HSBC Group

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Some careers grow faster than others. 

If you’re looking for further opportunities to develop your career, take the next step in fulfilling your potential right here at HSBC.

Global Communications, designs and implements communications strategies which support HSBC’s business objectives, in line with our values, and enhance and protect our reputation among key stakeholders. 

We are currently seeking a high calibre professional to join our team as Head of Communications, IWPB.

Role Purpose

The ambition of the Businesses and Markets communications team is:

• Externally: Drive preference as the preferred and most trusted international financial partner amongst clients and stakeholders by evidencing the bank’s leadership positions in our home markets of UK and HK franchises, Corporate & Institutional Banking and International Wealth and Premier Banking. 
• Internally: Energise, inspire and motivate colleagues to contribute to HSBC’s culture and commercial success based on three priorities – our focus on the customer, our lens to driving long-term growth and our ability to execute with speed and agility.

The Head of Communications, IWPB is responsible for leading Communications across the International Wealth and Premier Banking (IWPB) business, supporting a number of product and customer groups. The role holder leads the development and implementation of communications strategies to support the strategic priorities and reputation outcomes of the IWPB business.

The role holder reports to the Group Head of Communications, Businesses and Markets (CBAM) will be a member of this CBAM leadership team. Role holder responsibilities:

• A globally minded, highly collaborative professional with extensive experience and maturity leading diverse communications functions within a complex, highly regulated and issues rich environment.
• An empowering, geopolitically savvy, and visionary leader, the Head of Communications, IWPB will bring a strong track record of safe-guarding and maintaining the reputation of multinational companies.
• The role holder will also have a track record of actively building reputation, in partnership with other functions (inc Governance, Human Resources, Public Affairs, Marketing, Brand etc) and have the confidence to lead multi-channel efforts to leverage all of business activities across the group.
• With the authority to build respect and trust at the most senior levels, the role holder will be a trusted advisor to the business CEO and OpCo.
• You will have an exemplary customer focus, be equipped with a strategic mindset and ‘outside-in’ thinking and have the ability to effectively collaborate across the HSBC to deliver ‘Win/Win’ scenarios for all parts of the business.
• With strong interpersonal skills and a demonstrated ability to effectively resolve conflict, you will possess a mastery of leadership and change management skills, consultation, influencing and negotiation capability.
• You will support the development of a resilient and agile team, be able to navigate complexity and create a culture of simplicity, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• You will have a history of creating a performance culture that supports individuals and teams in delivering superior value and ensure appropriate talent development and succession planning.
• Importantly, you will possess a strong understanding of the regulatory environment that governs the financial services industries globally with a particular depth in matters relating to IWPB.

Accountabilities for Business, Customers and Stakeholders

 Strategic adviser and strategy development

• Communications advisory and counsel for the CEO of the IWPB business and the rest of the IWPB OpCo.
• Design and implement an IWPB communications strategy, in support of the business and Group’s collective objectives.  Ensure that IWPB has a communications strategy that builds a culture and reputation that signals a clear focus on customers, drive long-term growth and operates with agility.

Issues and crisis management

• Ensure HSBC is adequately prepared to effectively deal with issues and crises. 
• Work with colleagues in the bank to ensure leaders have early sight of emerging issues and ensure there are handling strategies for each issue.
• Anticipate, mitigate and manage any reputation risks and issues, and work with the Group Businesses and Markets Communications, Group External Communications, Group Public Affairs and Brand teams on any multi-jurisdictional matters.
• Collaborate to co-create and co-develop material that protects the bank’s reputation.
• Assess and devise strategies for building capacity and capabilities for managing reputational issues, ensuring lessons are learned and shared following each issue.
  

Strategic communications

• Communicate HSBC’s ambition, purpose and priorities.
• Advise key senior executives on all communications matters regarding the Group’s business activities and strategic actions.
• Provide the IWPB CEOs and their OpCo members with expert counsel on comms matters.
• Maintain knowledge of stakeholder requirements, competitors’ activities and market trends to influence the future communications direction of the region.
• Deliver relevant communications content through the right channels to reach target audiences.
• Oversee an agreed platform strategy for executive engagement, including the development of messaging and positioning pieces for senior executives on key business platforms.
• Partner and support the respective communications leads to build a credible communications plan to support business objectives.

Media Relations

• Oversee media relations for the IPWB business.
• Build media relationships that help protect, strengthen and enhance the bank’s reputation.
• Apply an acute understanding of media across the IWPB business and collaborate with the Group External Comms team on any multi-market media handling, particularly in relation to issues/crisis management.

Social responsibility

• Strengthen the reputation of HSBC by ensuring that key stakeholders understand and appreciate the societal contribution of HSBC.

 Employee Communications

• Design and implement an internal communications strategy that is compelling in order to drive colleague engagement.

Social media

• Design and manage the strategy for HSBC’s use of and engagement with social media to support the bank’s strategy and reach the target audience (including new audiences). 
• Work closely with Brand/Marketing to maximise the value of paid media.
• Ensure key leaders have a strategy in place that enables them to seize the opportunities that social media presents. 

Financial, Compliance and Risk management

• Overall responsibility for the financial budget and reporting requirements for the communications team.
• Disciplined financial management of Communications budget and commercially focussed management of third-party relationships and partnerships.
• Build the annual business and budget plans, ensuring transparency and accountability across the team.
• Ensure adherence to HSBC’s risk management and compliance policy requirements.

Leadership Attributes  

• Executive presence with C-suite executives – confident and effective interaction with senior business leaders.
• Strategic thinker – use a diverse set of insights to develop a broad perspective and lay out a vision of what the bank/team can achieve.
• Decisiveness: The ability to make decisions, particularly when under pressure.
• Trustworthiness: Build relationships with colleagues as a credible leader who is always transparent and equitable.
• Empowerment of others: Be trusting in equal measures, empower your colleagues to take on tasks or projects that will help them step outside of their comfort zones and grow as professionals. 
• Effective communication: Be able to explain problems and solutions clearly and concisely as well as communicate vision to their colleagues and teams. Lead a team to work towards the same goal, to motivate and inspire them to reach their full potential for their own benefit, as well as the organisation.
• Resilience: Able to cope with changes and challenges, short-term setbacks and focus on opportunities and learnings for the future.
• Adaptability and agility: Leads by embracing agile ways of working. 
• Collaborative: Sets the tone on collaboration, delivering with agility and at pace for a team of communications professionals.
• Long-term thinking: Able to plan for the future through concrete and quantifiable goals. Understands continuous change and open to new approaches to solve problems or improve processes.
• Enterprise thinker: Able to think enterprise-wide by contributing to the Group’s initiatives and themes.
• Growth mindset: Be inclusive to the unique needs and perspectives of others, learning and innovating for possibilities and the betterment of teams and business.
• Role model HSBC values: Foster a team culture by energising and motivating so we move with pace and purpose.
• A champion for inclusion – creates an environment in which all people feel like they belong. Strong influencing skills and ability to persuade others to act.
  

Functional Knowledge

• Significant leadership experience in a senior communications role with a proven track record of integrated reputation management at a large multi-national organisation.
• Experience in leading teams in an international matrixed organisation with a diverse culture.
• Solid understanding of the global business operating environment, especially in the wealth industry 
• Preferred business management experience and exposure.
• Experience in communications, media and/or government affairs.
• Have led complex projects. 
• Experience in complex risks and issues management.
• Exposure to the use of digital communications and associated measurement strategies.
• Strong knowledge of financial services industry, global marketplace and consumer trends preferred.
• Very strong ability to understand and apprise geo-political, political, regulatory and social risks and sensitivities.
• Track record of ensuring adherence to communications-set governance and policies as well as ensuring compliance with Group policies and procedures, including maintaining required records.
• Experience of transformational change with organisations, including the introduction of new technologies or processes.

Others

• Oversight and control of budgets and cost plans.
• Ensure adherence to all relevant governance and policies.
• Comply with Group policies and procedures and maintaining all required records.

Essential Capabilities

• Business Insight & Decision Quality: Applying knowledge of business and the market to make good and timely decisions that keeps the organization moving forward.
• Strategic Mindset: Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies.
• Action Oriented: Taking on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
• Builds Effective Teams: Building strong-identity teams that apply their diverse skills and perspectives to achieve common goals.
• Drives Vision & Purpose: Painting a compelling picture of the vision and strategy that motivates others to action.
•       Persuasion & Conviction: Using compelling arguments to gain the support and commitment of others; stepping up to address difficult issues and saying what needs to be said.

The chosen candidate for this role will be required to undergo enhanced vetting. Subject to local laws, this will require the individual to satisfactorily pass a series of additional checks as part of the recruitment process and on an ongoing basis, if appointed to the role. HSBC Group reserves its position with regards to any steps which it may take in relation to any material adverse findings which arise either when the checks are originally completed, and/or if relevant, on an ongoing basis. For more information about the enhanced vetting for this role, please contact the recruiter for this role.

When applying, please submit a full resume and attach your appraisal reports for the last two performance years. Your local internal application policy should be followed. For internal applicants in Hong Kong with less than twelve months in their current role, please also obtain and enclose the endorsement from your current line manager in the application as well; for more information, you can visit HRDirect and search for content "HKG: Do I need any approval to look for internal career opportunities?".

You’ll achieve more at HSBC.

HSBC is committed to building a culture where all employees are valued, respected and opinions count. We take pride in providing a workplace that fosters continuous professional development, flexible working and opportunities to grow within an inclusive and diverse environment. Personal data held by the Bank relating to employment applications will be used in accordance with our Privacy Statement, which is available on our website.

Issued by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited