Director of Corporate Communications Europe, Africa

Summary

The Director of Corporate Communications EAME is responsible for the communications strategy growing Europe, Africa and the Middle East region, with the overall goal to drive preference for Hyatt, World of Hyatt and Hyatt’s sub-brands, supporting the overall strategic goals of the company through targeted communications and engagement initiatives. The position will spearhead all corporate, brand and colleague communication efforts in the region, working in close alignment with Hyatt’s global corporate and brand communications teams. The individual in this position is a key member of Hyatt’s regional Commercial Services team and a trusted partner for the regional leadership team, ensuring close collaboration with leaders of key functions across the organization, including Development, Operations, Human Resources, Design Services and all Commercial functions. The role will be responsible for leading crisis and issues communications in the EAME region and act as a counsel and advisor in all communications related matters to the EAME leadership team as well as hotel teams and other functions.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

- Lead and define the communications strategy for Hyatt across the EAME region.
- Drive all corporate, brand and colleague communications efforts in the EAME region.
- Spearhead a communications program to position Hyatt as a preferred brand.
- Spearhead an integrated communications program designed to drive preference for Hyatt among developers and potential business partners to differentiate Hyatt and its brands from its competitors and create advocacy for Hyatt as an operator of choice, leveraging development conferences, speaking opportunities and B2B platforms such as LinkedIn.
- Develop a strategic stakeholder communications strategy for Hyatt in EAME.
- Develop and lead an executive visibility program for key members of the regional and global leadership team, leveraging speaking opportunities at interviews, conferences or on online platforms.
- Lead all corporate crisis and issues communication in EAME and serve as a guardian of Hyatt’s corporate and brand reputation in the region.
- Act as spokesperson for the company on designated corporate issues/positions, and in response to media inquiries.
- Support and guide efforts to leverage new hotel openings, acquisitions, conversions and renovations to create awareness of and enthusiasm for Hyatt’s position as an industry leader and its prospects for growth that will drive preference.
- Strategize and localize the strategic priorities of the organization, such as Advancing Care, Hyatt’s DE&I initiatives and Wellbeing to create relevance for the region.
- Leverage internal and external resources (corporate PR and creative agencies) to maximize productivity, results and message consistency.
- Lead and nurture Marketing and Communications talent in the Region including colleagues on corporate and hotel level.
- Develop strong relationships with leaders of key functions across the organization, including department heads in Commercial Services, operations and Development, as well as General Managers and Area Vice Presidents in the region.
- Lead a team of currently four direct reports (Directors of Communications in EAME sub-regions and a Manager Stakeholder Communications).

**Qualifications**:

- High degree of personal and professional savvy and experience which instills confidence among all internal and external audiences.
- Minimum 10 years of Corporate and Brand Communications experience, including managerial/supervisory roles, preferably within the travel and tourism sector, either on the corporate or agency side.
- Public company experience is highly desired as well as experience to work in a multi-brand multi-national organization across all continents.
- Extensive media relations/spokesperson experience.
- Ability to lead through consensus building and strong mentoring orientation.
- Experience in establishing credibility and presenting programs and ideas persuasively to strong individuals in leadership positions.
- High level of energy and enthusiasm.
- Previous long-standing experience in crisis communication and special situations management is required.
- Proven ability to write and edit a wide range of materials, including press releases, issue statements, key messages, speeches and other documents.
- Conceptual, strategic and creative thinker.
- Agile, stimulated by challenges, open-minded.
- Fluency in English (verbal/written) is a must, any other language (preferably Arabic, French, German, Spanish) is a plus.
- Ability and willingness to travel, also at short notice.