Press Officer Jobs in Langho, Lancashire

About the role

You will

• Celebrate the achievements of brain injury survivors across the UK, promote the services that Headway UK offers and raise awareness of the prevalence of brain injury.
• Establish Headway as a leading voice in the area of brain injury, ensuring that relevant media outlets are presented with relevant information.

What you will do

• Obtain regular positive national and local media coverage for Headway
• Produce high-quality written materials for release to the media
• Communicate with and facilitate media coverage for independent Headway charities and volunteer-led branches, helping to raise their profiles locally
• Monitor and evaluate media coverage and PR activity to enable the effective tracking of the charity’s reputation.
• Be the first point of call for all media enquiries and take appropriate action
• Manage and cultivate relationships with local and national media.
• Liaise with the fundraising department and promote its initiatives in local and national media outlets.
• Source and interview individuals willing to share their personal experiences of brain injury & to draft personal testimonies and create a database of case studies ready to be used in reaction to relevant news stories.
• Assist in the production of Headway News and other regular communications
• Assist in the planning and execution of the national campaign for Action for Brain Injury Week and to assist in the implementation of additional campaigns throughout the year

About you

We’re open-minded & welcome all applicants who believe they can succeed. Though ideally, you will:

• Have experience of working with local, regional and national media outlets, including crafting in press releases and sell-in

• Have experience of interviewing people from all backgrounds

• Have a highly collaborative working style, fostering teamwork and cross-functional cooperation.

• Be comfortable being the first point of call for journalist enquiries

• Excellent organisational abilities, with a track record of managing multiple projects and meeting deadlines efficiently.

• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, ensuring clear, effective messaging across all channels.

Visit our website to find out more about the role, the work of Headway, the benefits we offer and apply for this job. We look forward to hearing from you.

FIT makes grants to organisations and provides individual fellowships for work that promotes sustainable transport as a universal basic right, reduces the environmental impact of our transport system, and reduces the dominance of the car in society. The Foundation also makes loans, repayable grants and equity investments to selected projects and innovations. For further information about our work and examples of our projects, please visit our website.

The Communications Officer will manage the Charity's communications activities including PR/press, the website and social media, as well as helping organise various events. We are looking for a highly motivated and experienced individual who cares passionately about achieving our aims. The role offers an opportunity to help shape the Foundation’s priorities and strategy, to be part of a movement for change, and to identify and work with some exceptional individuals and organisations. 

 JOB DESCRIPTION

1)   PR/ press:

• Promoting FIT and its work to a wider audience

• Publishing and promoting the work of FIT’s grantees, fellows and investees using blogs, social media, newsletters and press releases:

  • Communicating with grantees, fellows and investees to obtain relevant information

  • Drafting news articles for the FIT website and social media

  • Producing a quarterly newsletter detailing new grant awards, grantee news and upcoming events

  • Producing press releases and media articles

  • Liaising with external press and print media organisations

  • Creative use of other media as the post holder sees fit

• Creating a digital catalogue/ archive of all FIT-funded projects, fellowships and investments

• Adding FIT to directories of grant-giving organisations to allow us to be found by a wider audience.

2)      Website: 

• Maintaining and updating FIT’s website (in conjunction with the Executive Secretary & Grants Manager)

• Producing grant impact summaries for the individual project pages on the website using information provided in final project reports

• Adding missing past/ present funded projects to the website to create a complete online record of everything FIT has funded.

3)      Social media: 

• Managing FIT’s existing social media accounts including LinkedIn and X

• Setting up new social media accounts as necessary eg Facebook

• Drafting a social media policy for FIT.

4)   Events/ networking:

• Supporting the organisation of in person events and webinars to showcase the projects, fellowships and social investments which FIT supports, and to enable networking amongst those supported by FIT (in conjunction with the Executive Secretary & Grants Manager and Events Manager)

• Creating virtual sub-groups of grantees and fellows to further enable networking opportunities.

5)    Other: 

• Opportunity for drafting a communications strategy

• Other communications tasks from time to time as deemed reasonable by the trustees and Executive Secretary & Grants Manager.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

The Communications Officer will actively and passionately promote the work of the Foundation and will be aligned with the aims of FIT, which are public transport as a universal basic right, reducing the environmental impact of our transport system, and reducing the dominance of the car in society.

Skills and competencies

• Excellent copywriting skills and experience in drafting copy for technical and non-technical audiences in a variety of formats, including web, social media, news articles, press releases, formal reports, etc (E)

• Experience in web editing using WordPress (E)

• Ability to work and liaise with a wide range of people (E)

• Accuracy and excellent attention to detail (E)

• Ability to work independently under own initiative (E)

• High level organisational and administrative skills (E)

• IT skills: competent in the use of Google Workspace, Zoom and social media, etc (E)

Knowledge and experience

• Experience of working in a communications role (E)

• Experience of working with social media (E)

• Experience of working with mainstream media (E)

• Familiarity with the charitable, not-for-profit or campaigning sector (E)

• Experience of working within a committee environment, for example, with a board of trustees or elected members (D)

• Interest in and support for sustainable transport (E)

• Knowledge of the sustainable transport sector (D)

E = Essential; D = Desirable

To apply for the role, please submit your CV and a covering letter (maximum 2 sides A4) outlining your relevant skills and experience, together with details of how you fit the requirements of the person specification. The deadline for applications is 23:55 on Friday 14th February 2025.

We are looking for a Communications Officer to join an incredible international animal welfare charity to pro-actively deliver and support the communications and campaigns projects and activities.
.
This is a homebased role with attendance in the London office when required.

The Charity
An ambitious charity with a long and rich history of prioritising practical, professional and sustainable solutions for animals world-wide and the communities they are part of.

You would be joining a motivated and friendly fundraising team, offering fantastic benefits including 26 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, and a career path that can grow with the organisation, as well as much more!

The Role
Deliver local, national and international PR (both online and offline), supporting awareness-raising, global programmes, emergency, fundraising and advocacy activities and campaigns.

Implement media plans in line with the global fundraising, marketing and communications strategy and in support of communications KPIs.

Work with Communications Manager on publications, including copy for marketing materials, the website and internal communications.

The Candidate
Excellent knowledge of the UK media environment, including print, broadcast and digital.

Experience of working in a busy press or communications environment, including interacting with national media.

Expertise in managing both reactive and proactive media relations.

An experienced writer, with the ability to produce engaging, persuasive copy that is tailored to the needs of particular audiences.

IMPORTANT NOTE
Our aim is to respond to all successful applications within 5 days. If you havent been contacted within 5 days your application has been unsuccessful, but we positively encourage you to apply for any other positions that you may see in the future.

We apologise that we cannot contact everybody in person but thank you in advance for your interest.

Third Solutions encourages applications from individuals of all ages & backgrounds. Appointment will be made on merit alone but candidates must be able to demonstrate their ability to work in the UK. Third Solutions acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment & an employment business for temporary recruitment as defined by the Conduct of Employment Agencies & Employment Business Regulations 2003.

The primary functions of the PR and Communications Officer role will be to contribute to the organisation’s media advocacy by working with colleagues to ideate, develop and publish compelling messaging and narratives around the organisation’s research and advocacy, and by delivering the day-to-day duties of the press office. Another key function of the role is to edit and proofread content generated by colleagues, including reports, blogs and other materials. A smaller share of the role is dedicated to carrying out and supporting with day-to-day “core” communications work, such as maintaining content on our website and contributing to our content planner. These general communications duties are flexibly shared across the communications team to enable team members to support each other’s workloads.

The PR and Communications Officer will be part of the communications team at the Tax Justice Network which is led by the Head of Communications, who this post will report into, and includes the Content and Communications Officer, the Creative Strategist/Podcaster and the Podcast Producer. The team leads and delivers the Tax Justice Network’s communications, including the organisation’s media work, blog, website, social media and newsletters.

The communications team is a busy team in a fast moving and agile organisation. The communications team works closely with teams, individuals and partners across the organisation, supporting the planning, development and publication of all external outputs. Therefore, you need to be self-reliant and a top multi-tasker, who enjoys independent writing as well as supporting colleagues with developing and polishing their work into the best possible shape. You will need to be able to provide constructive feedback to colleagues on their work in an encouraging and respectful manner that helps develop skillsets. Given the nature of the work, you will need to have an exceptional eye for detail.

The Tax Justice Network is a virtual organisation with all the team working remotely. You therefore need to be self-motivated and comfortable working alone. Alongside being thorough, diligent and independent you should have strength and confidence to judge when to reach out to colleagues to assist and support.