External and Brand Communications Lead

Overview
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $79 billion in net revenue in 2021, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with PepsiCo Positive (pep+). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability and human capital at the centre of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more information, visit

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.

"PepsiCo is an Equal Opportunity Employer in line with the Employment Equity Act"