Senior Consultant (Public Affairs)
About Hawthorn
Hawthorn Advisors is one of London’s fastest growing strategic communications consultancies and one of the most dynamic and rewarding places to work in the sector. We are commencing our expansion overseas, with with an office open in New York and one planned in the Middle East. We focus on helping businesses, organisations and their leaders around the world navigate the complex and rapidly changing economic, political, and social landscapes in which they operate, whilst developing our people to help them achieve these objectives.
A career at Hawthorn presents opportunities to work across different specialisms and a range of sectors, and to broaden and deepen experience, working with some outstanding talent. The specific services we offer derive from our own expertise and include advising our clients in the following areas: Corporate reputation and leadership; Political advisory; Growth Companies and Capital Markets; Digital Strategy; Purpose and ESG; Employee Communication and Engagement, and International Business.
Hawthorn comprises an ambitious senior leadership team, all with acclaimed expertise from the highest levels of the corporate, political and media worlds. We combine their knowledge and experience with an exceptional team of strategic communications and digital specialists across our consultancy to deliver truly impactful and commercially successful projects for our international client base.
Renowned for honest and experienced counsel, Hawthorn uses in-depth intelligence, creativity, and its connectivity and knowledge to build communication programmes across all platforms that respond effectively to our clients’ needs.
Overview
A Senior Consultant at Hawthorn is positioned at the right-hand of the Associate Directors and a trusted advisor in their own right to clients, making a strong strategic contribution to accounts and challenging internal thinking to ensure that we continue to deliver exceptional work for clients. Within the team, the senior consultant’s role is to analyse, screen, organise and delegate to ensure all accounts are running like clockwork.
Able to work at a high pace, the senior consultant will be a dynamic and creative thinker, with a strong capacity for building relationships across the company, with media and potential new business prospects.
Our People
At Hawthorn, we put the client and our people at the heart of everything we do. We give our colleagues the freedom and autonomy to do whatever they can to help our clients achieve great things. We work hard, love a challenge, have big ideas, and plenty of fun along the way. If you’re looking for a place that values curiosity, creativity, and ambition; want interesting, diverse, and challenging work; have a desire to learn, and if you’re seeking big thinkers who love to collaborate, then Hawthorn could be the place for you.
Building an inclusive culture is vital to our future. We are the sum of our parts and believe the best way to drive collaboration, unlock creativity, and enable innovation is through combining diverse perspectives, experiences, and ideas. We’re committed to building a diverse and equitable company where everyone feels they belong.
Attributes of a Hawthorn employee
- An intellectually ambitious and rigorous thinker with creative flair.
- A self-starter with a desire to build networks and make things happen – focused on delivering positive change, both internally and externally.
- A team player who is always on hand to support colleagues at all levels in the business.
- Energetic, hardworking and excited by the challenge of a fast-growing company.
- A polymath with a big picture perspective on what communications can deliver and achieve for clients.
- Passionate about helping colleagues to thrive and achieve their potential.
Key Responsibilities
- Senior Consultants are able to develop complex communication strategies in partnership with senior colleagues and demonstrate a strong working understanding of how to develop strategic, public affairs campaigns. Senior Consultants lead on executing high-quality, impactful and innovative communications programmes, based on strategic insight and drawing on the firm’s connectivity.
- This role will be in the public affairs team and will be key to bringing political insights to client calls and new business processes.
- Build trusted relationships with clients – able to hold their own and advise senior clients with conviction in their own right.
- Be a key member of the public affairs team and work across clients to better their understanding of the political process.Use their existing public affairs network to assist clients and Hawthorn.
- Ensure that work is being consistently delivered to a high standard by teams, according to an agreed scope of work; and that clients’ specific needs are being met by the team at all levels.
- Build and maintain a network of political and media contacts that help to deliver outcomes for clients and to grow the Hawthorn business.
- Empower Consultants and Analysts to take ownership of their professional development, providing opportunities for growth and regular, consistent feedback to drive a culture of constant improvement throughout the firm.
- Works with the Associate Director to oversee the day-to-day account management activity that is delivered by Consultants, ensuring that activity is delivered on schedule and to a high standard.
Competencies
- Exceptional written and verbal communications skills.
- Political understanding coupled with experience in policy and regulation and a strong track record of political campaigning.A network of politcians and advisors you can use to assist clients and new business processes.
- Ability to manage a team of junior colleagues and act as a conduit between the team and the Associate Director on the account, adapting to changing priorities and external pressures; and driving cross-stakeholder campaigns from brainstorm through to execution.
- Excellent working knowledge of clients’ business, sector and issues – and able to identify when and how to adapt strategy according to external developments.
- Ability to develop and mentor junior team members.
- Ability to develop strong working relationships with key politicians and advisors.
- Strategic view of the wider digital landscape including social media platforms, content marketing, and website development.
- Skilled at presenting to both small and large groups, including clients and in a pitch environment.
- Proficient with political databases and monitoring services.
Some examples of day-to-day work
- Developing strategy in partnership with Associate Directors and able to independently devise complex communications programmes.
- Managing client teams.
- Reviewing draft content developed by Consultants and Analysts, such as op-eds, briefings, messaging documents and campaign planners.
- Developing thought leadership content in support of Hawthorn’s marketing activities.
- Actively growing media network to support Hawthorn’s reach.
Our benefits
We offer competitive salaries that fully reflect your skills and experience, and benefits that support your mental, physical, financial, and social wellbeing including:
- Benefits including Pension, Salary Exchange, medical and life insurance, plus cycle to work and technology schemes.
- Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
- Time-off including annual, parental, sabbatical, and volunteering leave.
- 25 days annual leave in year one, 26 days thereafter.
- Annual charity day where an employee can volunteer their time to a chosen charity of their choice
- A continuous learning culture to support your growth.
- Proactive wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), sick leave provision, mental health first-aiders, and menopause app Peppy.
- Office perks including breakfasts, lunches, snacks and drinks.
- A packed social calendar which includes sports and cultural activities, charity bike rides, plus not-to-be missed summer and Christmas parties each year.
