Strategic Communications Manager
Job Introduction
Are you looking for a career where you can make a real difference in people’s day.
We are seeking a Strategic Communications Manager to join our team based from Head Office in London Bridge (hybrid working).
This role leads strategic communications that strengthen understanding of performance, champion the benefits of integration and support key business priorities. It owns the corporate narrative across all channels, ensuring clear, consistent and compelling messaging about our purpose, values and impact. The role also provides expert leadership on executive communications and delivers integrated customer communications for major service changes, ensuring customers remain informed, supported and confident during disruption.
Can you move people? Apply now.
What you’ll do
- Develop and lead strategic communications plans that support business priorities, performance storytelling, and integration benefits.
- Shape and own the organisation’s corporate narrative, ensuring consistent messaging across internal and external channels.
- Lead executive leadership communications, producing speeches, thought leadership, talking points, and senior-level content that enhances influence and reputation.
- Provide strategic advice and counsel to executives on narrative, tone, and channel use.
- Oversee integrated customer communications for major service changes - including blockades and engineering works - ensuring clear, timely and accessible information.
- Coordinate cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality, customer-focused communications across all channels.
- Manage multi-channel content development, ensuring editorial excellence and alignment with brand and narrative.
- Identify opportunities to proactively shape perception of performance and demonstrate progress, impact and value.
- Build strong working relationships across the business, including Operations, Commercial, Customer Experience and external partners.
- Support crisis and incident communications where required, contributing to clear, credible and timely responses.
- Measure and evaluate the reach and impact of communications activity, using insight to shape continuous improvement.
The experience you’ll need
To be considered for this role we recommend you demonstrate the below in your application;
- You shape narrative with confidence – An experienced communications professional who knows how to build understanding, articulate performance and manage scrutiny.
- You’re a natural storyteller – Skilled at translating complexity into clear, engaging narratives that land.
- You elevate leadership – Able to craft compelling content for executives that inspires trust and sets a consistent organisational tone.
- You deliver integrated comms – Confident across channels and audiences, ensuring everything works seamlessly together.
- You think strategically – You can develop and deliver communications strategies that anticipate risks, maximise opportunities and reinforce business priorities.
- You collaborate brilliantly – Strong at influencing senior stakeholders and building effective relationships across the organisation and industry.
- You make things happen – Calm under pressure, able to handle multiple priorities, and focused on delivery.
As proud members of the Armed Forces Covenant and Disability Confident Scheme, we will offer you an interview if you apply under these schemes and meet the minimum criteria for the role. Find out more here.
Other things to know
- This vacancy may close early if we receive a large number of applications. So, make sure you get yours in early.
- All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory references, a right to work verification, a basic criminal record check, and a pre-employment medical assessment. Work visa sponsorship isn’t available for this role.
- If you applied but weren’t successful in getting a similar role at Southeastern, please wait six months before applying again.
Find out more about our recruitment process and get tips to help you apply.
What you’ll get in return
Along with your salary, the rewards you’ll get include:
- a final salary pension
- 25 days annual leave allowance (plus bank holidays)
- free rail travel across our networks.
Meaning you can feel secure in your career as well as fulfilled by your work. Click here to see our full range of amazing benefits.
A bit about Southeastern
We’re one of Britain's busiest train operators, serving London, Kent and parts of East Sussex. We run over 1,700 trains a day, carrying more than 500,000 passengers and serving 180 stations.
However, working on our railway is more than getting passengers from A to B. It’s about all the little moments that make a difference to their journey.
It’s also about making our railway a great place to work. With a team that represents the communities we serve. This is a journey we’re fully committed to and we’re proud to have been named a ‘Great Place to Work’ at the 2023 National Rail Awards and endorsed as a WORK180 Employer for Women.
Our ways of working are what we expect of everyone at Southeastern. They are powerful. Tiny moments, every day, from every one of us, add up to massive, positive change. Improving how it feels to work here and how it feels to travel with us.
At the heart of everything we do, our Safeguarding Team works to keep our customers, colleagues, and the public safe by improving safeguarding measures and knowledge making sure everyone gets home safe, every day.
SE Trains Limited
