Communications Lead, DACH & CEE (Contract)

The Community You Will Join:

The communications team is responsible for telling the Airbnb story around the world. Whether we are briefing press on inspiring travel trends, highlighting unique experiences led by local hosts, or explaining how travel on our platform benefits local families and communities, we are the voice of Airbnb on a broad range of topics. 

We're a fast-growing and high-energy team with a passion for people, places and great stories. If you'd like to be part of one of the world's greatest communications teams, come tell us your story.

The Difference You will Make:

Based in Berlin, the Communications Lead, DACH & CEE will be responsible for the overarching communications strategy across Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Central Eastern Europe (focus: Czechia, Poland, Hungary). Reporting into the EMEA Head of Communications, the role will lead the DACH & CEE communications team, driving communications initiatives that support our consumer, policy and corporate-related goals in the region. The role will ensure that communications activities support the needs of the regional business, as well as being in line with global priorities.

You must be comfortable working in a global company across multiple stakeholders, building effective communications plans across all comms functions, corporate, consumer and policy and you must be adept at managing a highly talented and driven team of comms professionals. We’re looking for a passionate, articulate and savvy communicator who can work under pressure within tight deadlines, and engage a range of audiences, from Gen Z to Seniors.

A Typical Day: 

• Leads the DACH & CEE Communications Team, setting a Communications strategy and plan that aligns with the global and regional strategy 
• Oversees the development and execution of market plans supporting Consumer Communications, Corporate and Policy Communications, and Editorial Communications 
• Takes global and regional strategies and priorities and turns them into communications plans that meet local business needs
• Provides Communications strategic advice and counsel to the DACH & CEE leadership team
• Drives high standards in work across the market and ensures results are measurable
• Motivates and leads the team to originate creative communications approaches 
• Responsible for ensuring effective cross functional collaboration with other departments and within the overall policy & communications department
• Responsible for maintaining a clear organizational structure for the comms team and overall team performance

Your Expertise:

• Brand building Consumer PR experience, including news generation, events, newsjacking and influencer marketing
• Corporate and / or policy comms experience, either working in a communications agency or in-house
• Fluent German and English is mandatory
• Excellent writing and strong verbal communications and interpersonal skills
• Experience in media relations with an established media network
• A strong and effective people manager with proven ability to lead and develop teams effectively
• Offers deep expertise to provide strategic communications approaches to the biggest and most business critical problems and projects. Regularly creates holistic strategies and narratives for newsworthy stories 
• Forward thinking, innovative and creative - proactively shares perspective at all levels of the organization
• Able to build successful relationships with senior stakeholders across the business; Has outstanding presence when dealing with executives and a strong ability to influence business decisions
• Always thinking several steps ahead to anticipate where the business is going and how comms can adapt itself to best support
• Ability to inspire and motivate team members to deliver major press moments and campaigns
• Excellent problem solver with ability to unblock the most complex situations and facilitate drama-free environments

This position is a fixed-term contract (FTC) for 12 months.

Our Commitment To Inclusion & Belonging:

Airbnb is committed to working with the broadest talent pool possible. We believe diverse ideas foster innovation and engagement, and allow us to attract creatively-led people, and to develop the best products, services and solutions. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply.