Communication Officer

Job Title: Communications Officer

Salary: £26,000 - £30,000 dependent on experience

Team: Communications and Marketing Team

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Location: Shooting Star House, Hampton / Christopher’s, Guildford

About Shooting Star Children’s Hospices

We have an exciting opportunity for a Communications Officer to join our team at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices.

Shooting Star Children’s Hospices provides specialist care and support to families who have a baby, child or young person with a life-limiting condition, or who have been bereaved. Rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission, we support families across Surrey, north-west London and south-west London from diagnosis to end of life and throughout bereavement with a range of nursing, practical, emotional and medical care.

At the heart of what we do are our dedicated staff; their exceptional commitment and professionalism means every family has the opportunity to make every moment count.

About the role

Your key purpose will be responsible for developing inspiring and compelling written content to support income generation and raise awareness of our important work. The postholder will need to bring knowledge and understanding of what makes a good story, working closely with teams across the charity to capture and develop engaging content for a myriad audiences.

Main job responsibilities:

• Copywriting / Storytelling / Content gathering
• Internal communications
• PR and media support
• Reporting and collateral management

About you

This role requires experience of copywriting and storytelling, with a strong understanding of what makes a good story. You will require relevant experience of generating compelling storytelling ideas and building relationships with colleagues at all levels.

You will also have an ability to work under pressure, through heavy workloads and to tight deadlines and have the influence and communication skills to work effectively with internal and external stakeholders. You will possess an unyielding attention to detail, a can-do attitude and a passion for creativity.

Please see the attached job description for more information about this opportunity at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices.

What we offer

In return you will receive a competitive salary along with a range of benefits, which include:

Pension scheme

• NHS Pension Scheme (for eligible employees) or our stakeholder pension scheme, with up to 7% employer contributions

Annual leave

• 27 days plus Bank Holidays rising with length of service
• 2 weeks paid sabbatical leave after 5,10 and 15 years’ service

Contractual benefits

• Generous sick pay scheme
• Enhanced maternity, adoption, and paternity leave pay
• Flexible working arrangements
• Death in service benefits
• Reimbursed professional membership fees
• Eye care
• Employee referral scheme
• Blue Light discount card

Health and wellbeing

• Employee Assistance Programme
• Occupational Health
• Mindfulness sessions
• Cycle to work scheme
• Mental Health First Aiders
• Nutritionally balanced meals at Christopher’s (free for employees) and free fruit at our Hampton site.

Safeguarding

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all our staff to share this commitment. Employment is subject to receipt of satisfactory references and a DBS check.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

Shooting Star Children’s Hospice is committed to inclusion and diversity in everything we do. We know that getting things right is critical for us to live our organisation’s values: Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Diversity and Excellence.

We are always trying to improve our way of working to be more inclusive and equal. Our vision is for Shooting Star Children’s Hospice to be a place where people of all backgrounds, groups and communities feel welcomed to work and volunteer.