Finance Officer Jobs in Hampshire

Role: Associate Director of Communications

Location: Remote

Work pattern: 35 hours per week

Salary: Up to £71,460 per annum

Contract: Permanent

We are the UK’s largest cat welfare charity. All over the country, our passionate employees, volunteers and supporters are using their kindness and expertise to make life better for millions of cats and the people who care for them.

Will you join us and make life better for cats?

Responsibilities of our Associate Director of Communications:

• take accountability and leadership for Cats Protection’s integrated communications, providing strategic leadership of the function
• take a strategic approach to integrating different approaches to communications to a deliver a proactive strategy which delivers against agreed organisational priorities
• lead, manage, and motivate the Communications team in line with Cats Protection’s people policies
• responsible for the successful delivery of Public Relations campaigns ensuring objectives are met and work is achieved within budget
• build a culture of positive engagement across functions and promote and role model the values and behaviours of the charity
• maximise the value for money achieved by the charity’s expenditure, with responsibility and accountability for the planning and management of the Communications budget
• work in collaboration with members of the Senior Management team, to fulfil all duties and responsibilities set out in the terms of reference

About the Communications Department

The newly formed Communications department consists of three functions;

• Digital – respnsible for the digital footprint of the organisation across social media and website, creating content and supporting engagement across branches and teams
• Internal communications – delivering creative and effective communications strategies to ensure effective engagement of employees and volunteers
• Media – responsible for developing and delivering innovative strategies to enhance and protect Cats Protection’s reputation in the media, through national stories and supporting local branches and centres

Together, these functions are responsible for the external voice and visibility of Cats Protection, delivering integrated, impactful messages and campaigns in support of organisational priorities.

What we’re looking for in our Associate Director of Communications:

• experience developing and integrating new teams
• excellent understanding of communications metrics
• experience of working with media outlets and/or social media channels
• significant experience of overseeing the work of a communications team
• experience of working and developing an internal communication function
• a thorough understanding of strategy, planning, risk management and dependency planning
• the ability to make sound and logical decisions
• ability to build strong, trusted relationships and influence where needed
• strong planning and organisational skills
• excellent management skills, including change management
• knowledge of UK communications outlets
• experience with databases & monitoring systems
• an understanding of working with a network of volunteers to deliver impact

What we can offer you:

• range of health benefits
• 25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing with length of service
• Salary Finance, which empowers you to take control of your financial wellbeing
• and much more, which you can learn about

Interested?

Application closing date: 06 November 2024

Virtual interview date: TBC

Applications may close before the deadline, so please apply early to avoid disappointment. Please note, applications received after the closing date may not be responded to.

If you’re enthusiastic about this opportunity but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every requirement, we encourage you to apply anyway and demonstrate how your experience is transferrable.  You may be just the right candidate. 

By providing finance and support, at SIB we enable charities and social enterprises to exist, grow and thrive. We have disbursed nearly £0.5bn to thousands of organisations since 2002. Our team believes in the power of the social economy, champions the charities and social enterprises we support - and we are all working together to build a more equal society. 

It is a hugely exciting time to join the organisation. We are growing, investing in our expert team, and building on the successes of the last few years. 

To find out more about what we do here, our values and our generous benefits please visit our website.

Our values are: People First, Curious, Bold, Collaborative, Accountable

About this role:

Reporting to the Deputy CEO, the Communications and Policy Manager will support SIB’s track record of sector, government and media engagement, notably the high standard of publication set through its media partnerships with Tortoise and the Financial Times, its contributions to the policy landscape in the social sector, and its in-house data analysis and insight generation. This new post will contribute to SIB’s ongoing communications and policy work and its reach and influence.

Key responsibilities

1. Support the delivery of a comprehensive plan for our communications and policy activity, combining ongoing promotional communications, specific activities for funds and programmes, and proactively generated content and opportunities to influence

2. Co-ordinating with SIB partners in developing and delivering communication work, on major projects such as the Youth Investment Fund, the Recovery Loan Fund and the Enterprise Development Programme; ensuring that it is powered by data and customer insight of the highest quality

3. Keeping track of policy developments in areas of strategic importance to SIB, notably in social investment, youth, community energy and infrastructure investment. Writing briefings on key policy developments related to SIB’s strategic priorities, proactively identifying opportunities to further our policy agenda; also researching and preparing responses for relevant external consultations, using SIB data and evidence

4. Identifying, cultivating and maintaining relationships and partnerships with key policy, research and communications stakeholders

5. Attending and providing oversight to the Social Investment Forum, as part of SIB’s secretariat and hosting

6. Writing, editing and producing engaging and relevant content at pace for web, social media and e-newsletters, as well as earned and paid channels

7. Management of any external suppliers of communications and policy activities, including agencies, designers, consultants and think tanks

8. Working with the Marketing Manager, Marketing and Events Coordinator, Business Development Manager and wider team to deliver successful external events with customers, stakeholders and partners including attendance at Party Conferences.

9. To work in line with the organisation's values, principles and processes to achieve operational excellence.

10. To adopt our continuous improvement and learning ethos

11. To support and embed equality, diversity and inclusion into day-to-day behaviours and activities within your role as well as contributing more widely across SIB’s commitment to E, D & I

12. To support and contribute to the implementation and delivery of SIB’s strategy

13. In agreement with manager to undertake other tasks and work on cross team projects that support the objectives of SIB as required

Core competencies

• Significant experience at a managerial level in a PR, marketing, external affairs or communications role
• Excellent writing skills
• Good research skills, with an ability to absorb large amounts of information at pace, including in unfamiliar policy areas and produce cogent syntheses
• Strong collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively teams across functions in an integrated way
• Good established networks through experience in a similar role, and a commitment to expanding those networks to support SIB’s strategic aims
• Experience of building effective media partnerships
• Good working knowledge of data-driven storytelling in a variety of outlets from organisation websites to mainstream media and confidence in interpreting data and understanding the key points to be drawn from it to gain traction in media and campaigning environments
• Experience of developing and delivering effective communications campaigns, including through a range of digital channels
• Strong planning skills and an ability to multi-task, work well under pressure and meet deadlines
• Strong understanding of UK political context, especially as it concerns the social economy, and parliamentary process
• An understanding of how to promote research, policy papers, data analysis and other activities of a think tank and consultancy
• Excellent IT skills and the ability to learn new programmes quickly

Desirable competencies

• Data visualisation skills
• Data storytelling
• A good aesthetic eye and ability to shape images, visuals and formatting, and to liaise confidently with designers
• Understanding of the UK charity and social enterprise sectors

The Fundraising Assistant will be a key member of the fundraising team. Supporting the team to deliver a wider range of fundraising activities including events, challenges and campaigns as well as helping maximise the supporter journey and providing excellent donor care. You will enjoy collaborating with others and be an excellent communicator who can plan and prioritise efficiently, whilst delivering exceptional customer service.

You will be responsible for Database Management and keeping the CRM up to date and Management of donation Platforms and being the go-to person for fundraising enquiries.

Main Responsibilities:

•  Importing data in an efficient, timely and accurate manner.
• Construction of automated tasks in the CRM which are assigned to other members of the team to enable stewardship via the correct fundraising team member.
• To assist the fundraising team by providing administrative support for the charities events and campaigns to maximise income.
• To assist with the administration of event participants and ticket buyers, including responding to enquiries in a timely fashion, building relationships by phone and email and encouraging and motivating participants to meet and exceed targets
• To keep up to date records of all collection boxes and buckets in the community
• To be the first point of contact for phone face to face plus emails via the fundraising inbox for all fundraising enquiries, respond in a timely manner and recognise the opportunity to build relationships and encourage fundraising support.
• To run and analyse weekly financial reports to ensure donations are recorded correctly and the appropriate thank you has been sent.
• Support regular gift aid claim submissions to HMRC to take place monthly.
• Support the team to provide communications to the correct audiences for marketing activity.
• Assist in processing donations from mailing appeals.
• Work with the fundraising team to ensure data recording is kept up to date in a timely way
• Assist and support other members of the fundraising team e.g., sending out events/fundraising packs and ensuring all event participants are thanked within the scheduled time.
• Regularly review and adapt supporter communications, including thank you letters and ensure these are implemented across the organisation for consistency
• Keep up to date with new developments, legal requirements, codes of conduct and best practice including being GDPR compliant.
• Manage stock of event promotional items and ensure availability of items required at events, distribute and collect items for the team
• Attend and contribute to team meetings.
• Carry out any other duties as may be reasonably required.

Person specification

Knowledge and experience:

• Strong, demonstratable experience in administration
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Experience and good working knowledge of using a CRM system (preferably Beacon)
• Competent in creating and maintaining spreadsheets
• Good attention to detail and accurate record keeping
• Experience of working in a customer service environment.
• Basic knowledge of Gift Aid regulations.
• Understanding of GDPR.

Skills, attitudes, and behaviours:

• IT skills across a range of systems including MS office and SharePoint.
• Excellent interpersonal skills including the ability to deal with people at all levels, on telephone and by letter/email
• Ability to problem solve and think laterally to achieve a goal.
• Commitment to team-working but also the ability to work alone
• Committed to quality.
• Motivated, positive and proactive
• Ability to prioritise and organise work
• Demonstratable initiative and determination
• A flexible attitude and willingness to develop in the role
• Full UK driving license and car preferred