Internal Communications Manager

Who are we?

Howden is a collective – a group of talented and passionate people all around the world. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 18,000 employees spanning over 100 countries.

People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

We are looking for an experienced Internal Communications Manager to join the team to work with the Head of Internal Communications & Engagement for the UK and Ireland (Retail) to own the day-to-day employee communication as well as create campaigns to launch new initiatives and help colleagues through change. This will include launching Viva Engage in 2025 followed by a new Howden intranet.

Your core skills and experience must include writing (news articles, video scripts, Q&A etc), PowerPoint creation, intranet content e.g. adding pages and publishing content (Sharepoint 365), repurposing content and posting on Viva Engage, as well as all the other usual internal communications channels and applications.

You will need to be a self-motivated and enthusiastic individual, with excellent organisational skills, experience working in a changing and ambiguous environment, and a natural ability to build strong relationships with piers and stakeholders.

The opportunity sits within Howden UK and Ireland, which has over seventy entities that have recently merged into one, and c.8000 colleagues in 200+ locations

The position is available for a 6-month fixed term contract and ideally two to three days in the London office each week to help build relationships.

Key Accountabilities

• Work with Group communications and engagement teams to support the cascade of group-led initiatives, including topics on employee respect groups, diversity & inclusion, social impact initiatives, sponsorships, colleague recognition awards, as well as Group-led events, business updates and announcements.
• Work with the Retail communications teams to offer an internal service, including providing a calendar of activities from Group and Retail, and creating content that can be re-used or repurposed to reduce individual effort.
• Lead the production of a wide variety of content using different media, including news articles and formatted emails, SharePoint intranet pages, videos and ppt slide decks.
• Support the creation and publication of all Retail-wide email announcements and communication.
• Support the Head of Internal Communications & Engagement with monthly leader road trip arrangements, periodic town hall event logistics and production (we use a mix of Microsoft Teams and ON24), and video production.
• Create and maintain a measurement dashboard for all communication channels and content to help us better understand what's creating the right levels of colleague engagement and action, and what needs improvement.
• Play a lead role in the launch of Viva Engage expected Autumn 2025, including colleague awareness, engagement, launch and embedding.

Person Specification

• Strong comms production skills, including writing, proof reading, design, events, video production and analytics/measurement.
• Strong technical capability on all the usual internal communications platforms and applications, including Sharepoint 365, Miscrosoft Teams Town Hall/Webinar or ON24, CRM applications e.g. Concep or Salesforce to design and send templated emails, Viva Engage or a similar social platform.
• Highly organised with excellent project management skills and capable of running and prioritising multiple projects.
• Comfortable to work in a fast-paced environment, carrying out tasks at a multitude of management levels (junior to senior), and willing to get stuck in.
• Capable of thriving in a matrixed organisation, embracing ambiguity, and collaborating with various partners and team members.
• Demonstrated experience creating campaigns that help colleagues understand or engage in a topic or change. We would expect to see a series of messaging over time to take people on a journey and using different channels and mediums like video, presentations, and social media.

Your experience

• We are open to considering either someone already established with three plus years’ experience in comms or developing someone more junior with one to two years’ experience but with the right core skills and a strong desire to learn and grow.
• Familiarity with a diverse organisation that operates on a 'matrix' structure or relies on 'comms partners' is preferred.
• Prior experience in a communications role supporting a business going through change.
• Experience introducing new communications channels and platforms to colleagues, including creating and delivering a change/comms plan to take colleagues on a journey from awareness to launch and then adoption.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

• Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new

• We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges

• We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond

Reasonable adjustments

We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs.  Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.

If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.

*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.

Fixed Term Contract (Fixed Term)