Communications and Marketing Director, Manufacturing Business, London or Bridgend, Wales

Hanson Search is proud to be partnering exclusively with a leading UK manufacturing business to appoint its next Communications and Marketing Director — a genuinely rare opportunity to join a purposeful, commercially significant organisation at a pivotal moment in its growth. 

About the Business 

Our client is a market-leading manufacturer of building materials that play an important role in making buildings more energy efficient, safe, sustainable and comfortable. With an established UK manufacturing footprint and further expansion underway, the business combines deep technical expertise with a strong sustainability mission and a significant role in shaping conversations around building performance, safety and regulation. 

This is not a company that communicates from the sidelines. The business sits at the heart of some of the most important policy and commercial debates in the built environment, and its communications function is central to how it drives growth, shapes markets and leads on the issues that matter. 

The Role 

Reporting directly to the UK & Ireland Managing Director and sitting as a full member of the UK Management Team, this is a strategic leadership role in the truest sense. You will lead the full breadth of external communications across the UK business, including corporate communications, public and regulatory affairs, marketing communications and sustainability. 

The remit is to shape not just how the business tells its story, but how it influences the market it operates in. 

This is a role for someone who thinks commercially first and communicates second. You will need to evaluate opportunities, make clear decisions about where to focus for maximum impact, and work hand in hand with commercial, product and operational teams to drive the business forward. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Leading the company’s corporate narrative, media engagement and crisis communications across national, regional and trade press. 

• Driving a focused public and regulatory affairs strategy that creates market conditions in which the business and its products can thrive, including active engagement with government and industry bodies on safety, sustainability and energy efficiency policy. 
• Managing a team of functional experts and external agencies across multiple sites, while maintaining close alignment with the wider international group.
•  Sitting on the UK Management Team and contributing to broader business strategy, commercial decision-making and risk management. 
• Leading local sustainability communications in alignment with wider group goals.
• Directing all marketing communications, including digital, web, lead generation, product communications and customer communications. 

Acting as a senior external representative for the business with customers, industry leaders, government officials, regulators and other key stakeholders. 

About You 

You do not need to come from the construction or manufacturing sector, but you do need to be genuinely curious about it and excited by the complexity it brings. 

The right candidate will have: 

• Proven experience in a senior communications role, either in-house or agency-side. 

• A strong track record in corporate communications, including narrative development, crisis management and media relations. 

• An appreciation for the role of public and regulatory affairs in creating commercial opportunity. 

• The ability to manage complex stakeholder relationships, both internally and externally, including at group or parent company level. 

• Strong leadership experience and a collaborative approach to working with peers. 

• A commercial mindset, with success measured by business outcomes rather than activity. 

• Tenacity and conviction, with the confidence to hold a position even when others may disagree. 

Why This Role 

• This is a real seat at the top table of a business that believes deeply in what it does. Its products play a meaningful role in improving building performance, safety and sustainability, and the company is well positioned within some of the most important debates shaping the future of the built environment. 
• For the right candidate, this is a rare opportunity to do work that matters, in a business that will provide the autonomy, visibility and platform to make a real impact