Head of Brand Communications, SEAA

Job description

At CHANEL, we are anchored in our brand culture, codes and values, with a clear vision and aligned priorities centered around being a human and purposeful employer. We are focused on supporting the needs of CHANEL creation, people and business, while bringing positive impact to the world and preparing the organization for the future. We have a culture of high-performance standards and excellence, with people at their best in an environment where they feel belonging and purpose. The Communications & Culture function’s mandate is to nurture long-term brand equity, amplify the unique CHANEL identity, and forge meaningful connections across communities, industries and cultures. The Head of Brand Communications, SEAA is the regional architect and guardian of CHANEL’s One House brand narrative across Southeast Asia and Australia. This senior role leads the regional Brand Communications Centre of Excellence across Brand Transmission and Culture, ensuring CHANEL’s singularity, values and cultural authority are expressed consistently and meaningfully across internal and external audiences. This role is designed to provide long-term strategic communications planning, future influence audience prioritization, One House narrative development, cultural intelligence, community-building frameworks, regional amplification and capability building. Working closely with Global, regional divisions, market Communications & Culture leads, People & Organisation, and strategic external partners, this role translates global brand priorities into SEAA-relevant strategies and elevates local insights into regional and global influence. WHAT IMPACT YOU CAN CREATE AT CHANEL One House Brand Narrative & Brand Desirability Define and lead the regional Brand Communications strategy and multi-year roadmap for SEAA, connecting divisional activities with One House brand ambitions. Develop the narrative architecture, messaging frameworks and editorial priorities required to express CHANEL’s singularity beyond product launches and campaigns. Shape coherent regional priorities around Brand Transmission, Women of Influence, Arts & Culture, leadership moments and other One House brand-building platforms. Ensure brand storytelling strengthens long-term desirability, cultural relevance and advocacy across diverse SEAA audiences. Brand Transmission & Internal / External Advocacy Own the regional Brand Transmission strategy, framework and standards, ensuring consistent understanding and expression of CHANEL’s values across markets. Partner with People & Organisation and market teams to strengthen employee brand advocacy, brand intuition and internal pride. Create tools, content and engagement platforms that enable employees and partners to become stronger ambassadors of the House. Connect internal culture-building with external brand storytelling so that every audience touchpoint reflects a coherent and compelling brand experience. Arts & Culture and Cultural Intelligence In collaboration with Global, to lead the regional Arts & Culture strategy and framework, including partnership principles, activation guardrails and strategic territories for SEAA. Build cultural intelligence capability that tracks emerging cultural shifts, anticipates future influence networks and translates insights into brand strategy. Support markets in identifying cultural opportunities and creative communities that have regional relevance. Position CHANEL as an active participant in shaping culture across SEAA. Influence Ecosystem Mapping & Community Building Map regional communities of influence across female leadership, creative communities, cultural institutions, entrepreneurs, academics, filmmakers, artists and thought leaders. Define priority audience segments for the future while enabling markets to identify and cultivate the right local individuals and partners. Create scalable community-building frameworks for platforms such as Women of Influence, Arts & Culture partnerships and soft-power conversations. Amplify successful market initiatives regionally and connect local communities to broader SEAA and global opportunities. Regional Centre of Excellence, Capability Building & Knowledge Management Build the regional playbooks, toolkits, benchmarks and best practices that markets can adapt locally Establish communities of practice, workshops and learning modules that raise market capability in Brand Transmission, cultural intelligence, influence, Arts & Culture and narrative development Develop capability development pathways that strengthen the long-term Communications & Culture talent pipeline across markets and region Global-Regional-Market Alignment Represent SEAA as a distinct region in global communications and brand forums, ensuring Southeast Asian and Australian market nuances inform global decisions. Translate global priorities such as women’s impact, cultural authority and Freedom of Becoming into SEAA-relevant frameworks that markets can localize. Escalate regional opportunities and risks to Global where they have broader relevance. Strengthen the operating rhythm between Global, Region and Markets so that markets create relevance and the region creates leverage. YOU ARE ENERGISED BY Building long-term brand desirability through a deeper One House brand narrative, cultural authority and meaningful advocacy. Turning cultural intelligence into strategic choices that shape where CHANEL should engage, invest and lead. Connecting diverse markets around shared frameworks while respecting local nuance, maturity and relationships. Developing communities of influence across arts, culture, creativity, women’s leadership, entrepreneurship and thought leadership. Elevating market capability through coaching, playbooks, communities of practice and practical tools that teams can use. Working in a matrixed, multi-market environment where influence, partnership and clarity are critical to impact. WHAT YOU WILL BRING 12 to 15+ years of progressive experience in brand communications, corporate communications, cultural strategy, reputation management, luxury communications, public relations or related fields. Proven ability to shape brand narratives, editorial frameworks and long-term communications roadmaps across multiple markets. Deep understanding of brand desirability, cultural relevance, community building and influence ecosystems, preferably within luxury, fashion, beauty, arts or culture-led sectors. Strong strategic planning capability, with the ability to translate insights, market intelligence and cultural shifts into actionable communications priorities. Experience developing frameworks, playbooks, governance models, toolkits or capability-building programs for regional or multi-market teams. Strong cultural intelligence and sensitivity to the diversity of SEAA markets, including differences in markets’ maturity, audience behaviour, influence dynamics and stakeholder ecosystems. Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to partner effectively with Global, regional divisions, market leaders, People & Organisation and external partners. Exceptional written, verbal and presentation skills in English; additional SEAA market language capability is an advantage. A collaborative, entrepreneurial and highly organized leadership style, with the ability to move between strategic vision and practical execution. WHAT THE ROLE CAN OFFER YOU A dynamic, creative and inclusive environment where you can make a real impact on brand, people and culture. The opportunity to shape a strategic regional Centre of Excellence and strengthen CHANEL’s long-term brand desirability across SEAA. The opportunity to work across Global, Region, Divisions and Markets on meaningful initiatives spanning Brand Transmission, Arts & Culture, Women of Influence, leadership communications and community building. Exposure to diverse markets, cultural contexts and communities across Southeast Asia and Australia. The opportunity to learn and grow with CHANEL, with more than 100 years of heritage, and be inspired and nurtured through every encounter you experience. KEY MEASUREMENT OF IMPACT A clear One House brand narrative and Brand Transmission framework is defined, adopted and consistently localized across SEAA markets. SEAA markets demonstrate stronger capability maturity in Brand Transmission, Arts & Culture, cultural intelligence, influence ecosystem mapping and narrative development. SEAA established as a distinct region, with market nuances and regional priorities reflected in global communications agendas. Successful market initiatives are documented, scaled and amplified regionally, creating greater leverage without centralizing local execution. Stronger engagement with priority communities of influence, including creative, cultural, women’s leadership and thought-leadership communities. Improved efficiency and clarity in ways of working between Global, Region, Divisions and Markets, with reduced duplication and clearer ownership. Stakeholders report stronger strategic partnership quality, responsiveness and value from the regional Communications & Culture function. At CHANEL, we are focused on creating an inclusive culture that nurtures personal growth, contributing to collective progress. We believe the uniqueness of each individual increases the diversity, complementarity and effectiveness of our teams. We strongly encourage your application, as we value the perspective, experience and potential you could bring to CHANEL.