Head of External Communications & PR

One of Germany's best known, used and loved platforms, we are on a mission to change trade for good!

We’re seeking an experienced, strategic, and hands‑on Head of External Communications & PR to lead our reputation, media relations, public affairs, and corporate narrative — including investor and board‑facing communications. You’ll shape how Kleinanzeigen shows up in the world, protect our brand in moments of risk, and leverage AI‑native communications workflows to make our function faster, smarter, and more predictive. As a core member of the Marketing Leadership Team, you’ll partner closely with senior leaders across the business.

Responsibilities

• Reputation & Risk Management
  Lead media crisis communications and brand‑risk management, especially around trust, fraud, and consumer protection. Own playbooks, training, and rapid‑response protocols.

• Media Relations & Storytelling
  Develop and execute PR strategies for consumers, SMBs, and real estate partners; cultivate relationships with top‑tier journalists and opinion leaders; drive SOV to propel business growth.

• Public Affairs
  Engage with policymakers, regulators, and industry associations; track relevant policy trends; align positions with our goals.

• Investor & Board Communications (IR)
  Partner with the C‑Suite on investor and board‑facing narratives, ensuring strong preparation, briefing and coordination to ensure key messages land.

• AI-Enabled Comms Operations
  Operationalise AI in communications to maximise workflow automation and efficiency. Establish guardrails for accuracy, ethics, and brand safety.

• Strategy & Leadership
  Serve as a trusted advisor to executives on positioning and narrative. Translate company strategy into clear external storytelling. Be a shaper and driver of the Marketing Leadership Team.

• Team & Agency Leadership
  Develop a small in‑house team and manage agency partners; set a vision and clear objectives, own strategy and execution and delivery against measurement frameworks.

• Spokesperson Duties
  Act as senior spokesperson on behalf of the business; coach and prep other spokespeople.

What You’ll Bring

• Experience: 10+ years in PR, corporate communications, or public affairs within consumer tech, online marketplaces, platforms, or adjacent regulated sectors. Track record handling high‑stakes media issues and crises.

• AI Application in Comms: Hands‑on experience using AI to improve communications outcomes — e.g., setting up monitoring/alerting pipelines, LLM‑assisted briefings and drafts with human‑in‑the‑loop QA, sentiment/narrative analysis, risk detection for manipulated/synthetic content, and establishing AI usage governance (accuracy, privacy, bias, approvals).

• Investor Relations Competency: Demonstrated ability to support investor/board communications: crafting financial and strategic narratives, prepping leaders for investor Q&A, coordinating with Finance/Legal on disclosures and quiet‑period protocols, and engaging financial media. Public or private investor environments both welcome.

• Storycraft & Influence: Exceptional German‑language writing and editing (native level) with fluent English; strong executive presence; ability to simplify complexity.

• Measurement Mindset: Familiar with comms/PR analytics (SOV, sentiment, message pull‑through, quality of coverage, reputation indices) and tying outcomes to business impact.

• Stakeholder Leadership: Comfortable operating cross‑functionally with all teams including but not limited to Legal, Trust & Safety, Product & Tech, Marketing, Business Development and Finance; effective agency management.

• Calm Under Pressure: Proven judgment and speed in ambiguous or sensitive situations.

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