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Director of Communications

Salary: Excellent Package » Ref: JT5136 » Location: Geneva, Switzerland

FIBA is the world governing body for basketball and is formed by 5 FIBA Zones and 213 National Federations of basketball throughout the world. It is responsible for controlling and governing all international competitions and working closely with national federations to promote the sport globally.

Having celebrated its 75^th Anniversary in 2007, FIBA is still a young sports federation when compared to other large international governing bodies but it has overseen the promotion of a sport that has swiftly become a dominant presence on the global sporting landscape. Basketball has been an Olympic Sport since 1936 and with FIBA’s approval of the participation of professional players at the Games in 1992, this has become a key platform for the promotion of the sport.

Basketball now counts up to 450 million followers and can genuinely claim to be the “other global sport” given its status as the most popular sport in areas such as Asia and Australia and the current trend for it to surpass football globally. The sport is continuing to grow and with an attractive image and famous icons in key markets it is an exciting and dynamic time within the organization.

FIBA’s commercial rights include not just the World Championships but the senior Men and Women’s Continental Championships, an almost unique position for a major sport, and the organization has become increasingly commercial and progressive.

The Secretary General is Patrick Baumann who has been with the organisation since 1994 and is an extremely well respected global sports administrator.

Context and Purpose of the Position;

The FIBA Communications Department has successfully managed relations with the sports media and communications, as well as growing fiba.com to become an effective year-round platform to communicate with the international basketball community.

The incumbent is moving to a new role within the organisation and therefore FIBA wishes to recruit a new Director of Communications who will define and deliver the communications strategy, managing a team of 4/5 staff, reporting directly into Patrick Baumann and working closely with the Commercial Director.

With this exciting new position comes the opportunity to be at the forefront of the future success of a truly global organisation, combining strategic stakeholder engagement with consumer, “fan facing” communications. The successful candidate will be able to deliver the corporate objectives whilst also continuing to engage new and existing fans on a global scale.

Main Duties and Responsibilities of the Role;

Develop and implement a long-term communications strategy
Ensure the alignment of the Communications strategy within the Commercial, Sport and Institutional strategies of FIBA
Oversee all communications with the FIBA “family” as well as institutional bodies
Maintain editorial responsibility and ensure consistent messages across all FIBA controlled media and briefings to external media
Manage the fiba.com team to ensure the content for the platform continues to grow
Work with the PR agency assigned to reach out non-sports consumer media and B2B media
Build the FIBA and Championship brands within the Commercial, Sport and Institutional strategies of FIBA
Ensure all communications consistently support the positioning of the FIBA and Championship brands as defined by the Commercial Director
Manage the in-house media team to ensure we fully service all sports media at our events and year-round
To manage and oversee FIBA’s print publications
To ensure the highest industry standards in media services and media operations during and outside of FIBA events
To establish a good working relationship with the mass media
Develop and if necessary implement media crisis management
To represent FIBA as a spokesperson to all mass media outlets
Manage special events such as gala dinners, sponsor launches etc.
The Director of Communications will report to the Secretary General of FIBA and work closely with the Commercial Director on fan and B2B communications

Skills, Knowledge and Qualifications required;

Technical;

Demonstrable track record of managing a communications team within an international organisation with a diverse stakeholder base
Track record of developing and delivering clear and consistent communications strategies
World-wide network of media contacts and experience within a truly international role
Experience with sports, consumer, corporate, business and digital media
Proven ability to work within a broad range of cultures
Capable of developing and controlling budgets as well as in recruiting external suppliers and expertise and industry standard cost.
English mother tongue or complete fluency in English essential
French and Spanish language skills desired, other language skills are an asset

Behavioural;

Politically sensitive networker with a capability to persuade with a high degree of integrity and resilience.
Excellent communication and people skills, with the ability to work effectively across a broad range of stakeholder groups
Hands-on management style, creative approach, and strong ability to motivate the team to achieve the greatest possible results
Ability to manage the needs of diverse stakeholders and has the ability to influence with diplomacy in a politically sensitive environment
Ability to obtains full engagement through inspiring communications and tailor messages appropriately to the audience
Desire to pursue excellence with integrity, passion and courage

How to Apply;

FIBA is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in employment and its employment policies for recruitment, selection, training, development and promotion are designed to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, ethnic and national origin, disability or gender reassignment.

To apply candidates should send the following;