Internal Communications Specialist

Leyland SDM specialises in paint, tools, plumbing, electrical and woodwork materials from our 32 high street stores (soon to be 33) across London, supported by our central support and distribution centre. We are currently on an exciting journey and have some very ambitious growth plans.

Internal Communications Specialist - Let’s paint the picture for you!

We are looking for a creative individual who is passionate about communications and digital media to help shape our employee communication & engagement programme.

We are a diverse business with locations across London, employing around 450 people who work in a variety of ways, either in our high street stores, our central distribution centre or head office.  You’ll be instrumental in connecting them all to the Company, our customers and to each other.

As the Communications Specialist, you will be the ambassador for the company and play an essential role in building and maintaining engagement with our ever-growing internal audience. Our people are our most important asset and ensuring they are effectively and consistently communicated with is crucial to the success of our business.

In this completely new role, you’ll work across a range of communications platforms, including print, digital and face-to-face, to build collaboration, engagement and to motivate our people to support us in achieving our strategic goals, vision and mission.

What will you be doing?

• Create dynamic communications content for both printed and digital channels to support the businesses people agenda, including content development and delivery to capture timely, strategic colleague stories for internal and external sharing.  This includes the development and delivery of a colleague newsletter.

• Create compelling content that supports strategic business objectives covering colleague engagement activities, charity & community, reward and recognition, learning and development, sustainability, diversity and inclusiveness.  This includes messages for emails, articles, newsletters, our internal communications platform content and external social channels.

• Creates and manages calendar for engagement and communication activities, promoting the Leyland SDM employer brand to help drive internal and external awareness of company culture, the employee experience and our people’s stories.

• Working with the recruitment team, develop and improve the business branding ratings on employee opinion websites (e.g. Glassdoor/Indeed) as well as all social media channels.

• Assist with the development and implementation of new / existing communication vehicles.

• Works closely with Leadership Team and departments to keep abreast of company developments and trends.

• Works closely with and coordinates with the external communications teams (i.e., marketing communications).

• Ensures the internal colleague committee permeates messaging to colleagues and stakeholders.

• Provides editorial support for all content, reviews and edits essential internal communications prior to dissemination to ensure accuracy, clarity, and appropriateness.

• Ensure excellent user-experience and engagement on internal communication platform and channels regarding people and culture related topics.

• Take the lead on organising and creating colleague engagement calendar of activity across the business covering engagement surveys, annual colleague awards, charity events, local community initiatives, sustainability and diversity/inclusion.

What Skills and Experience will you need to have?

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with strong attention to detail

• Ability to create compelling content in multiple formats, including video, visual and written

• Enthusiastic and motivated, self-starter who is excited to work with the HR Director to create, develop and manage a Company-wide internal communications and engagement strategy

• Excellent knowledge of all Microsoft Office software and experience of using a creative suite, such as Canva, e-marketing platforms and website content management systems

• Ability to build relationships with both internal and external stakeholders

• Strong sense of creativity and an eye for design

• Highly organised with the ability to manage multiple projects

• Strong interpersonal skills with a passion for working in a people-centric role

• Experience of working across multiple digital channels include social media, internet, email and newsletters

How will we reward you?

We have an excellent benefits package on offer:

• Annual bonus opportunity

• 25 days holiday a year plus public holidays

• Up to 20% discount in Leyland SDM, plus discount across other Grafton Group brands

• Competitive Pension Contributions with generous matching salary sacrifice contributions

• Health Cashplan – claim money back on everyday healthcare needs and treatments (Dental, physio, prescriptions to name a few)

• Share saving scheme into our parent company, the Grafton Group

• Company sick pay

• Life assurance

• Cycle2work scheme coming soon

• 100’s of retail discounts available through our flexible benefits portal

Apply now!