Location:London Head Office

Job description

Job title:PR Manager

Location:London – Head Office

Department:Communications, Care and Information

Responsible to:External Affairs Adviser

Contract Length:from 9 to 12 months (maternity cover)

Primary job purpose

The PR Manager is responsible for overseeing all media and PR activity for Muscular Dystrophy UK, in line with our diverse core campaigns and objectives. The successful candidate will work with teams across the charity in research, fundraising, policy and campaigns to give people with muscle-wasting conditions a public voice.

Supporting the team to deliver ambitious results, this is a key role within the communications function, holding responsibility for devising and planning compelling PR campaigns, using a wide range of tactics, to raise the profile of the work of the charity and the conditions.

With a keen news-sense, the PR Manager will monitor the media agenda for issues relevant to Muscular Dystrophy UK, co-ordinating credible and swift responses on stories ranging from policy and research to media representation of disabled people and partnerships.

Reporting to our External Affairs Advisor, the PR Manager has line management responsibility for our Senior Press Officer and oversees the work of our Celebrities and Case Studies Manager.

Main tasks and responsibilities

Lead our press team to increase understanding of muscle-wasting conditions and raise the profile of the work of Muscular Dystrophy UK. Maximise all planned PR opportunities and react to the news agenda, generating high quality coverage across national, consumer, regional and sector media.

Oversee Muscular Dystrophy UK’s busy press office, ensuring a swift response to all media enquiries, developing the PR plans for each department in the year ahead and guiding the team to prioritiseworkload, based achieving the team KPIs.

Put our supporters at the heart of our work: building relationships with new and existing media volunteers, offering coaching and briefings and attending interviews where appropriate. Working closely with the team to support families seeking advice or needing help in closing down unwanted media attention. Demonstrate a sensitive, empathetic and thorough approach to sharing supporters’ issues with housing, benefits and care packages, working with our Advocacy team.

Support and advise the Senior Press Officer and Celebrities and Case Studies Manager to deliver continuously strong results, with targets met or exceeded.Show the impact of your work; oversee monitoring and evaluation of coverage secured against campaign, monthly and quarterly targets, preparing reports for External Affairs Advisor to share with senior team and Trustees.

Guide our Senior Press Officer to devise, plan and execute engaging, creative and ambitious PR campaigns. Draw on knowledge of colleagues across the charity to identify compelling angles, statistics and case study stories.

Support Celebrities and Case Studies Manager withtheir delivery of publicity plans for major fundraising campaigns for the charity. Help to nurture and grow valuable relationships with our President, celebrity ambassadors and supporters, spotting great opportunities for our existing contacts and ways to engage new people with Muscular Dystrophy UK’s work.

Oversee the fulfilment of requests from the Fundraising and Marketing and Research divisions as necessary. Assist Muscular Dystrophy UK’s Development, Regional Development and Corporate teams, offering guidance, and supplying press releases and statements.

Create opportunities for our experts to share their views within national and sector media, placing comment from charity spokespeople on key issues. Co-ordinate our Research Director’s increasingly frequent responses to genetic research news in the national media.

Offer a calm, measured approach to dealing with sensitive situations and enquiries, always in line with charity’s values. Deliver crisis communications where necessary, with the support of External Affairs Advisor.

Build on our media partnerships, helping our Events team to ensure the increasing success of Muscular Dystrophy UK’s Challenge and Special Events. Look for new opportunities, while seeking out ways to further develop our annual partnerships with the Oxford Mail and Cambridge News.

Lead on a range of adhoc communications projects, including our annual supporter awards, TV and radio appeals, media partnerships, charity award applications, social media activity and media-led events.

Initiative/Analysis

Communicate effectively with colleagues across the charity, including those in the fundraising team, to identify strong media stories from among our supporter-base. Show willingness to share advice and ideas with colleagues, taking part in creative brainstorms as required
Show initiative in identifying and developing useful contacts, including journalists, commentators, celebrity agents, high profile people and professionals.
Demonstrate awareness of the position of the charity on key issues and knowledge of when advice on communications should be sought from leadership team
Demonstrate ability to lead projects,with drive and initiative

Substantial experience in the press office of a national charity in dealing with sensitive case studies and celebrity ambassadors.

Other

To behave in a manner that reflects the charity’s values.
To contribute to the overall development of the charity.
To ensure all actions undertaken comply with the Data Protection Acts.
To contribute towards regular reviews of risks and take steps to reduce them.
To be aware of health and safety issues and obligations.
To represent the charity as and when required.
To undertake general administration for the team as required.
To undertake other such tasks as required by line manager.

Person Specification

1 Education and qualifications

Degree and/or relevant professional qualification / Essential

2 Experience

Significant experience working in a busy national Press Officewithin the third or public sector / Essential

Proven success of managing and executing issue-led media campaigns, resulting in multiple pieces of national media coverage (broadcast, print and online)

/ Essential
Substantial experience of working with celebrities and case studies or vulnerable people and preparing them for media interviews / Essential
Line management experience / Desirable
Project management / Essential

Reacting swiftly to the news agenda in line with the charity or organisation’s position on an issue including crisis comms

/ Essential
Understanding of issues relating to disability / Desirable

3 Personal qualities and knowledge

Excellent IT skills / Essential
Communication - The ability to represent Muscular Dystrophy UK effectively and professionally. Produces clear and effective communications appropriate to the audience, utilising the most appropriate channel and in keeping with brand guidelines. Maintaining a calm outlook when meeting tight deadlines and when under pressure. / Essential
Planning - The ability to develop and implement clear and robust plans for self and others to follow. Ability to lead teams and project manage campaigns. / Essential
Organisational skills - The ability to manage own time and tasks effectively. Taking an approach that is results orientated and systematic making you personally effective in managing own workload complying with set (ie. in-house policies, legislations, etc). Must be able to react quickly to meet deadlines and cope with changing demands on workload, / Essential
Volunteers and supporters - The ability to work effectively with volunteers and supporters to deliver business goals. Recognises the value and contribution of volunteers and supporters – empowers others through provision of support, coaching and training. / Essential
Self-Development - The ability to constantly challenge and improve self and others demonstrating ambition for self and charity to achieve goals. / Essential
Leadership - The ability to set instructions whilst empowering others to accomplish tasks. Demonstrates flexibility by adopting a management style to the given situation. / Essential