Senior Stories Manager

About The Role

Application Process: Please ensure you apply with a Supporting Statement on why you believe you would be the most suitable individual for this position.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

The stories of people with lived experience of dementia play a key strategic role in authentically communicating the devastation of dementia to our supporters, policymakers and the public - ensuring the realities of dementia can’t be ignored.

Right now, it’s more important than ever that we raise awareness of the devastation of dementia in an era of new breakthroughs in drug treatments and our mission to deliver transformational change for people affected by dementia - this is a pivotal moment in the fight against dementia.  As our organisational and brand strategies drive our growth and relevance as a dementia charity, we are building foundations for the years to come.

Here’s an exciting opportunity to make your mark in a newly created role, providing strategic, expert leadership for the Stories team to maximise the value of our contributor stories to the organisation - supporting income generation and extending our audience reach. The Senior Stories Manager will report to the Head of Creative and Brand Engagement, working closely and collaboratively across our department and with Fundraising, Communications, Involvement and Research teams.

We are looking for someone who understands the power of real, authentic stories to inspire action and create a real and lasting change for everyone affected by dementia. 
We need an experienced, strategically focused leader, who can not only inspire and coach a team of four but be an advocate for all our storytellers and build on the exceptional reputation of trust and credibility of Alzheimer’s Society.

We need someone with extensive experience of working with vulnerable people, who can inspire confidence in people affected by dementia who want to tell their stories to a trusted expert; and who understands the importance of managing systems that protect their data and usage rights effectively.

We need an excellent communicator who’s energised by building great working relationships with multiple teams at senior level, acting as an ambassador for the role of lived experience stories in the organisation.

Alzheimer's Society has recently been named on the Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2023! We have achieved excellent scores for workplace happiness, pride, and job satisfaction. This is a fantastic achievement and we're incredibly proud as this is a significant indication of how far we’ve travelled over the past few years.
We would love to welcome more outstanding people to join our exciting journey to make the greatest difference for people affected by dementia.

About you

- Ability and experience to provide strategic, expert leadership for the Stories team – helping to deliver our departmental strategy of supporting income generation and organisational aims, through the expertise of the team and the efficacy of our databases for the organisation.
- Strong and demonstrable experience of working with vulnerable people within a communications setting, effectively and with empathy.
- Ability to energise, influence and collaborate with colleagues in the department, directorate, wider organisation and external partners.
- Ability to think strategically – to understand, interpret and implement organisational and brand strategies.
- Ensure Alzheimer’s Society’s EDI policy is reflected in our range of contributors and is a key consideration when selecting stories for comms and marketing.

Person specification

- Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to liaise with a diverse range of stakeholders.
- Sound technical knowledge and experience in setting and maintaining standards of data protection and information governance compliance.
- Experience of running workshops, training or coaching sessions, with strong presentational skills. 
- Experience of line management.