Communications Manager

The Literacy Pirates is an educational charity working across the UK to develop the literacy, confidence and perseverance of children who are falling behind in school and have fewer opportunities in their personal lives. We offer in-person and online literacy programmes that support children to meet age-related expectations in reading and writing, succeed in school, and thrive beyond the classroom. 

Literacy Pirates is at an incredibly exciting point in its 15-year journey, as we embark on a period of national expansion with a target to quadruple the number of young people we support over the next four years. The Communications Manager role is critical to achieving our national expansion ambitions. We are excited to be able to recruit for this specialist role to develop our brand and lead the investment in our communications and marketing capacity. 

Objectives

To develop and implement a communications strategy that supports the organisational expansion strategy as well as growth in the three key areas of school recruitment, volunteer recruitment and fundraising performance. 

Developing high-quality communications content and stewarding key external relationships in support of organisational comms work.  

Key Responsibilities

• Develop audience specific communications strategies and work with departmental managers to deliver targeted campaigns to recruit volunteers, school partners and new funders. 
• Produce high-quality written, visual and digital content translating our impactful work to be accessible, engaging and audience/channel specific. 
• Develop close and supportive relationships with external ambassadors and other allies, in support of organisational communications work.  
• Track engagement across media channels and email marketing, and produce monthly reports for leadership team showing activity 
• Continue the development of our new website, including monitoring analytics. 
• Support freelancers, interns and internal colleagues to design high quality video, social media, print and digital material 
• Drive storytelling initiatives by sourcing and sharing case studies and impact stories that inspire donors and the wider public. 
• Proactively identify communication opportunities as well as new relationships with external individuals and organisations.  
• Manage an engaging newsletters distribution system to a range of key audiences. 
• Continue to develop the quality of all external communications ensuring all materials are aligned with our brand guidelines, key messages, and core organisational strategy. 
• Recruit and then manage a Communication and Marketing Associate in year two, resource permitting. 
• Work with the Senior Leader Team to develop and implement our PR & media strategy. 
• Work across the charity to upskill and develop the team in effective, user-centred communications. 
• Work to ensure safeguarding and dignity of children and families are central to all organisational communications.  
   

Person Specification

• 3 years’ experience within a digital communication role 
• Excellent copywriting skills with an ability to craft clear, engaging content for different audiences to tight deadlines 
• Experience with digital advertising and promoted social media posts, analysing trends, reviewing efficacy, and adjusting campaigns in real time 
• Good knowledge of the digital and social media landscape and emerging trends. 
• The ability to simplify complex concepts into plain, compelling English. 
• Proven experience working in an editorial capacity, developing compelling copy for online audiences, with a varied portfolio of written work 
• Experience of digital content creation, commissioning and management 
• Proficiency newsletter creation, working to tight deadlines, collaborating with other departments, and using mail clients 
• Experience of managing suppliers, partners and contributors 
• Familiarity with design software for creating digital assets, such as Canva 

Personal attributes 

• Self-starter, able to work proactively and intuitively 
• Able to work to varying timelines and prioritise own workload accordingly 
• Ability to communicate with a range of people of different levels, disciplines and backgrounds 
• Passionate about addressing poverty and inequality, and commitment to equality and diversity 

Salary: £40,000 – 42,000 (incl. London Weighting)

Contract: Full time, Permanent
Location: London based, two days in the office, with the option to work remotely three days

How to apply

To apply for the position, complete our online application form and upload a CV by midday on Friday 1st May 2026.