External and Brand Communications Lead at PepsiCo

Responsibilities
What we’re looking for:

• Design and deliver a fully integrated external communication plans and strategies for SA in its full scope by championing and executing an Annual Operating Plan (AOP) including, external, executive communication as well as Corporate & Social Impact.
• Actively managing relations with stakeholders (media, influencers, agencies, event owners, public figures) to ensure right corporate positioning of PepsiCo within the community and external stakeholders
• Build new communication platforms/ tactics and develop new opportunities for reach and engagement
• Monitoring the industry and external climate to advise on public relations strategy and positioning.
• Corporate Communications:
• Lead the strategic planning of corporate communication strategy
• Taking ownership of storytelling with new and creative ideas for PepsiCo’s corporate and Social impact initiatives through speeches, press releases, feature articles, social media posts, etc.
• Monitoring the industry and external climate to advise on public relations strategy and positioning.
• Actively manage relations with media to ensure right corporate positioning of PepsiCo within the community and external stakeholders
• Developing contacts with key public figures and influencers.
• Leading all on ground company owned events by liaising with the relevant agencies
• Build new communication platforms and develop new opportunities for reach and engagement
• Identify speaking opportunities to top management team. Create speeches, communication and briefing material for management team.
• Liaise and coordinate the work with EMEA COE and global team
• Closely monitoring and management of crisis communications (offline and online) while proactively developing communication plans to mitigate recurrent issues on media channels. Handling executive team alignment on urgent / negative news in the media, as well as relevant teams.
• Leading on direct media inquiries
• Handling legal contracts with third parties and external partners
• Onboarding new agencies to upgrade our communication strategy
• Managing the PR agency
• Managing daily interaction with our PR agency/main focal point
• Briefing agencies on all PepsiCo’s initiatives/campaigns/events
• Work closely with agency to develop annual communications plans and ongoing activities
• Managing daily/weekly/monthly reporting from agency
• Identifying and filtering speaking opportunities & interviews
• Working closely with the agency on developing all the PR statements, briefing documents, media plans, special reporting, etc.
• Leading PR agency pitches and briefs 
• Managing and handling corporate strategic sponsorships:
• Identifying strategic sponsorships that serve our corporate communication agenda
• Negotiating and ceiling budget and benefits
• Handling the contract and sponsorships details
• Leading on ground execution and relevant activations

Budgeting & Financial Reporting:

• Budget for Communications annual expenditure (PR, events, sponsorships)
• Brand Communications Strategy & Execution
• Develop, lead, and execute strategic brand communications plans that are:
• Anchored in brand purpose and business objectives.
• Focused on strengthening brand positioning in alignment with consumer insights.
• Designed to craft relatable and relevant brand and corporate stories that resonate with consumers, key opinion leaders (KOLs), media, and other stakeholders.
• Built to protect and enhance brand and corporate reputation, ensuring alignment with corporate values and narrative.
• Translate global brand messaging into locally relevant narratives and activations, rooted in cultural insight and market dynamics.
• Capitalize on cultural moments and real-time opportunities that enhance brand relevance.
• Aligned with global and regional brand guidelines, while tailored to local market context.
• Contribute to brand AOPs (Annual Operating Plans) to ensure communication efforts reinforce the brand's relevance and cultural fit within the Mexican market.

Reputation Management & Issues Preparedness

• Monitor the external environment—including socio-political trends, cultural conversations, and media sentiment—to:
• Identify opportunities for cultural relevance and real-time engagement that support brand storytelling.
• Prevent and manage potential crisis scenarios through proactive risk assessment and reputation management.
• Address sensitive issues early, mitigating risks through coordinated communication strategies and stakeholder alignment.
• Safeguard the long-term equity and trust of the brand by ensuring all communication is transparent, authentic, and consistent.
• Corporate Affairs Integration
• Align brand communications efforts with corporate communications, sustainability, and ESG strategies.
• Identify opportunities for corporate-brand storytelling that reflects PepsiCo’s values and contributions to society.

Stakeholder & Media Relations
Build and maintain strong relationships with:

• Media outlets, editors, and journalists to secure impactful earned coverage.
• Influencers, creators, and KOLs to amplify brand storytelling and reach diverse audiences authentically.
• Industry associations, NGOs, and community leaders, where relevant, to deepen brand credibility and advocacy.
• Ensure accurate, timely, and positive coverage that aligns with strategic brand priorities.
• Ensure at least 70% positive/ neutral tonality of coverage annually
• Serve as a strategic advisor to internal stakeholders:
• Collaborate cross-functionally with brand marketing, corporate affairs, legal, commercial, and insights teams.
• Keep the organization informed of communication plans and serve as a proactive advisor on potential opportunities or risks.
• Embed a communications lens into broader business initiatives to elevate the brand’s presence and impact.

Team & Agency Leadership

• Lead and coordinate the Brand Communications team in SA, ensuring:
• Effective management of PR agencies and communication partners for timely, high-quality execution.
• All messaging is aligned with global brand narratives and PepsiCo’s corporate messaging.
• Achievement of communications KPIs such as earned media reach, sentiment, brand engagement, and share of voice.
• Efficient budget allocation and ROI tracking of communication activities.
• Foster a culture of creativity, agility, and accountability within the communications function.
• Measurement & Continuous Improvement
• Track and analyze communications performance, providing regular updates to brand and business leadership.
• Apply learnings to continuously optimize future strategies and storytelling approaches.
• Benchmark against industry best practices to ensure communication efforts are innovative and competitive.
• Define and track KPIs (e.g., media reach, sentiment, SOV, brand affinity, issue responsiveness).
• Evaluate campaign and media impact; share insights and recommendations with internal stakeholders. 
• Governance, Compliance & Brand Safety
• Ensure all communications comply with local regulations, brand guidelines, and internal governance policies.
• Work with Legal and Public Policy to mitigate risk in messaging and partnerships.
• Maintain crisis communication protocols and spokesperson training processes.

Qualifications
What will qualify you for the role:

• Bachelor’s degree in mass communication or marketing
• Backgrounds preferred are marketing, public relations and communications. At least 8 years of experience.
• Strong communication, event management and public relations track-record
• Strategic thinking
• Strong communicator and storyteller/maker.
• Excellent knowledge of media landscape and various media channels and platforms.
• Ability to interact with variety of stakeholders
• Teamwork spirit
• Time management and ability to prioritize
• English, both spoken and written
• Strong experience in crisis prevention and management
• Communication strategist, with consumer brands, marketing, brands with purpose and corporate experience
• Great networking and corporate relations building and management
• Required experience in developing and leading impactful PR and communications campaigns, in core entertainment, lifestyle, sports, gaming, celebrity, sustainability, technology, corporate communications, among other.
• Bachelor’s degree in communications or related field.
• Excellent coordination, collaboration, leadership, communication and decision-making skills; ability to balance business priorities, communication strategy and execution facing segmented audiences
• Outstanding public relations skills, including the experience and confidence to drive coverage and pop-culture relevance
• Knowledge of SA’s digital media and social media spheres, with the capacity to identify opinion leaders, influencers, and relevant messaging
• Creative skills to develop original, innovative and impactful ideas, concepts and communication strategies
• Proven track record in developing and executing earned media campaigns, handling sensitive issues, and building brand reputation.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and agencies in a fast-paced environment.