Brand, Marketing and Communications Lead

Key Information

Job title: Brand, Marketing and Communications Lead

Salary: Circa £85,000 Grade: Band 4

Contract type: TfL Reference: 4127

Team: Places Communications and Engagement Directorate: Chief Customer & Strategy Officer

Contract details: Full-time Location: Victoria, London SW1, with hybrid working
Hybrid working within this role enables a balance of 50 per cent of time split between the office and home over a 4-week period. Hybrid working arrangements can evolve subject to business requirements

Application closing date: 28 April 2026 @ 2359

All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory right‑to‑work checks. Candidates must be able to demonstrate their right to work in the UK. At the present time TfL is unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.

Overview of project/role

Places for London is TfL’s property company, responsible for shaping how one of the capital’s largest and most high-profile development portfolios is understood, experienced and trusted. Operating in a complex public and political environment, the business brings together regeneration, housing and commercial development with a strong emphasis on brand, narrative and engagement. Its communications and marketing activity plays a critical role in building visibility, credibility and support for long-term placemaking ambitions, ensuring that what Places delivers on the ground is matched by clear, confident and consistent storytelling across London’s communities, partners and a wide range of political and community stakeholders and residents.

As Brand, Marketing and Communications Lead you will establish a newly created function, bringing together two previously separate teams to form a fully integrated marketing and communications capability for Places. You’ll set the strategic direction for all brand, marketing and internal and external communications activity for Places, operating at an organisation-wide level and ensuring alignment with the Places Strategy, wider TfL objectives and Mayoral priorities.

You’ll lead the development and stewardship of the Places brand, driving long-term brand equity, reputation and market positioning through insight led marketing, integrated campaigns and innovation across channels. While consumer impact is important, this role is primarily focused on shaping perception, confidence and engagement among business, public sector, political and institutional audiences.

Acting as a trusted strategic adviser to senior stakeholders across Places and TfL, you’ll shape organisational decision-making through clear, authoritative advice and ensure communications and engagement activity is consistently joined up and outcome focused. You’ll be fully accountable for the end-to-end integrated marketing and communications strategy, including significant budget management, governance, channel and audience strategy, message coherence and creative quality. This includes ensuring a single, coherent narrative across staff, partners, communities, and political stakeholders. Leading through others you'll ensure all activity delivers measurable impact, supports the Places Business Plan and protects and enhances organisational reputation.

Key Accountabilities

• Establish and lead the integrated brand, marketing, communications and stakeholder engagement strategy and campaigns across digital, social and traditional channels to deliver the Places Business Plan and organisational objectives
• Provide strategic leadership across all marketing, communications and engagement activity, setting direction, agreeing priorities, managing performance and building capability to support long term impact
• Own and steward the Places brand, including brand strategy, visual identity, tone of voice and guidelines, ensuring consistent application across internal and external touchpoints, leading creative development and storytelling to strengthen reputation, build trust and deliver business outcomes
• Monitor and enhance brand health and reputation using research, insight, analytics and stakeholder feedback to track awareness, sentiment and advocacy, anticipate and mitigate reputational risks and inform positioning and decision making in politically sensitive environment
• Lead, integrate and develop the new Places marketing and communications team, fostering strong collaboration across functions, driving upskilling and ensuring the team’s equipped to respond to emerging trends, changing audience expectations and our business needs
• Hold full accountability for budget management and return on investment, ensuring effective allocation of the c.£1m marketing and communications budget, embedding evaluation frameworks to measure impact and inform prioritisation
• Build and maintain strong strategic relationships with key stakeholders, partners and suppliers, working closely with Public Affairs and Strategic Engagement, and TfL colleagues to deliver joined-up engagement, build advocacy, and influence across compelx stakeholder and community landscapes

Skills, Knowledge & Experience

Skills

• Strong conceptual and strategic thinking with excellent creative judgement (Essential)
• Good business, organisational and leadership skills, including ability to generate enthusiasm within own team and other teams across the 'matrix' and within supplier teams (Essential)
• Excellent influencing, negotiation, and stakeholder relationship-building skills with both internal and external stakeholders (Essential)
• High-level communication and presentation skills, with political awareness, commercial acumen and ability to work in high-pressure situations (Essential)
• Advanced analytical skills for evidence-based decision-making and embedding data into planning (Highly desirable)
• Politically astute and sound awareness of the key policy issues affecting London (Highly desirable)

Knowledge

• Strong understanding of the complexities of high-profile public sector organisations operating in highly challenging political environments (Essential)
• Considerable knowledge of all core marketing communications channels, above and below the line including TV, radio, press, posters, face to face, direct mail, online, digital, social media, research and evaluation techniques. Good knowledge of other channels including PR / news, stakeholder engagement and how to engage with our people (Essential)
• Good knowledge of the Mayor's Transport Strategy, TfL priorities, Places Investment Strategy and the strategic issues and needs of London (housing, affordable, inclusive growth, building safety, air quality, decarbonisation etc.) (Essential)
• Understanding of local government procedures and culture, and the politics of London government (Highly desirable)
• Knowledge of real estate sector (including development and asset management) and emerging best practise in these areas (Highly desirable)
• Expertise in consultation and engagement processes and techniques, alongside communications and behaviour change strategies (Highly desirable)

Experience

• Extensive experience leading complex, outcomes-focused campaigns to drive culture, change, stakeholder buy-in and reputation management (Essential)
• Skilled in delivering integrated marketing campaigns across digital, social, and traditional channels, with measurable impact on brand awareness and reputation (Essential)
• Experience in strategic campaigning and managing creative/media agencies with focus on ROI, innovation and brand alignment (Essential)
• Proven ability to lead and develop teams, managing performance, developing capability, and delivering results on time and in budget (Essential)
• Strong track record in brand development and management, including creating and evolving brand for complex organisations (Highly desirable)

Application Process

• Please apply using your CV and a one-page cover letter
• Think carefully about the skills, knowledge and experience in the advert and cover this in your CV and cover letter
• PDF format preferred and do not include any photographs or images

Assessments are scheduled to take place from 27 May 2026

Appointments will be in person at one of our Head Office buildings (Victoria Station House or Palestra), and will comprise an interview assessing TfL Leadership Strengths, and a seen assessment covering technical aspects of the role.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We want to represent the city we serve, which will help us become a more innovative and efficient organisation. Our goal is to make our recruitment as inclusive as possible. We are a disability confident employer who guarantee an interview to any disabled candidate who meets all of the essential criteria. We also use anonymising software that removes identifying information from CVs and cover letters to make the process fair.

Benefits

In return for your commitment and expertise, you will enjoy excellent benefits and scope to grow. Rewards vary according to the level of role but mostly include the below:

• Final salary pension scheme
• Free travel for you on the TfL network
• Reimbursement of 75% of the cost of a standard class Ticket for National Rail travel from home
• 30 days annual leave plus public and bank holidays
• TfL is committed to work-life balance, operating a hybrid working approach where business and role requirements allow
• Private healthcare discounted scheme (optional)
• Tax-efficient cycle-to-work programme
• Retail, health, leisure and travel offers
• Discounted Eurostar travel

We will make every effort to give you as much notice as possible, however some interviews/assessments could be organised at short notice.

Vetting Process

At Transport for London, safety, trust and fairness sit at the heart of how we recruit. Our Vetting Charter (https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/careers/our-vetting-process) explains the checks we carry out before you join us, helping ensure we create a safe, inclusive and reliable network for everyone who depends on our services. We simply ask that the information you provide is honest and accurate so we can progress your application smoothly. If something doesn’t match or can’t be verified, we may not be able to move forward with your application, but we’ll always treat you with transparency, respect, and clear communication throughout.