Nick Manning

Background

About Nick Manning

I am an experienced Communications and Public Affairs leader who has worked at the heart of the UK Government, global technology and public education in public and media relations, internal communications and issues management. At the University of Waterloo I lead institutional media relations, executive communication, content strategy, social media, website, internal communications teams and advertising managers to strategically direct communications effort and identify opportunities for proactive communication. I manage a centralized team of over 20 communication professionals and provide leadership and direction to more than 100 communicators across the campus, ensuring communication and marketing plans are coordinated and integrated to achieve the University’s achieve strategic objectives. At Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) as Chief Communications Officer I led a large public board of education through complex communication challenges and community engagement. At BlackBerry, I led media relations for global launch of BlackBerry10. Staged in New York, the highly anticipated launch was the culmination of a sustained effort to repair BlackBerry’s reputation that was awarded Best Traditional Campaign by PR Daily. Prior to BlackBerry, I spent more than eight years at the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) as Senior Press Officer for Military Operations. I led a press office team dealing with all aspects of Defence activity in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and other operational theatres. As a source of valued and trusted counsel, I regularly attended meetings at 10 Downing Street and coordinated with senior ministers and military officials to promote the work of the MOD and defend its reputation. I am dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Canada.