Senior Manager, Group External Communications

Collinson is the global, privately-owned company dedicated to helping the world to travel with ease and confidence. The group offers a unique blend of industry and sector specialists who together provide market-leading airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement, and insurance solutions for over 400 million consumers.


Collinson is the operator of Priority Pass, the world’s original and leading airport experiences programme. Travellers can access a network of 1,500+ lounges and travel experiences, including dining, retail, sleep and spa, in over 650 airports in 148 countries, helping to elevate the journey into something special. We work with the world’s leading payment networks, over 1,400 banks, 90 airlines and 20 hotel groups worldwide.

We have been bringing innovation to the market since inception – from launching the first independent global VIP lounge access Programme, Priority Pass to being the first to sell direct travel insurance in the UK through Columbus Direct and creating the first loyalty agency of its kind in the travel sector with ICLP. Today we still invest heavily in innovation to ensure that we continue to deliver superior customer experiences.

Key clients include Mastercard, American Express, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, LATAM, Flying Blue, Accor, EasyJet, HSBC, Chase, HDFC.

Senior Manager, Group External Communications

The role:

Collinson Group is looking for a strategic and influential Senior Manager, Group External Communications to strengthen our voice across key audiences — including media, government, regulatory bodies, and industry stakeholders.

In this role, you’ll shape and protect Collinson’s external narrative, ensure high-impact messaging, lead thought leadership initiatives, and position the Group to influence industry conversations.

What you’ll do

• Develop and execute a corporate communications strategy aligned with Collinson’s goals and sector priorities.
• Collaborate with PR and marketing leads across our five Operating Companies to maintain a centralised communications plan and calendar.
• Ensure consistent, high-quality messaging across all stakeholders, keeping senior leaders informed.
• Build and maintain relationships with policymakers, regulators, industry bodies, and political stakeholders in the UK, EU, and globally.
• Prepare briefings for senior stakeholders representing the company at consultations, parliamentary sessions, roundtables, and industry events.
• Oversee media monitoring and develop proactive and reactive response strategies on political and regulatory issues.
• Align public affairs messaging with internal and external communications initiatives, including thought leadership campaigns.
• Manage a global network of trained spokespeople and prepare briefings for media and public engagements.
• Provide policy and stakeholder updates to internal teams to ensure organisational alignment.
• Support and mentor junior communications staff.

Who you are

• Proactive and politically curious , passionate about current affairs and regulatory dynamics.
• A natural networker with gravitas to represent Collinson Group externally.
• Collaborative and energetic , with a positive, can-do attitude and resilience under pressure.
• Strong strategic thinker with excellent writing, editorial, and content development skills.
• Experienced in stakeholder engagement , media relations, and thought leadership campaigns.
• Highly organised, able to manage multiple priorities and complex projects in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications & Experience

Essential :

• Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Politics, Law, Public Affairs, or related field.
• Minimum 6 years in public affairs or external communications, with B2B experience essential.

Desirable :

• Professional qualification such as the CIPR Diploma in Public Affairs .
• Experience in financial services, travel, or insurance sectors.
• Proven track record of leading communications to build brand reputation and integrate public affairs priorities.

Skills

• Exceptional writing, editorial, and content development skills.
• Confident communicator with strong influencing and stakeholder engagement abilities.
• Excellent project management skills, capable of juggling multiple priorities.
• Analytical mind with sharp political awareness and a creative storytelling approach.

Our mission is focused on doing good beyond profit, which for us means we seek out opportunities for our people to share in our success and that we give back to the communities and people within which we work.

Never short of ambition, the success of our business is delivered through the diverse and talented team of over 2,200 global colleagues.

Collinson is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes differences in all their forms including: colour, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, neurodivergence, family status, age, individuals with disabilities and people from all backgrounds, cultures and experiences as we strongly believe this contributes to our on-going success.

We are focused on continually evolving our purpose driven, high performing culture, providing an environment where our people have the opportunity to achieve their full potential and do interesting and meaningful work. Our company values are: Take Action, Do the right thing, One team and Be insight led. These help guide everything we do internally in terms of how we think, act and interact, right through to how we deliver value to our customers and clients.

In your application, please feel free to note which pronouns you use (For example - she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/theirs, etc).

If you need any extra support throughout the interview process, then please email us at [email protected]