Brand and Governance Lead

About First Bus:

Are you ready to advance your career with one of the UK's leading bus operators? Join a forward-thinking company that embraces cutting-edge bus technology, from innovative mobile apps to environmentally friendly vehicles. We are passionate about delivering passenger journeys that are sustainable, comfortable, and efficient. We are at the forefront of innovation in the industry, connecting communities and shaping the future of public transport.

Location – Home based

We are looking for a Brand and Governance Lead to join our Marketing team on a full-time permanent basis.

The Brand & Governance Lead is First Bus's guardian of brand strategy, brand integrity and visual identity. They are the go-to authority on the First Bus brand, ensuring it is consistently applied, clearly understood and strengthened across every audience we serve, including employees, customers, communities, partners and stakeholders.

First Bus launched a brand refresh in December 2024 involving a new positioning and a refreshed visual identity. The Brand & Governance Lead is a hands‑on specialist who plays a central role in completing and embedding the ongoing First Bus brand refresh.  The role also acts as a brand advisor to the Business & Coach Division portfolio of brands and provides support for the FirstGroup brand.

This is a key role in ensuring First Bus presents a unified, trusted and modern brand. With the brand refresh still being rolled out, the Brand & Governance Lead will have a significant impact by closing gaps, building capability and embedding strong governance that supports our commercial, customer and organisational goals.

Key Responsibilities

Brand Governance & Leadership

• Act as First Bus’s brand subject‑matter expert, providing authoritative guidance on brand strategy, visual identity, tone of voice, and application across all channels and contexts.
• Lead the Brand Governance Framework for First Bus, ensuring it is robust, practical, and adopted across the business.
• Ensures that the brand guidelines evolve, as required, to ensure they continue to stay in tune with business requirements.
• Support brand‑related queries for the Business & Coach division brands and FirstGroup.

Brand Champions Network

• Establish and lead a volunteer network of cross‑functional brand champions across the wider Marcomms team, People, Customer and Operational teams.
• Promote a culture of brand consistency across the brand champion network through training, guidance best practice and practical support.

Brand Compliance & Advisory

• Evaluate brand usage across channels and assets, and intervene diplomatically where activity falls outside guidelines.
• Provide constructive, solutions‑focused feedback to teams to help them deliver brand‑consistent work.
• Work closely with the Production Hub and agencies to ensure that briefs, creative executions and operational materials reflect the brand accurately.

Brand Refresh Implementation

• Own the bottom‑up programme to complete and embed the First Bus brand refresh across depots, vehicles, customer environments, signage, collateral, and employee materials.
• Map gaps and inconsistencies across touchpoints and drive structured plans to resolve them.
• Partner with relevant functions/sites to progress rollout activity; coordinate updates, timelines, and stakeholders.
• Support the development of business cases for investment in the brand refresh where needed (with guidance from the Marketing Leadership Team).

Project Management & Delivery

• Operate as a highly effective project manager, prioritising tasks, tracking progress, escalating risks, and ensuring delivery against agreed timelines.
• Manage small‑scale brand projects end‑to‑end (e.g., brand asset updates, signage reviews, brand audits, visual identity optimisations).
• Provide expert guidance to Business & Coach division brands when they undertake brand changes, for example, supporting a logo refresh or sub‑brand evolution.

Brand Capability Building

• Work closely with the Graphic Designer and Production Hub to maintain accessible, high‑quality brand resources including guidelines and examples of best practice.
• Partner with the Head of Content Strategy to ensure brand and content governance are aligned.
• Strengthen brand understanding across the Marketing Pool and support training for marketing managers and non‑specialist colleagues.

Skills/Experience

• Expert understanding of brand strategy and visual identity systems.
• Strong eye for detail and design accuracy.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to translate brand principles into practical, everyday guidance.
• Strong problem‑solving ability; able to propose pragmatic solutions while protecting brand integrity.
• Diplomatic, empathetic and able to handle difficult conversations constructively.
• Confident and authoritative on brand matters while approachable and collaborative.
• A proactive self‑starter who thrives in an environment with multiple workstreams and evolving priorities.
• Passionate about brand consistency and about helping colleagues understand the “why” behind brand decisions.
• Pragmatic, hands‑on and comfortable “rolling up their sleeves” to tackle unfinished elements of the brand refresh.

Essential

• Experience in brand governance, brand management, visual identity and brand‑led project delivery.
• Proven ability to drive brand consistency across complex, multi‑site or multi‑brand organisations.
• Strong project management skills, comfortable managing concurrent streams of work with diverse stakeholders.
• Experience working with creative teams, brand agencies, production teams or internal studios.
• Experience influencing non‑specialist colleagues on brand application

Salary - £47,000 - £55,000

Rewards

Your health is important to us which is why we offer Simply Health & Smart Health for you and your dependents at no cost to you! This offering includes cash back benefits across optical & dental as well as virtual GP appointments, mental health support and nutrition and fitness advise. Our EAP provision offers 24hr, 365 days a year mental health support
• We are also committed to your financial wellbeing, and we offer a platform with many discounts on high street brands and supermarkets etc
• Working at First you also receive discounted train travel for you and your family after 6 months service as well as a free bus pass
• Cycle to work scheme
• 25 days' holiday + bank holidays
• Pension scheme and chance to buy discounted First Group shares
• Enhanced maternity / paternity pay
• Flexible working

Equal Opportunities

Public transport serves everyone, whatever their differences. At First Bus, we want to be an employer open to you, no matter what your differences are. We aspire to be an inclusive organisation because diverse backgrounds, thinking and experiences bring so many benefits to our customers, communities, and people. We welcome applications from all.