Communications and Engagement Officer

About the role:

We are seeking a Communications and Engagement Officer to support our Policy and Public Affairs team and lead on engaging with our members. You will be the main point of contact for our members and support our Policy team to mobilise the collective voice of our membership to influence public policy and drive long-lasting, systemic change. The successful candidate will be competent in digital technology, have a passion for human rights, equality and social justice, some experience or knowledge of public policy and/or human rights and equality frameworks, and strong interpersonal, communication and organisational skills. 

This is a varied role that would suit a candidate with a broad range of skills and interests. Each day is likely to be different and might include drafting communications material, supporting a submission to a government consultation or arranging and servicing member meetings. 

About the organisation:

Equally Ours (previously the Equality and Diversity Forum) is a UK charity that brings together people and organisations working across equality, human rights and social justice to make a reality of these in everyone’s lives. 

Through its members and networks, Equally Ours joins up research, policy and communications to shift public opinion and policy in positive and powerful ways. This is an exciting and pivotal time for us. Our 10-year strategy, Together for social justice, sets out our bold agenda to increase equality and strengthen rights at scale in the areas of law, climate and investment. 

Our policy work supports our membership of networks, communities and grassroots groups across the UK to influence public policy and decision-making.   

We are a small team, which means you will have the opportunity to work closely with colleagues across the organisation and gain experience of a wide range of activities involved in running a small membership charity. You will support different aspects of our day-to-day work and have opportunities to learn from colleagues with expertise across policy, public affairs, engagement, operations, finance and programme delivery. You can find out more about our team on the 'about us' page of our website.

Main duties and responsibilities:

Membership engagement 

• Support potential new members through our member application process, prepare applications for review by the board 

• Arrange inductions with new members, including arranging induction meetings between senior staff and CEOs  

• Organise regular members’ meetings, contacting and liaising with speakers from across our membership and research networks, as well as parliamentarians and other policy-makers. 

• Ensure all our methods of engagement (meetings, events, comms, web content, etc) are accessible, liaising with participants, suppliers, venues, etc to ensure that access needs are met 

• Maintain our member and research network contact lists and support the Head of Policy and Engagement in maintaining contact lists for parliamentary contacts, using Mailchimp 

• Take ownership of longer-term projects to support and improve our membership engagement offer 

• Use membership engagement to support the wider team in its long-term efforts to protect the equality and human rights legal framework 

Communications and Engagement 

• Draft and send member updates regularly, informing our members about opportunities for collaboration, and upcoming meetings and events 

• Draft and send newsletters to our audience of 5,000, providing updates on the work of our membership as well as news and updates from government and public bodies 

• Draft and schedule LinkedIn and other social media posts to share information about our work and that of our members. 

• Update and manage the website with any relevant news or information. 

• Monitor and report on engagement levels with our newsletters, member updates, social and web content, suggesting areas for improvement. 

• Use communications tools and techniques to mobilise support for the protection of the equality and human rights legal framework. 

Policy and team support 

• Organise meetings and events; including timelines, sending invites and reminders, speaker liaison, logistics and planning. 

• Draft meeting agendas and send along with any supporting documentation in advance of any meetings. 

• Take the minutes at various meetings, summarise for distribution, and follow up on any actions. 

• Monitor and report on the attendance levels of our members’ meetings, working group meetings and events. 

• Draft and administer satisfaction and impact surveys, and report on the results. 

• Support the wider team to conduct its policy influencing work for example, through government consultations and correspondence with policy makers. 

Person Specification (Essential Skills and Experience):

Communication skills:  

• Very strong oral and written communication skills, coupled with an ability to communicate with tact and diplomacy.  

• An ability to quickly adapt to our unique tone of voice in your communications, ensuring that your language and tone are accessible and sensitive to the topics being written about.  

• A willingness to understand and adopt a human rights-based approach in your language, understanding the power of words and how they might uplift or diminish people.  

Organisational skills:  

• Excellent organisational and time management skills, with the ability to prioritise competing demands and meet deadlines with minimal supervision.  

• Strong attention to detail whilst maintaining the ability to work quickly and responsively. 

• Demonstrable experience of using platforms such as Eventbrite and Microsoft Teams to manage large meetings and online events, and Microsoft SharePoint for file management. 

Interpersonal skills:  

• The ability to liaise and engage with people from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, and create and sustain positive, collaborative relationships.  

• High levels of emotional intelligence and resilience including an ability to hold and manage difficult feelings and conversations with tact and sensitivity. 

• Understanding and ability to manage how privilege and inequality can impact in the workplace for yourself, colleagues and external stakeholders. 

Professional skills and experience: 

• Equality and Human Rights: a passion for human rights, equality and social justice and a drive to support systems change in order to support communities and people who experience disadvantage and discrimination. 

• Content creation and management: experience of drafting engaging content for a range of audiences and through a range of channels, using Wordpress, Mailchimp, and Canva. 

• Experience in or strong understanding of accessibility and inclusion; ensuring that communications and events are accessible to people with a range of conditions.   

• Confidentiality and safeguarding: A good understanding of GDPR principles, ensuring people’s privacy is protected where necessary, and experience of or ability to work within our safeguarding policy. 

• An understanding of, or a willingness to learn about, how public policy is developed in the UK and the importance of civic engagement in building public policy and legislation 

Personal qualities 

• Initiative and growth mindset: the ability to identify and act on opportunities. 

• A flexible and collaborative approach, with the ability to adapt to changing priorities and support a range of projects in response to organisational needs. 

• Commitment to embed anti-racism across all aspects of our work. 

Please read the full application pack attached before applying. You must be signed into your CharityJob candidate account to access and view this document.

Please note we will only accept applications that include a cover letter.

Application Instructions

Please submit a CV and cover letter (max 2 pages) explaining your interest in this role by 11pm on 11 September. Ensure that you address all the criteria, providing sufficient relevant evidence, including examples, to show how your skills and experience match those required in the person specification. 

If you would like to apply under the guaranteed interview scheme, please review the criteria on the last page of the job pack, and then contact us so we can provide further details.