Apple wants to hire a PR heavyweight to battle the EU on its own soil

Apple logo superimposed on a European Union flag

It perhaps says a lot about Apple's success in promoting itself across Europe that it's not been possible to confirm that the Head of Corporate PR role is actually new. Even in a famously secretive company, the issue of who runs PR shouldn't be a mystery.

And there have definitely been people in charge, they just don't appear to have had this particular title. Tanya Ridd, for instance, was reportedly Apple's head of PR for north and south Europe, which you'd think would just mean Europe.

She led Apple's PR in the EU for a decade, but left back in 2017 to join Snap. She stayed there for four years, before a brief spell at Spotify, and now she's with Polestar.

If Ridd doesn't like it at the EV maker for any reason, Apple could well be glad to see her back. For while it is currently advertising the job of head of corporate PR for Europe, it has been doing so since February 8, 2024.

And the truth is that Apple has also tried advertising it before — at least once.

There's no way to know how many applicants it considered when advertising the role in January 2024, but apparently it wasn't enough.

It's also not possible to determine what the remuneration is, but the job ad does specify that the work is 35 hours per week. The successful applicant would work in London, but seemingly be a head who is on the same level of the organization as corporate PR managers in Paris and Berlin.

What Apple says is that the job is about "helping us inform the world about Apple and the values that drive our company."

"We develop and implement strategic plans to actively communicate Apple's contribution to Europe and wider society," it continues, "focused on key areas such as our economic contribution, education, customer privacy, and environmental leadership."

Apart from that last consideration regarding the environment, each of those key areas is one where Apple has failed to persuade the EU of its intentions. The EU has now used the Digital Markets Act to fine Apple around $2 billion because of perceived harm to consumers, for instance.

Apple is far from dominating streaming as the EU says it is, and the company has to have concluded that it simply isn't being heard. Or perhaps that Europe-based firm Spotify is being heard more, since Apple has made a point of noting how Spotify has met with EU regulators 65 times.