Mark Stead Email & Phone Number

Doha, Qatar

* In 2022, I was promoted to the position of Manager of Editorial Content within Qatar Foundation's Communication division, retaining all responsibilities under my previous position as the organization's Head of Content.* I directly manage a multinational team of 10 content specialists, and also oversee the editorial work of other communications professionals within Qatar Foundation who produce content for the organization's internal and external channels.* My focus continues to be on setting the strategic direction of Qatar Foundation's content and guiding its execution; developing, and overseeing the development of, all forms of content (from news stories and feature articles to executive communication and key messaging); steering 360-degree, integrated content planning and delivery (including for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022); and conceptualizing, implementing, and contributing to new communications-focused projects.* I am responsible for ensuring Qatar Foundation's mission and message is communicated nationally, regionally, and globally in an engaging and unified way; maintaining a constant and diverse stream of stories that explain and promote the organization; approving all editorial content related to Qatar Foundation; speechwriting for Qatar Foundation's leadership; identifying and executing new ideas and pathways that allow the organization's content to evolve and reflect public needs and trends; and leading the content function of Qatar Foundation's crisis communications team.* My role also places a significant emphasis on professional development, enabling and supporting the growth of Qatar Foundation's content specialists.* My key achievements in this role include revamping Qatar Foundation's key messaging and its approach to the generation of news content; as well as conceiving and executing a new digital Annual Report for the organization, and a digital publication chronicling Qatar Foundation's role in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Doha, Qatar

* Directly managing a multinational team of content specialists, I lead the development of content promoting the work of Qatar Foundation (QF) for local, regional, and international media and for QF's own external and internal communication channels.* I set editorial direction and strategy through identifying and targeting content, shaping and managing its production, unifying its message across all communication channels, and ensuring it is of the highest quality while also reflecting QF's vision, mission, and voice.* I develop communication plans and tactics aimed at elevating QF's profile among local and international audiences; and key messaging that captures the essence of QF's work.* I revamped QF's overarching key messaging and narrative, as well as new messaging and narrative for its divisions.* I compile op-eds, speeches, and talking points for QF's Vice Chairperson and CEO, and other senior leadership figures; and support the Executive Director of Communications and the wider QF Communication management team on long-term and special projects. * I develop QF's Annual Report - for which I conceptualized and led a new, immersive, and international award-winning digital format - and other high-level external reports.* I produce, review, and give final sign-off to editorial content produced by QF.* I use my journalism experience to inform discussions and decisions within the QF Newsroom about the direction that external and internal coverage of QF news should take; and lead the integration of content across multiple channels (print, digital, multimedia, and social media).* I contribute to the evolution and execution of QF's communications strategy, as well as specific communications strategies for the organization's mission areas: RDI, pre-university education, higher education, and community development.* I validate content for QF's digital, multimedia, and social media channels, and am the content lead for QF's Crisis Communications Team.

Doha, Qatar

* I was responsible for chronicling and promoting the work, achievements, and mission of Qatar Foundation Research and Development (QF R&D) - a key pillar of Qatar Foundation (QF) - which is responsible for the Qatar National Research Strategy and for overseeing and guiding the nation's ambitious, dynamic research agenda.* I planned, wrote, and edited content for QF's communication channels - including its newspaper and magazine, websites, social media channels, newsletters, event material, and special publications - and prepared, refined, and reviewed news articles, press releases, and other editorial material for national, regional, and international media.* I compiled and oversaw all editorial content for R&D Impact, QF R&D's digital magazine, and its other communication channels.* I liaised and coordinated with QF's directorates, entities, and research and development institutes, and external organizations and media, to ensure coverage concerning QF R&D was of the highest editorial quality.* I developed media and communications campaigns with the objective of promoting QF R&D's work and mission, enhancing public engagement, and nurturing collaborations and partnerships.* I prepared speeches, PowerPoint presentations, and talking points for the leadership and senior management of QF R&D.* My role also encompassed outreach activities, crisis communications, media monitoring, strategic communications, and agency liaison.

Doha, Qatar

* I was a senior member of the embedded editorial team responsible for planning and producing Qatar Foundation's (QF's) publications, Qatar Foundation Telegraph and The Foundation magazine, and for special editorial projects.* Based at QF's Education City development in Doha, Qatar, I worked in an environment where accuracy, flexibility, strategic thinking, ingenuity, and the ability to meet challenging deadlines were absolutely essential, within a diverse organisation whose mission is focused on education, science and research, and community development.* I interviewed the most senior figures within QF, including directors and executive directors, members of the organization's senior management team, and university deans, as well as other members of the QF community; chronicled the work, projects, achievements, and overarching vision and mission of QF through news articles and in-depth feature articles; edited copy to ensure it aligned with house style and reflected QF's core message; and performed an ambassadorial, as well as editorial, role for QF's Communication Directorate at events and conferences.* I planned, wrote, and edited four special editions of QF Telegraph, providing comprehensive coverage of the 2014 and 2015 World Innovation Summit for Education, and the 2015 World Innovation Summit for Health - both of which are Qatar Foundation initiatives, with the respective goals of transforming global education and global healthcare - and Qatar Foundation Research and Development's Annual Research Conference 2014. Each edition was produced in English and Arabic to extremely tight deadlines.* I was instrumental in planning, researching, and compiling editorial coverage to mark the 20th anniversary of QF throughout 2015, including in-depth feature articles, special editions of QF's publications, and commemorative publications and projects.

* I was responsible for political coverage of York and North and East Yorkshire issues at a local, regional and national level on a daily basis.* I led the way on the most controversial and talked-about issues in York's recent history, including a £110m retail and sports stadium scheme, plans for more than 20,000 new houses across the city, and a traffic experiment which divided York.* My contact-building and journalistic reputation allowed me to exclusively reveal stories about political resignations and power battles - the stories you didn't find in an official report.* I continually broke stories about major economic development and construction projects through my own initiative and diligence.* I developed an extensive and varied network of contacts which includes MPs, chief executives, senior political officials and business leaders, and I came to be regarded as a mentor for younger journalists and a leader of campaigns and editorial projects.* I continually demonstrated my skill at using the Freedom of Information and Audit Commission Acts to spotlight the activities and workings of public bodies.

* My contacts in this role included the most senior health officials in York and North Yorkshire at a time of growing upheaval and uncertainty in the NHS.* I broke exclusives including a hospital's decision to ban visitors from bringing in flowers because of infection fears; huge delays in emergency response times for ambulances; the turmoil caused by a chronic outbreak of flu on hospital wards; the rock star whose dreams of stardom were ended by a stroke in his mid-20s; and the young mother who died after a gastric band operation went tragically wrong.* I was responsible for delving into the financial side of health matters, such as the funding problems facing NHS trusts and hospitals, and weaving detailed and complicated financial reports into accessible and relatable stories about the UK's much-loved health sector.

* I led The Press' successful Debt of Honour campaign, which called for the Government to overhaul the way soldiers left with physical and mental injuries after serving in war zones, and their families, were compensated.* I broke stories about the York soldier who deserted because of his fears over the Afghan war; grieving families being ordered to pay for their relatives' belongings to be removed from council houses after their death; the reopening of a landmark cinema after three years in the doldrums; and the bitter row which engulfed a vital support service in the city.

* As chief reporter, I led the Echo's Justice for the Workers campaign, which called for thousands of redundant steelworkers to be repaid the pensions they lost when their employer collapsed. I travelled to Westminster and the European Parliament to drive home the campaign's message. and it was pivotal in the steelworkers finally receiving most of their pensions. Justice for the Workers was commended in the 2004 Press Association Awards, and praised in the House of Commons.* I led coverage of the near-collapse of Cardiff's football club and the battle to protect a Cardiff beauty spot from housing developers; and broke exclusive after exclusive about the city's iconic Millennium Stadium - at the time, one of the most famous sporting venues in the world - because of my excellent working relationship with its leadership. I also exposed the thieving postman who lied about his sisters dying to save himself from jail.* I edited a daily nostalgia page, Blast From The Past, which was named best editorial innovation at the 2004 Trinity Mirror Regional Editorial Awards and, as chief reporter, I was responsible for leading teams of journalists on editorial projects and campaigns, as well as acting as a mentor to younger journalists.* As assistant head of content, I was responsible for co-ordinating daily newslists and copy flow, liaising with many different editorial and commercial departments, assigning tasks and ensuring their completion, formulating campaign ideas and plans and implementing them, and taking overall charge of the newsdesk every third weekend and at other times.

* During my time as a trainee, I obtained my Trinity Mirror Certificate of Journalism by passing exams in newspaper practice, law and local government, demonstrating my 100wpm shorthand ability, and being judged as ready to be a senior journalist having been interviewed by two experienced newspaper editors.* Within my first few months as a trainee, I successfully challenged a court order which would have prevented a neglectful mother being publicly named following her conviction, by directly addressing a judge in open court.* My stories included the tale of a baby born on the morning of his parents' wedding, which was picked up by many national newspapers. I also extensively covered a council expenses scandal which led to a string of convictions, the battle to secure a bypass for one of the villages on my patch, and the most successful period in the local rugby team's history which saw them succeed on the domestic and European stage.

Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

I passed exams in Newspaper Law, Local Government and 100wpm Teeline shorthand, and secured a trainee reporter position with Celtic Newspapers, during the intensive 16-week course.

Bachelor Of Arts, Communication And Cultural Studies/Public Media, 2:1

Education record

A-Levels in English Language, Political Studies and Classical Studies.