Communications Specialist

New York, NY 

Summary

The Communications Specialist supports the development and execution of internal and external communications strategies for our practice groups and activities across the firm. The Specialist also contributes to the delivery of international campaigns and the firm’s corporate communications.

Firm’s strategic communications function focuses on protecting and building the firm’s reputation as a global elite law firm and employer of choice, supporting the firm’s business objectives and influencing perceptions of the firm among key stakeholders.

The Communications Specialist will work under the direction of the Sr. Manager, Communications, to help drive forward the team’s internal and external communications efforts across the firm. For this proactive role, the Specialist should have proven experience providing internal and external communications support within an organization as well as building relationships with key internal stakeholders and the media. This role offers a balance of ownership and autonomy on certain projects with the opportunity to be involved in broader initiatives and campaigns. Day-to-day activities include supporting the development of communications planning, executing strategy, and proactively positioning key partners at Firm as thought leaders. 

Key Responsibilities

• Support the Communications team and work closely with marketing and business development colleagues and partners across the firm to devise and implement PR strategies for practice groups and key focus areas
• Execute thought leadership campaigns
• Highlight deal work and make the most of standout announcements across internal (i.e. intranet, firmwide newsletter, internal memos) and external channels (i.e. media, website, social)
• Become an established, trusted advisor to partners and senior stakeholders
• Build relationships with marketing and business development colleagues, partners and other fee earners
• Develop, build and maintain strong relationships for proactive and reactive media relations
• Work with the communications team to apply creative thinking to the identification of new opportunities, industry trends and the drafting of newsworthy stories
• Ensure the firm is well represented in awards in priority areas
• Review and submit awards to ensure consistency and all awards entries are completed to the same high standard
• Support and assist with the creation of written and digital content for external audiences including press releases, by-lined articles, social media posts, videos and podcasts
• Draft internal communications materials including firmwide newsletters and posts for the intranet
• Support the communications team in effectively managing issues, developing media materials, monitoring for coverage, etc.
• Support broader communications activities including awards submissions and internal communications
• Track communications activities: be diligent about reporting earned coverage and analytics from communications campaigns back to internal stakeholders
• The Specialist will undertake additional duties from time to time

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent required
• Between 3 to 5 years of relevant communications experience in an agency or in-house environment 

Knowledge, Skills & Attributes

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong knowledge of MS Office, social media channels, PR and digital tools
• Positive, proactive attitude and commercial outlook
• Strong attention to detail and excellent organizational skills
• Great networking and advocacy skills, able to build relationships with stakeholders both internally and externally
• Comfortable juggling competing priorities and working on multiple conflicting deadlines, in a fast-paced environment
• A passion for reputation management and integrated communications
• Ability to understand complex business topics and distil it into compelling narratives for the media
• Ability to deal with sensitive and confidential information
• Ability to manage various personalities and stakeholder expectations
• A willingness to learn and develop
• Collegial; team player 

Physical Activity/Other Miscellaneous

• This role is hybrid, the successful candidate will benefit from a combination of office-based and remote working with three days a week (Tuesday-Thursday) in the office.
• Flexibility to work outside regular business hours
• Ability to lift and carry up to 15 lbs.