Foothold Communications Officer
Salary: £18k (£30k per annum pro rata)
Period of appointment: This is a permanent contract.
Location: Remote/homebased
Part time: 21 hrs a week
Like many benevolent fund charities, Foothold has a small staff team, but our impact is mighty!
We’re looking for someone who enjoys variety and takes pride in their work to join our flexible, remotely-based team as our new Communications Officer.
Hearing the challenges that the individuals we support are facing keeps us focused. As Communications Officer, you’ll play a key role in communicating the support our charity offers the engineering community, while also engaging our supporters by bringing our community’s stories to life.
We’re redefining relationships with long-standing communications partners, building new relationships, and building our presence across new platforms and communities.
As Communications Officer, you'll be pivotal in making sure our voice is heard through regular communications, and delivering our impact report and annual report.
We find creative ways of working as a team and look to showcase the individual talents and personalities that people bring to their role. At Foothold, you’ll have the opportunity to showcase and develop your skills across digital design, video and copy.
We encourage our team to be all-rounders, and you’ll be working closely and collaboratively with our Communications and Digital Events Officer, Digital Marketing Officer and fundraising colleagues to produce regular, engaging content.
This is a great opportunity to join a small, talented, and committed team as we test the best ways of engaging different parts of the engineering community, and how that engagement may evolve over time. You’ll help us evolve our communications and PR output, and in turn we’ll provide you with the support and autonomy to grow your skills.
We’re confident that you’ll enjoy working alongside the wider team and look forward to hearing from you.
Organisational benefits
· 32 days per annum annual leave plus Bank Holidays (plus office closure between Christmas and New Year)
· Flexible working arrangements
· Organisational commitment to training and development.
· SIPP pension with up to 9% employer contribution (subject to individual contribution)
· Life insurance and access to Smart Health services (AIG)
· Cycle to Work and Tech Scheme, childcare vouchers.
· Associate membership of the IET for one year paid for by Foothold, and access to Foothold services
If you have any further questions about the role, please contact our Head of Business and Volunteering Beverley Archer.
Informal Conversations: these can be arranged with the Jonny Rudge, Head of Fundraising and Communications, between the 3rd and 5th of June 2025
Closing date: applications should be submitted by 4pm on Friday 6th June 2025
Interviews will be held on Monday 16th June 2025 on Teams.
For more information about Foothold please visit our website
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Communications Officer – Scotland
Reference: APR20257121
Location: Flexible in Scotland
Salary: £27,123.00 - £28,956.00 Per Annum
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full-Time, 37.5 hours per week
Benefits: Pension scheme (7%), Life Assurance scheme, 26 days' annual leave (plus bank holidays)
We are seeking a home-based Communications Officer to join RSPB Scotland's communications team.
You'll have an interest in or passion for nature and the outstanding communications skills, knowledge and the experience we need to tell inspiring stories of the conservation projects, our network of nature reserves and our colleagues that are striving to help protect and restore nature across Scotland.
What's the role about?
You'll be part of a dynamic team working across Scotland to unearth and tell great stories from colleagues that inspire key audiences about RSPB Scotland’s nature conservation work.
The role is diverse and busy, working on the roll out of RSPB-wide campaigns like Big Garden Birdwatch, managing and creating content for social media platforms, responding to press enquiries and building relationships with colleagues working in different areas of Scotland to bring their work to life in print, blogs, film and more.
The role will occasionally include opportunities to travel across Scotland, including overnight trips and out-of-hours work with Time Off in Lieu provided. Applicants need to be based in Scotland.
The role will demand:
- Building relationships with teams across Scotland, developing understanding of their work, stories and communications needs.
- Working with the wider communications and marketing team to support effective communications planning and delivery in line with country and organisational priorities.
- Day-to-day management of social media channels and communications enquiries with support from the wider team.
- Maintaining relationships with press and media to maximise coverage of communications priorities.
- Producing a monthly e-newsletter for supporters.
- Identifying reputational risks and working with the team to help minimise potential impacts.
Required skills, knowledge and experience:
- Evidence of a high level of literacy and of a good general education.
- An understanding of how to achieve objectives through communications campaigns and PR techniques.
- Ability to communicate in a clear manner at all levels (written and verbally) to develop shared understanding.
- Ability to summarise complex information and provide impactful copy - e.g. through press releases, social media posts, blogs etc.
- Being able to persuade others and negotiate to reach agreement.
- Demonstrable experience of identifying and developing stories and messages from briefings or background information on a wide variety of topics.
- Working in or with the media to sell and/or tell stories.
- Ability to write to tight deadlines and work in a fast paced, often changing environment.
- Multitasking.
- PR / marketing / journalism qualification (desirable).
- Experience working remotely across a widely distributed organisation (desirable).
- Knowledge of Scottish nature conservation/wildlife especially birds (desirable).
- Knowledge of key habitats and conservation issues in Scotland (desirable).
- Experience working for/with an environmental NGO or voluntary sector organisation (desirable).
Closing date: 23:59, Sunday 8th June 2025
We are looking to conduct interviews for this position on 25th/26th June 2025.
Interested?
If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.
We are committed to developing an inclusive and diverse RSPB, in which everyone feels supported, valued, and able to be their full selves. To achieve our vision of creating a world richer in nature, we need more people, and more diverse people, on nature’s side. People of colour and disabled people are currently underrepresented across the environment, climate, sustainability, and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled, we are particularly interested in receiving your application.
The RSPB is an equal opportunities employer. This role is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
This role is not eligible for UK Visa Sponsorship - the successful applicant will need to have a pre-existing Right to Work in the UK in order to be offered an employment contract.
As part of this application process you will be asked to complete an application form including evidence on how you meet the skills, knowledge and experience listed above. Contact us to discuss any additional support you may need to complete your application.
No agencies please.
The RSPB brings people together – people like you – to protect the things that matter to us all.



Sands exists to save babies’ lives and ensure that anyone affected by pregnancy loss or baby death receives the support and care they need.
Bereaved parents and families are at the heart of why Sands exists. Sharing their experiences of pregnancy and baby loss, and what connects and involves them with our work, is both an important part of their bereavement journey and a way to demonstrate the need for our vision and mission to succeed. This role will help us to show in a real and human, authentic way, what Sands is doing to save babies’ lives and support bereaved families.
Sharing these personal stories in external communications will help us reach more people, bringing to life the work we do in a way that engages diverse audiences, and increasing the likelihood of their taking actions in support of Sands.
This new role has been developed to support the Communications & Engagement team to develop our story-telling function, build our real stories library and ensure the associated consent and stewardship processes are compassionate, efficient and effective. The Stories Officer will ensure wherever possible, that external communications assets and content created by teams across Sands includes the voices of people touched by pregnancy and baby loss – including those who have been personally affected, and those who are allies of Sands, such as healthcare professionals, corporate partners, research partners, fundraisers and more.
You will have experience of working in a charity stories or communications team, or in a stories-led environment such as journalism.
A good knowledge of compliance and safeguarding issues, including experience of working with vulnerable people in a communications context is required.
With excellent written communication and creative skills, you will be able to produce work that captures and conveys real life experiences in a sensitive and compassionate tone.
You will be highly organised with the ability to multi-task and work across more than one project simultaneously.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.