Communication Director

Main Mission

Define and deploy DataOne's communications strategy in the United States, in line with the Group's brand platform and governance, around three objectives:

Industry awareness and credibility: Establish DataOne as a recognized sustainable AI infrastructure player among specialist media, clients and the wider ecosystem.

Local acceptance: Build and maintain trusted relationships with stakeholders in Vineland and Cumberland County, and secure a stable environment around the project.

Employer attractiveness: Support the recruitment and onboarding of US teams in a tight talent market.

Responsibilities

• 1- External Communications and Media Relations
• Build and manage the US media database: data center and cloud specialist media, national business press, energy and construction press, and regional press in southern New Jersey.
• Produce corporate content: press releases, press kits, talking points, project fact sheets, client messaging, web and LinkedIn content.
• Prepare and support spokespersons (US General Management, Technical Management) before every public appearance, with briefs, difficult questions and red lines.
• Lead DataOne's presence at industry trade shows and conferences, and secure speaking opportunities on panels.
• 2- Local Acceptance and Community Relations
• Map local stakeholders and keep the stakeholder map up to date: City of Vineland, City Council, planning departments, Vineland Municipal Electric Utility (VMEU), Cumberland County, Chamber of Commerce, residents' associations, environmental organizations and educational institutions.
• Design the local engagement program: public meetings, open-house days, construction-site information points and a mechanism for responding to residents' questions.
• Prepare DataOne's interventions at public meetings and council sessions, with materials, talking points and anticipation of objections.
• Translate technical topics (electrical connection, cooling, noise, water and construction traffic) into understandable, verifiable and non-promotional messages.
• Monitor the local environment: press review, social media and community groups, and alert management to early warning signals.
• 3- Institutional Communications and Public Affairs
• Support relationships with state and county institutional stakeholders, in coordination with US General Management and Legal.
• Prepare institutional materials: project presentation materials, economic impact briefs and contributions to public consultations.
• Ensure consistency between public messaging, commitments made during permitting procedures and the project's actual data.
• 4- Sensitive and Crisis Communications
• Develop and maintain the US crisis communications framework: scenarios, decision trees, crisis team, designated spokesperson and pre-approved talking points.
• In particular, cover the following scenarios: construction-site incident or workplace accident, operational incident or service outage, organized local opposition, environmental controversy, social issue, cybersecurity incident and unfavorable press article.
• Provide communications on-call coverage in the event of an incident, in coordination with headquarters and Legal.
• Conduct a post-incident review after each event and update the framework.
• 5- Employer Brand and Recruitment Support
• Adapt the Group employer brand for the US market and provide content for recruitment channels.
• Design local awareness campaigns to support recruitment of technical and operations profiles.
• Work with the recruitment team and US HR on employment events, partnerships with local educational institutions and employee content.
• 6- Internal Communications and Brand Governance
• Relay and adapt Group internal communications for US teams, taking construction-site and operations populations into account.
• Ensure compliance with the Group visual identity guidelines and logobook across all materials produced in the United States, including those of providers and partners.
• Select and manage local agencies and providers: media relations, creative, audiovisual production and site signage.
• Track the US communications budget and report results according to the KPIs defined with headquarters.

Requirements

Requirements:

• 1- Education and Experience
• Higher education in communications, journalism, political science, public affairs or equivalent.
• Seven to ten years of experience in corporate communications, media relations or public affairs, including at least three years in a heavy infrastructure sector: data centers, energy, industry, logistics real estate, construction or utilities.
• Demonstrated experience communicating projects to US local communities and elected officials, ideally in a permitting or opposition context.
• Experience in crisis communications in an industrial or construction-site environment.
• Experience working with a non-US headquarters and teams across multiple time zones is a plus
• 2- Skills
• Excellent written English, native or equivalent level. Ability to write quickly, clearly and without jargon.
• French is a plus: headquarters and part of the teams work in French. This is not a disqualifying criterion.
• Strong public-speaking skills and ability to command a room in a public meeting.
• Ability to quickly understand technical subjects and explain them to non-technical audiences.
• Proficiency with content-production and media-monitoring tools, agency management and budget management.
• 3- Expected Qualities
• Autonomy: this is the first communications role in the United States and requires building before managing.
• Factual rigor: no public statement should go beyond what the project can substantiate.
• Composure and availability in sensitive situations.
• Team spirit and respect for Group approval processes.