The Director, Corporate Affairs, EMEA will be responsible for driving the global Corporate affairs and communications strategy across the EMEA region to advance, elevate and protect ELC and its prestige beauty brands through outstanding strategic communications. This individual will help develop and lead a locally relevant EMEA communications strategy for Enterprise Branding, Issues Management/Risk Mitigation, External Communications and Internal communications, and accelerate regional integration and collaboration on priority corporate strategies, initiatives and messages across the regions including with Global Public Affairs, Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability and other parts of the business.

Scope of work will be 75 % Corporate Affairs and 25 % Public Affairs. 

Working closely with the Corporate Affairs VP and Public Affairs team, Global Corporate Communications team, Affiliates Corporate Communications lead, SVP of the EMEA Region, this director will: 

ELC COMPANY NARRATIVE, BRAND AND REPUTATION - Advance ELC reputation in EMEA through strong communications that drive our company’s brand.  •    Strengthen and lead the regional narrative and develop communications tools and strategies to reach key external stakeholders in the region to advance business and reputation  •    Provide strategic contributions to corporate reputation narrative, initiatives, positioning and communications strategy to leverage and get credit for what we do well and advance ESGs while developing strategies to address areas of risk •    Define key external stakeholder engagement strategies through proactive positioning, strategic communications, convenings, company awards and rankings, and campaigns that are strategically aligned to ELC’s business purpose. •    Participate to the communications initiatives led by Cosmetic Europe and if yes if this could be the right person

RISK MITIGATION AND ISSUE AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT - Strengthen and amplify ELCs proactive, issues management and risk mitigation approach: •    Lead the development of a risk mitigation and issues management strategy in alignment with global strategy to protect ELC and its Brands from reputational risk. This includes the creation of local and regional issues and crisis leadership teams, trainings and day to day issues management and counsel. o    Lead and convene Issues Working Group on an as-needed basis depending on issue at hand o    Advise Brands in region; mitigation of potential risks; and provide daily guidance on issues •    Convene cross-functional working teams (Legal, commercial, regulatory, consumer care) to oversee consistent response approach to third-party inquiries  •    Report issues to global crisis management team and/or global corporate affairs

COMPANY CULTURE AND EMPLOYEES - Drive employee engagement, culture and trust via thoughtful and effective communication (internal communication) – with Corporate Communications Coordinator and Corporate Affairs intern  •    Double down on employee communication to nurture talent and company Values, culture and purpose via employee activations, townhalls, and moment of connections throughout the organization, globally and regionally – both virtually and in person  •    Increase awareness, ownership and participation around EMEA leadership culture, ID&E and C&S initiatives incl. via virtual events, employee engagement campaigns  •    Deliver high-touch content on MyELC, E-blasts, regional newsletter, Regional Instagram  •    Contribute and execute key Global & Regional Transformation Initiatives  •    Empower brands, functions and market teams to own Internal Communications initiatives on our channels. 

TALENT - Advance Corporate Communications in the markets through local relevance adoption and ongoing talent development   •    Help lead a network of Corporate Communications across markets •    Provide coaching and build affiliates corporate communications’ team capabilities  •    Ensure timely sharing of critical company messages for deployment; fully leverage the corporate communications team to ensure message penetration •    Provide guidance on the regulatory space, consumer activism, social media trends/issues affecting the affiliate.  Escalate emerging issues to global Corporate Affairs and Public Affairs •    Double down on key markets: Germany, Italy, France, Iberia, India, Middle East

Build and drive the internal and external platform for the EMEA SVP and Global senior executives to advance ELC reputation in EMEA and drive employee engagement •    Establish a consistent cadence of leadership communications that engage the EMEA SVP or other global senior executives with employees across the regional office and affiliates in two-way dialogue •    Identify and pursue a calendar of equity-building external opportunities (speaking engagements and media interviews) that demonstrate EMEA SVP as a leader in beauty and business (and key areas such as talent development, Women’s advancement, Leadership, and transformation) •    Develop relationships with key media and other important stakeholders including potential partners, influencers and NGO leaders. 

QUALIFICATIONS

•    Master’s degree in any business, marketing or communications related subject (Graduate degree preferred) •    10+ years relevant professional experience in the Communications function, preferably with 5+ years working in-house for matrix-organized multinational corporations  •    Deep understanding of media relations and the proven ability to quickly establish a media network  •    Proven experience leading issues and crisis and management with significant social media proficiency  •    Experience in Sustainability and / Or Social impact communication narrative and campaigns is a plus. •    Experience with translatable skills to the consumer products industry  •    Outstanding written and verbal communication skills in English language, with any European language skills an advantage 

•       A proven ability to counsel peers and senior leaders at local/regional and global level, often on sensitive and complex issues; demonstrates comfort in articulating sensitive messages to senior leaders and groups •    Strong networking and relationship-building skills and the ability to develop and maintain a network of relationships (and create alignment) amongst stakeholders •    Experience leading 3rd party and virtual teams 

•    Maintains and demonstrates a positive and ‘can do’ attitude and a ‘change mindset’  •    Has a natural drive to take initiative and lead innovative and creative projects •    Strategic, independent, self-starter and a team player attitude  •    Strong organizational, project management and problem-solving skills  •    Works effectively in ambiguous situations and makes solid decisions in time-bound challenging moments; works effectively on cross-functional teams and projects  •    Ability to work in a fast paced, high pressure and highly visible work environment  

JOB: Communications / Public Relations PRIMARY LOCATION: FR-IDF-Hauts-de-Seine JOB TYPE: Standard SCHEDULE: Full-time SHIFT: 1st (Day) Shift JOB NUMBER: 2211831

The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) is the global leader in prestige beauty. ELC is the only company focused solely on prestige makeup, skin care, fragrance and hair care with a diverse portfolio of 25+ brands sold in approximately 150 countries and territories. Infused throughout the organization is a passion for creativity and innovation — a desire to push the boundaries and invent the unexpected — as we continue the bold work of the company’s founder Estée Lauder.