Media Relations Executive

At M&G our purpose is to give everyone real confidence to put their money to work. As an international savings and investments business with roots stretching back more than 170 years, we offer a range of financial products and services through Asset Management, Life and Wealth. All three operating segments work together to deliver attractive financial outcomes for our clients, and superior shareholder returns.

Through our behaviours of telling it like it is, owning it now, and moving it forward together with care and integrity; we are creating an exceptional place to work for exceptional talent.

We will consider flexible working arrangements for any of our roles and also offer work place accommodations to ensure you have what you need to effectively deliver in your role.

Supporting the Life business within M&G, the Media Relations Executive will assist M&G’s Media team in building and managing the firm’s reputation with the media, third parties and other key external stakeholders. The Media teams sits with the External Relations team as part of the Corporate Affairs, Sustainability and Brand function. The role reports to the Media Relations Manager who has responsibility for media engagement conducted by our Life business.

M&G is a leading savings and investment firm and is keen to reframe the way we think and talk about pensions and retirement. It has recently launched its ‘Reframing Retirement’ thought leadership campaign to challenge outdated perceptions of retirement, using fantastic case studies to bring this to life. The person who takes on this role will be instrumental in driving this campaign forward – it’s only the beginning of what we hope to achieve and it’s a really exciting time to join the media team.

About the Life business

The Life business has around 4.6 million UK policyholders and is responsible for managing the £128 billion Prudential With-Profits Fund - the largest of its kind in the UK with a 170 year history. Central to this is the £64 billion PruFund, investing on behalf of 500,000 individual policyholders in the UK saving for the long-term.

The business has reentered new areas in the past two years, including the Bulk Purchase Annuity market and the retail annuity market, and has ambitions to build on this momentum through further growth. This role will be key to supporting that ambition by raising awareness of M&G through media channels.

What we’re looking for

We are looking for a candidate who can think both creatively and strategically. This individual will play a crucial role in protecting and promoting M&G’s reputation so should be confident in collaborating and sharing story ideas, dealing with sensitive issues and providing advice to the business.

A key part of the role is strengthening our relationships with journalists, particularly across personal finance and trade media, and being a passionate ambassador for our business. We are looking for someone confident in dealing with the media both proactively and reactively who is able to spot news hooks and potential reputational risks.

This role is based in London, requiring the jobholder to work primarily with the Life business, spending a significant amount of time with that area to develop their understanding and build relationships. The jobholder will also be expected to act as an external spokesperson for M&G.

We are looking for someone who has frontline experience with the media and a demonstrable track record in building and maintaining relationships with the media. This role could be suited to someone currently in an agency looking for their first in-house role, who is looking to change sectors or already has in-house financial services experience and is keen to work for M&G. Previous financial services experience isn’t essential but an interest and understanding of the themes in personal finance media is.

Key accountabilities for this role:

• To contribute to the development and implementation of the overall External Integrated Communications strategy that utilises a range of communication vehicles and mediums.
• With the direction of the Media Relations Manager, come up with campaign ideas to support M&G’s ambitions and proactively promote the business and expertise in the media.
• Be confident writing research questions for media stories and handling data, spotting opportunities where spokespeople can provide expert comment on publicly available data. 
• Provide high quality written materials, whether that’s press releases, speeches, briefings, presentations, articles, Q&As.
• Liaise with all departments across the Life business – both external and internal facing – to identify both opportunities and risks, and be able to advise on how to manage those.
• Work with the Media Relations Manager to understand and identify the potential wider impact of opportunities or risks. Respond efficiently to media enquiries, developing strategies and lines to take to ensure balanced presentation and taking swift and effective action to rebut inaccuracies.
• Essential to work closely with digital, public affairs and internal communications colleagues and always take an integrated approach to communications activities. Work with the wider Corporate Affairs to deliver specific projects and activities. Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation for these channels and how they can be used to amplify media activity
• Provide high quality presentational advice and media handling to M&G employees to ensure accurate reporting of key announcements and issues. Organise media training where necessary.
• Help to organise, manage and attend as necessary: media briefings, educational workshops, visits, and events. Act as company representative at press briefings and external events, including but not limited to conferences and sector events.
• Perform out-of-hours duties as on-call press officer in line with a rota agreed within the team.
• Evaluate the success of media activity with thorough measurement and media tracking, supported by reviewing media coverage generated for each project or campaign, associated KPIs and contributing to broader evaluation metrics.
• Apply planning prioritisation and project management disciplines.
• Manage all activity to time and to budget.

Key knowledge, skills, and experience:

• Proven experience of day-to-day media liaison, and confidence in dealing with and briefing journalists in all formats – face-to-face, orally and in writing.
• A broad range of media relation skills, including drafting press releases, event organisation, dealing with journalists’ queries, acting as a spokesperson.
• Strong written and oral communication skills. Ability to create content across multiple formats to a high level.
• Able to work independently and as part of a team.
• The ability to assimilate complex financial and organisational information.
• The ability to establish information needs of different stakeholders.
• Well organised with good time management skills. Able to manage multiple projects and adapt to changing priorities quickly.
• Attention to detail and accuracy.
• Understanding of media measurement and evaluation techniques.
• Adapts to changing circumstances and new priorities.
• Goes out of the way to build excellent relationships at all levels.

Recruiter : Martyn Jack

We have a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture at M&G plc, underpinned by our policies and our employee-led networks who provide networking opportunities, advice and support for the diverse communities our colleagues represent. Regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, nationality, disability or long term condition, we are looking to attract, promote and retain exceptional people. We also welcome those who take part in military service and those returning from career breaks.

M&G is also proud to be a Disability Confident Leader, and we welcome applications from candidates with long-term health conditions, disabilities, or neuro-divergent conditions.  Being a Disability Confident Leader means that candidates who meet the minimum criteria of a job, will be offered an interview if they 'opt in' to the scheme when applying. 

If you need assistance or an alternative means of applying for a role due to a disability or additional need, please let us know by contacting us at: [email protected]