PR MANAGER - Global Brand & Marketing – BDO Global Office
BDO is an international network of public accounting, tax and advisory firms, the BDO Member
Firms, which perform professional services under the name of BDO. The global network provides
advisory services in 154 countries, with 64,000 people working out of 1,408 offices worldwide. The
combined fee income of all the BDO Member Firms was $7.3 billion in 2015.
BDO is the brand name for the BDO network and for each of the BDO member firms. Service
provision within the international BDO network is coordinated by Brussels Worldwide Services BVBA,
the Global Office, a limited liability company incorporated in Belgium.
Job overview
The Global Office is seeking a PR Manager to join the Global Brand & Marketing team (GO
Marketing). The objective of this role is to build brand awareness of BDO globally through press
and public relations activities, while coordinating and supporting the activities of member firms to
ensure continuity of messaging throughout all external communications.
A central function of the role will be to work closely with both partners and the marcomms
functions across the network to identify and create PR opportunities and to discover and amplify
news and stories that help to maximise media interest in and exposure of the BDO brand among key
target audiences.
The position reports to the Global Brand & Marketing Director and is based at the Global Office
(GO) near Brussels Airport.
Key objectives and responsibilities
Objectives
 Create and sustain a global PR and communications strategy which is closely aligned to
business priorities and fully integrated with all marketing activities
 Develop and manage a Global Office PR programme, based around the global strategy 2019,
to ensure regular media engagement in print and online
 Work closely with GO marketing on key campaigns and initiatives, ensuring activity is
aligned and amplified throughout the BDO network
 Work closely with global industry heads and marketing personnel to drive positive and
impactful media relations activity for the key global industries, including PR support for
industry marketing campaigns and thought leadership
 Take the lead and act as the central point of contact and coordination for all crisis
communications and reputational issues, at both global and member firm level. Develop
and maintain a crisis communications protocol and provide guidance and support as
necessary
 Devise and implement an action plan for media outreach activity at global level that can be
replicated locally
 Chair and coordinate the regular calls with the international PR group, the aim of which is
to ensure that communications in local media and markets (external releases, collateral
etc.) are aligned with those at global level, and include the appropriate overarching
international brand narrative and messages
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Act as a central point of contact for all BDO firms and further develop the activities of the
international PR group, for the benefit of member firms as a whole
Provide support for GO members as necessary, for example quality control of wider
marketing materials, social media content, blogs, help with international conferences etc.
Responsibilities
Daily activities:
 Identify gaps for new campaign-based activities, referencing BDO’s strategic plan and the
existing competitor landscape
 Expand upon the current ‘insight squad’ initiative by identifying further areas of interest
within the business and researching their media potential
 Act as the first port of call for all international press enquiries, coordinating response
quickly and efficiently, as appropriate (includes out of hours response service to emergency
media inquiries)
 Develop and maintain appropriate means for reporting on and sharing PR successes with the
network (improve best practice sharing facility on connect and communicate proactively)
General activities:
 Build and maintain relationships with key international journalists, and organise background
briefings with target journalists when necessary
 Provide background notes for BDO spokespeople ahead of meetings with journalists which
identify the key talking points
 Manage any external agencies on a project basis, as required, ensuring delivery against
brief, quality control, value for money and evaluated against objectives set
 Identify an approved media training provider and arrange media training for key
spokespeople, as required
 Monitor relevant international media frequently in order to identify any reputational issues
and keep up to date on the global media agenda
 Evaluate ROI on activity/spend through periodic evaluation reports of PR activity, in order
to make recommendations for improvements in efficiency and effectiveness
 Monitor and share BDO press cuttings, as relevant.
Thought leadership:
 Work with Global Thought Leadership manager to identify areas for thought leadership and
develop internal and external materials to aid local activation of TL collateral and develop
related BD tools for use by the network
 Liaise as necessary with member firms to coordinate media outreach
 Assists the TL manager with all internal and external communications relating to TL
projects
Online / Digital:
 Works with the GO marketing to align with and build on existing digital initiatives and
increase BDO’s social media presence, in line with the digital strategy
 Oversee all content on the new bdo.global, reviewing it for brand messaging alignment and
relevance
Professional skills/ knowledge
The PR Manager should be energetic and ideas-driven, happy to work in an international
environment and comfortable with technology. Specifically, he / she should possess the
following:
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Graduate calibre with professional qualification and/or commitment to ongoing learning
Substantial PR or journalist experience essential; existing contacts with tier one media a
plus
Experience of a PR position in a professional services firm or a PR agency an advantage
Strong business sense and knowledge of the financial markets, able to get to grips with
relatively technical subject matter
Strong in written and verbal communications, together with verifiable copy writing and
influencing skills for media liaison
Exceptional ‘news sense’ and the ability to build and maintain relationships with journalists
Detail-oriented and with a focus on achieving excellent results through being accurate,
independent and responsible
Strong in collaboration and business relationships, together with an ability to work
effectively in an international team
Excellent interpersonal and negotiation skills and ability to engage and challenge internal
clients
Account management experience in terms of evaluation and reporting on progress
Agency management and strong people management skills
Ability to manage and control budgets
Administrative and organisational excellence
Fluency in both verbal and written English; other languages are a plus
How to apply
Please send your CV and letter of motivation in English to Philip Van der Auwera, Talent
Management Specialist & HR Manager, at GO-recruitment@bdo.global detailing your availability and
salary expectations, as well as references.