Principal Consultant, Strategic Communications Agency, EMEA

ERM is the world largest pure play sustainability consultancy and we help shape a sustainable future with the world leading organizations. With over 8,000 consultants working in 140 countries, our clients receive best-in-class strategy and delivery support, enabled through subject matter expertise and a huge breadth of capability. We are constantly innovating to find new ways to help our clients achieve their ambitions, and the expansion of our Communications Voyager into EMEA is one of our most exciting developments of this year. Our Voyager has a clearly defined purpose: to help businesses attain a market advantage through communications. Our ambition is to become the world most impactful sustainability communications firm, and we are looking to recruit new colleagues who share our passion and entrepreneurial spirit. As part of the EMEA Communications Agency, you will join a small but growing UK-based unit who are attached to a 50-strong US agency team. We operate much like a disruptive start-up, with a mandate to set our own strategy and build our growth plan – but with the investment and enablement of a $1 billion ‘parent’. Our primary route to growth is through close collaboration with ERM colleagues and clients across the EMEA region, who already advise the majority of the world largest listed businesses and see clear opportunity for ERM to provide communications counsel, up-selling our capabilities and enabling ERM to drive end-to-end consultancy throughout our clients’ decarbonisation journeys. You will need to demonstrate experience of working in a fast-paced communications agency environment, devising and implementing communications strategies and solutions. Ideally, your experience will span corporate and brand communications and reputation management for b2b businesses across multiple sectors. You will be a self-starter, comfortable identifying opportunity and motivating yourself to deliver on it. You will have a track record of identifying new business opportunities, participating in pitch processes and contributing to proposal development. Much of the communications work we have sold to date centres on sustainability report writing and design. Our intention is to weave ‘amplification’ of disclosure and reporting into all that we currently deliver, so your understanding of EU/UK reporting regulations is welcome. Moving forward, we expect the majority of our work to centre on narrative and messaging development and delivery around decarbonisation and disclosure; strategic communications advisory around corporate change and transition; stakeholder engagement; reputation and issues management; and the conception and ongoing management of sustainability communications programmes. You will work alongside our public affairs specialists and our private market experts, whose role it is to help private equity clients create value through sustainability within their portfolio – so experience working with PA and financial communications specialists will be beneficial. Key areas of responsibility Act as an accountable, responsive and proactive core member of the EMEA Agency team. Consider your role as a founding member of this new unit, in helping us to shape culture, values and identity through how you show up. Bring a passion for working with clients to help them make an impact in the work they do, to support a more sustainable world through consistent and engaging communications. Support the Communications Agency Leader in the identification and conversion of new business opportunity, contributing to proposal development, project scoping and budgeting. As we build the business, you will become the primary day-to-day lead on a range of client projects and retainers, most of which will be communications mandates delivered as part of a larger ERM programme of work. You will be expected to retain and grow these relationships. Be trained as an ERM Project Manager through a 6 month programme and continuous assessment to maintain your qualification. Be the point-person for the ERM Account Manager (Partner /Associate level) and for the client, providing advice and identifying opportunities to up-sell communications. Take an active role in client meetings, workshops and strategy sessions. Experience of delivering media training and client up-skilling is welcome. Work closely with our sustainability reporting team of writers and designers, managing the way in which communications in integrated into proposal, delivery and amplification of the report. Work collaboratively with colleagues in ERM Shelton and in other Business Units – in particular, Corporate Sustainability and Climate Change and Capital Projects. Inject creative thinking into your work, whilst guiding our clients on how to avoid greenwashing in their communications. Show and understanding of Green Claims and associated regulations. Required experience and attributes You will be comfortable and confident advising clients at Senior Management-level, recognising they may be in the Sustainability, not Communications, functions. A can-do attitude, not fazed by the need to juggle priorities and multi-task. You will be highly organized, a fast-worker, proactive, collaborative, with a good attention to detail. You have excellent writing skills, solid media contacts, and fluency working across digital and social media platforms. Experience of creative campaigning across PESO channels is preferable. Experience operating across industry sectors; knowledge of the energy and renewables, packaging, built environment, chemicals and technology sectors is preferable. Experience delivering multi-market programmes and advising clients in international markets beyond the UK. Understanding of public affairs and financial communications, and how these integrate with corporate and brand communications. Experience of managing client and agency budgets, tracking utilisation and servicing levels, and understanding core agency performance metrics. Experience of delivering sustainability communications programmes with the ability to articulate the outcomes and impact of your work. Very strong writer, with native English-level verbal and presentation skills. Ability to interpret complex information and create content which makes it accessible for a range of audiences. Minimum 7 years’ experience working in communications, with at least half of this in an agency environment. You will have line management experience and be comfortable managing a team. Given our size and the importance of investing in relationships with ERM colleagues, it is expected that you will be in the London office on average 2-3 days per week, although we recognise the need for flexibility. Willingness to travel, primarily within Northern Europe but with occasional trips further afield. Success metrics As a new unit we will work to more fluid metrics than established practices – but we need to be able to demonstrate material impact on the ERM business. As a Principal Consultant in this team you will be evaluated on a range of performance metrics, including but not limited to: Value of new business / organic business growth you have contributed to winning (We have a year 1 target of $1 million revenue) Revenue – be responsible for working at least £200,000 of revenue in your first year Billability – you will be expected to target 50% UB once the agency is established Retention – you will be expected to identify ways to retain clients following project completion, to show upsell / cross-sell revenue, and to grow retained clients by minimum 10% year on year. Marketing – you will attend at least two networking events per month, adding minimum one qualified new prospect to our target list per month (internal or external to ERM). You will, with the Agency Leader help, conceive and deliver at least two external marketing or growth initiatives per year (e.g. panel event; breakfast seminar) You will use your social network and industry connections to build our profile, contributing to at least one external thought leadership initiative per quarter You will complete ERM official project management training within the required 6 months. At ERM, sustainability is our business. We are the world largest advisory firm focused solely on sustainability, offering unparalleled expertise across business and finance. ERM partners with clients to operationalize sustainability at pace and scale, through our unique combination of strategic transformation and technical delivery capabilities. Our diverse global team of experts works with the world leading organizations to help them set clear sustainability targets, measure progress and operationalize strategy through deep implementation and business transformation. With more than 50 years of experience, our ability to integrate sustainability solutions and our depth and breadth of technical knowledge are why organizations choose to partner with us as their trusted advisor. Every one of us firmly believes in the potential to create value for our clients through an integrated approach to sustainability (because we have personally seen it and professionally achieved it). Our team members are passionate about client service. We work closely with our clients to help them operationalize their sustainability goals and meet their environmental, health and safety objectives while advancing ERM purpose through delivering tangible progress in what the United Nations coined The Decade of Action. Organizing our people across globally integrated communities of technical and strategic talent positions ERM to be a “boots to boardroom” leader in bringing that value creation to our clients, partners, and the world. We recruit exceptional professionals with a personal and professional passion for sustainability and nurture them to even greater success as specialists. We prepare our consultants to bring integrated, innovative and sustainable solutions to our clients and provide opportunities for ongoing development across a variety of subject areas related to technical, business, and personal growth. At ERM, effort pays off and becomes career defining work that leaves a positive imprint on our planet. ERM Homepage