support on monitoring, measurement, and evaluation of IB corporate communications activity
• Work and support as needed on additional communications campaigns and programmes for the Investment Bank

Essential Skills:

• B.S. or B.A. in Communications, Marketing, Journalism, English, Economics, or a closely related field
• Interest in financial services and ability to understand technical subjects
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, to translate technical messages into engaging stories
• Strong track record of creating and curating content across a range of channels: events, intranet, and social channels (experience with MS365 preferred)
• A creative mindset, with examples of where you’ve proactively suggested and worked to implement new formats, using data and insights to influence decisions
• Excellent interpersonal, planning and time management skills
• Proven relationships in both employee communications and with senior leader leaders in the investment banking business of a comparable institution
• Demonstrate ability to work as an organized communicator who sets goals, multitasks, problem solves, tracks projects, meets deadlines, collaborates, and contributes to overall Barclays Communications objectives
• Effective member of a global team
• Critical and objective in thinking
• Results and delivery focused
• Able to operate under own initiative

Desirable skills/Preferred Qualifications:

• Commercial knowledge, ideally in finance / banking with ability to build a solid understanding of the areas you support (including Equities and Fixed Income products, services, and solutions)
• Team-based experience, with curiosity and eagerness to get involved and solve problems
• A creative mindset, with examples of where you’ve proactively suggested and worked to implement new formats, using data and insights to influence decisions
• Experience of supporting senior executives, with the ability to work at pace, with tight deadlines and a strong focus on execution

This role will be based in London on a fulltime permanent basis. This is a hybrid position with a minimum of 3 days in the office.

Purpose of the role

To build strong and effective partnerships with the senior leadership of the organisation, advising on how to engage and influence employees to achieve the business’s goals, through an insight-based employee communications strategy, backed up with outstanding execution capability.

Accountabilities

• Leadership communication, using detailed, systematic insight research to help senior leaders understand employee sentiment, and empower them to communicate empathetically with their people.
• Business strategy alignment, building belief in the strategy of the organisation, and the progress being made, with a strong focus on the impact employees have on the client experience.
• Culture and employee proposition communication, designing and implementing communication interventions that influence individual behaviour to create a culture built on the Barclays Mindset; demonstrate why the organisation is a great place to work.
• Change delivery, creating communication interventions that build employee commitment and capability through organisational change.
• Crisis and issues management, working closely with the senior team as part of the management response, focused on the role of employees in engaging clients.
• Capability building, leading and developing a high-performing team, building individual skills and team capabilities.

Vice President Expectations

• To contribute or set strategy, drive requirements and make recommendations for change. Plan resources, budgets, and policies; manage and maintain policies/ processes; deliver continuous improvements and escalate breaches of policies/procedures..
• If managing a team, they define jobs and responsibilities, planning for the department’s future needs and operations, counselling employees on performance and contributing to employee pay decisions/changes. They may also lead a number of specialists to influence the operations of a department, in alignment with strategic as well as tactical priorities, while balancing short and long term goals and ensuring that budgets and schedules meet corporate requirements..
• If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others..
• OR for an individual contributor, they will be a subject matter expert within own discipline and will guide technical direction. They will lead collaborative, multi-year assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions..
• Advise key stakeholders, including functional leadership teams and senior management on functional and cross functional areas of impact and alignment.
• Manage and mitigate risks through assessment, in support of the control and governance agenda.
• Demonstrate leadership and accountability for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work your team does.
• Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the organisation functions to contribute to achieving the goals of the business.
• Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategies.
• Create solutions based on sophisticated analytical thought comparing and selecting complex alternatives. In-depth analysis with interpretative thinking will be required to define problems and develop innovative solutions.
• Adopt and include the outcomes of extensive research in problem solving processes.
• Seek out, build and maintain trusting relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders in order to accomplish key business objectives, using influencing and negotiating skills to achieve outcomes.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.