Senior Media and Communications Officer

Senior Media and Communications Officer

JOB DESCRIPTION

A JOB DETAILS

Job Title: Senior Media and Communications Officer

Salary Band: £32,634 - £35,704

Location: London

Line Manager: Head of Communications and Campaigns

B PURPOSE

1. Work on the development and successful implementation of Relate’s Media Plan, taking full responsibility for elements;

2. Work on the development and successful implementation of Relate’s Internal Communications Plan, taking full responsibility for elements;

3. To support the External Affairs Division in delivering against the influence and visibility goal for Relate and the Federation.

C DIMENSIONS

C1 Financial direct None

C2 Financial other None

C3 Staff responsibilities: direct None

C4 Staff responsibilities: indirect None

D AUTHORISATION DETAILS

Prepared by: Sarah Milsom

Date: 11 November 2014

Revised:

E PRINCIPLE ACCOUNTABILITIES

MEDIA

Work with the Head of Communications and Campaigns on the delivery of Relate’s Media Plan, including but not limited to the following activities:

· Taking full ownership of media projects and campaigns, leading on their planning, implementation, maximisation and evaluation

· Creating and spotting newsworthy stories, bringing them to life for target audiences through a range of creative PR tools and techniques

· Being the first point of contact for day to day media enquiries, responding professionally and thoroughly within appropriate timeframes to achieve excellent coverage and build good working relationships

· Devising Relate’s media ‘lines’ on current affairs and issues, in conjunction with policy and services colleagues

· Writing accurate and engaging copy for a variety of audiences (e.g. written media comments, news releases, media articles, Relate website stories and blogs)

· Setting up media interviews and appropriately briefing Relate spokespeople

· Monitoring media coverage on a daily basis and compiling regular performance and evaluation reports with a view to improving media profile

· Maintaining and continually developing the case study database for use primarily in media, but also across the organisation to demonstrate our impact and value

· Managing relationships with key suppliers (e.g. media monitoring service, news agency, NLA, CLA)

· Equipping local Relate Centres with a variety of tools to coherently raise Relate’s profile at a local level, regularly reviewing activity to ensure maximum impact (e.g. template news releases, radio crib sheets, roadshows, media training)

· Taking part in the rota for the out of hours media mobile phone

INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS

Work with the Head of Communications and Campaigns in the delivery of Relate’s Internal Communications Plan, including but not limited to the following activities:

· Planning and coordinating internal communications messaging and activities, taking full ownership of the Internal Communications Calendar (including advising colleagues on the best way to communicate messages internally)

· Being the first point of contact for day to day internal communications enquiries, responding professionally and thoroughly within appropriate timeframes to build good working relationships across the Relate Federation

· Compiling and disseminating accessible and relevant content from across the Federation for internal communications channels (e.g. The Loop, Update, ‘Communications’ emails, the intranet, internal communications ‘champions’)

· Writing accurate and engaging copy for a variety of audiences (e.g. staff, counsellors, Trustees) and channels

· Maintain areas of Relate’s intranet to ensure it remains an up to date resource (e.g. Shouts, uploading and archiving documents)

GENERAL

· Provide support for other members of the Communications and Campaigns team, covering periods of annual leave to ensure a consistent level of service

· Liaise with senior colleagues and Relate Centres, participate in cross-departmental teams and conduct feedback and consultation exercises as required to continually improve our work

· Maintain relevant electronic filing systems

· Contribute to social media amplification work

· Other duties requested by your line manager (including but not limited to supporting divisional objectives through writing copy for speeches and other purposes)

· To act as an ambassador for Relate, continuously championing the brand, vision and values both internally and externally

F. KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, EXPERIENCE

Essential

· Proven experience of working in a busy and successful media and communications environment

· Solid experience of developing and delivering media relations strategies

· An in-depth understanding of different types of media (traditional and new) and good relationships with relevant journalists

· Demonstrable knowledge of internal communications strategies and tactics

· Excellent copy writing skills to engage a variety of audiences

· Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to build strong working relationships with a variety of external and internal stakeholders, including journalists, Relate Centres and Relate counsellors

· An integrated approach to working in order to make the Communications and Campaigns team’s work as effective as possible for the whole organisation and those it exists to serve (e.g. working with Digital Media, Federation Development, Business Development and service design and delivery colleagues)

· A flair for developing new and creative ways to maximise the team’s workKnowledge of Microsoft Office systems including but not limited to Outlook, Word, Excel and Powerpoint

· Working knowledge of the internet, intranets and web-based systems

· Ability to take a ‘client’ centred approach to work (clients could include journalists, spokespeople, Relate Centre Managers/CEOs, counsellors)

· Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines, maintaining confidentiality and prioritising your workload

· Aware of and sensitive to equal opportunities issues

· Ability to communicate, negotiate and influence at all levels

· Ability to work on own initiative and carry out several projects at one time

· Commitment to the mission and work of Relate and demonstrable interest in relationship support

· Commitment to continuous improvement through the use of quality assurance systems

Desirable

· A PR or communications qualification

· Experience of using content management systems

· Experience of working in the voluntary sector (federated charity structure an advantage)

G. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

· Able to work outside of office hours as the role demands