Journalist jobs in richmond, greater london
About Open Cages
Open Cages is a UK-registered charity fighting animal suffering. We are part of an international organisation, Anima International. To achieve our goal we use scientific evidence, careful reasoning, and draw upon decades of collective experience. Just in the last few years, we have successfully helped improve the lives of hundreds of millions of farmed animals in the UK.
We are impact-oriented and use a wide array of tools to make the world a better place. Our current toolkit includes:
- Investigations which reveal the reality hidden behind the walls of factory farms
- Negotiations with companies to encourage them to eliminate cruel practices from their policies
- Advocacy to secure legal milestones for animals
At Open Cages we won’t stop until we end animal suffering. We would like to invite you to join us and help us achieve this goal.
What do you gain by working at Open Cages?
- Meaningful work – you will help build a world free from animal suffering
- Time – you will be able to focus full-time on helping animals
- High degree of flexibility – the work is almost totally remote and you will organise your working hours and workflow yourself
- Trust – we expect you to make mistakes as a given and learn from them
- Autonomy – you will experience freedom and independence in your decision-making
- Transparency – you will have access to the work and decisions of others
- Honest work culture – you will know what your colleagues are doing and what they really think
- Knowledge – you will learn and receive support from people who have been fighting for animals for many years
- Opportunity to grow – you will learn every day and be encouraged to experiment beyond your skill set
- Ability to influence the organisation – we encourage our people to openly speak their mind and thus you will be able to impact what kind of organisation we are
- A laugh – animal advocacy can be dark at times, we think that having a fun atmosphere is key to balance this
- Transparently set compensation – Our salaries are not negotiable and are based on a transparent algorithm that is the same for each role
Following a 3-month probation period, you will transition to a fixed-term contract. Upon successful completion of this term, you will be offered a permanent employment contract. A minimum salary of £39,695.24 gross (our salary base for people resident in the UK) will apply from the beginning of the probationary period. The salary base may change due to your previous experience related to the position, or your experience in animal advocacy (+3% for each year). In addition, the salary increases with your seniority in Open Cages according to the following model:
+ 7% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the first 5 years of work
+ 5% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next 5 years of work
+ 3% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next 5 years of work
+ 2% – for every year worked at Open Cages during the next years of work
About your role
We are a small and ambitious early-stage organisation with two full-time team members. Our current objective: to help the 1 billion chickens raised annually in the UK. By joining us as a campaigner who focuses on communications, you will work on the frontlines by shining a light on the hidden suffering of animals trapped on factory farms, and mobilising the public to take action. Your first task will be to help us convince the UK’s largest food businesses to improve their chicken welfare policies, primarily through crafting media stories and marketing campaigns that capture the hearts and minds of the public.
While this may sound challenging, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a historic change for those who cannot stand up for themselves. Someone has to pick up the fight, and we hope it will be You.
We can accommodate to you
Due to the broad scope of our work, there is no simple description of the perfect campaigner. There may also be certain areas where you are stronger than others, and we are open to fitting the role around you. We are looking for a generalist rather than a specialist. However, you do need to have some particular strengths such as resilience, persistence, creativity, and critical thinking. Ideally, some day, you will be able to lead a big team and transfer your knowledge to them.
No previous experience is required for this role. While experience will be valued (and reflected in the salary), we welcome applications from both seasoned professionals and passionate newcomers who align with our organisational culture.
What do we require from you?
- Strong belief in the mission of our organisation. Working for us should not be thought of as a ‘career step’. We want people who are motivated by our mission above all.
- Flexible availability. We think of ourselves as a small startup. The fate of the organisation rests on a handful of highly motivated advocates who want to do something ambitious with their lives. We want to maintain the intensity of our current operating culture, so you should expect to work the occasional weekends and late evenings.
- Not being an asshole. We expect you to treat others with respect, decency and compassion – even the occasional adversaries.
- A preference for hard work. Activism is our passion and one of the main motivations in life. To fit our culture, you have to be a person that is proactive and enjoys work.
- Growth mindset. Nobody knows how to fix the world, so we need you to keep learning. We constantly strive to be better at our activism, but also as people.
- Strong interest in a high-feedback culture. We have a culture of honest and direct communication. We talk openly about our strengths and weaknesses on a daily basis because we want to be the best. You will know what your colleagues really think of you and be encouraged to speak your mind.
- Ability to reason and communicate your thinking, especially in written form. In order to thrive in our organisation you must be able to think carefully, try to back up your ideas with reasonable evidence, and above all be open to being proven wrong and changing your mind.
- Fluency in English. You will be working in a UK-based organisation which will require constant communication with English speakers.
- Ability to work in the UK. This offer is open to candidates who are either currently UK-based, or are willing to move to the UK for the job. We are happy to do whatever we can to help you in relocating, depending on your needs and our ability. If you have any questions about what we can help with, don’t hesitate to write to us!
You do not need to be vegan or vegetarian. While all of our events provide only plant-based meals, we are open to anyone who wants to fight for a world that is free from animal suffering. We won’t turn down any help.
What will you do?
- Build culture – you will help build and reinforce our culture, so we never lose what makes up the strength of Open Cages.
- Embrace reality – you will make it your mission to understand the world as it is rather than as you would like it to be.
- Manage activists – you will manage and work with teams of both employed and voluntary activists.
- Experience frustration – you will feel frustrated about things you could do better or things that are not working in the organisation or your team, and use this frustration as an opportunity to refine and elevate our organisation.
- Question ideas – you will question common knowledge, especially your own ideas, so that our results are always as good as they can be.
- Optimise your performance – you will continuously deepen your knowledge – both about particular areas of animal advocacy and about how the world works – and enjoy this process.
- Prioritise action – you will act even when there is not sufficient data.
- Abandon projects – you will change your objectives when it makes sense, no matter the time already invested.
- Respect and trust others – you will be there for others and trust their intentions. You will support them when they succeed and when they fail.
- Seek information independently – you will be responsible for acting very independently which will require you to obtain and verify data.
- Make mistakes – you will embrace your mistakes without being ashamed with the desire to learn from them.
- Strategise – it is not easy to change the world. As a campaigner you will ask yourself endless questions. You will be responsible for campaign strategy which requires careful planning and the ability to think ahead.
- Try again and again and again – the decision makers we want to convince often don’t want to improve animal welfare, others may simply not have time for you. You will need extreme persistence in order to gain traction with companies.
- Take risks – negotiating in a high stakes meeting, attending a farming conference, organising a protest, taking hundreds of videos of a retailer’s chicken products for a BBC story (yes, we did this!) – in this role you will need to be comfortable with stepping out of your comfort zone.
- Conduct research – you will spend many hours online gathering information, working with investigators and lawyers, or delivering chicken products to a lab in Germany (we did this too).
- Create marketing content – you will produce graphics and videos for social media, and utilise marketing tools to reach millions of people.
- Work with the media – you will engage with journalists, write press releases, pitch stories and be animals’ voice on the radio and TV.
- Mobilise advocates – you will write emails to our supporters and motivate them to take action with us. You will also organise and run street actions like protests and stunts.
- Connect with diverse audiences – you will need to talk about the suffering of animals to very different groups of people that compose our society. To do that effectively, you will need to understand their perspective and be a good, empathetic communicator.
- Ask for support – you will help us fundraise to increase our impact.
Do you think this role is too challenging and you're not fit for it?
You may be thinking that this role would be interesting for you, but you won’t make the cut.
We encourage you not to worry and fill out the application nonetheless, especially if you meet our requirements (even on a basic level) and you think this position could bring you a lot of joy. Leave the judgment about your competence to us. You may even learn something useful along the way.
We prepared support materials to help you through the application process. We'll also be hosting informational webinars about this role and our recruitment process – click ‘Redirect to recruiter’ to see the website for more details.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Senior Communications Manager
Salary: up to £45k
Term: Permanent
Line manager: Head of Policy and Advocacy
Background:
Our vision is a world where data is at the heart of understanding and decision-making
Founded in 1834, the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is one of the world’s leading organisations advocating for the importance of statistics and data. We’re a professional body for all statisticians and data scientists – wherever they may live.
We have more than 12,000 individual members in the UK and across the world. As a charity, we advocate for the key role of statistics and data in society, and work to ensure that policy formulation and decision making are informed by evidence for the public good.
The membership of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) constitutes a preeminent source of statistical expertise. Members work with RSS staff to support our work across areas such as policy development, education, training, statistical communication, and statistical literacy. Communicating what we do is important to ensure that our work has impact, and that our members are informed.
Job Purpose:
The main purpose of this role is to lead and coordinate communications activities across the Society’s policy and external affairs activities, ensuring that our work is communicated strategically and visible to appropriate audiences.
Key responsibilities:
Understanding opportunities and the changing external environment
- Develop our understanding of the preferences and needs of our key internal and external audiences to better align our policy and external affairs communications to those preferences and needs.
- Monitor and respond to emerging trends to ensure our communications channels and content for policy and external affairs remain timely and relevant.
- Build a network of key contacts across critical and adjacent organisations to maximise potential routes into influencing decision-making and make the best use of resources through collaborative working.
Development of strategies and plans
- Lead on strategic communication of the Society’s campaign priorities
- Contribute to the development of the Society’s communications strategy across media, social media and communications planning.
- Work closely with colleagues across the organisation to maximise the communications value of the Society’s key policy and external affairs outputs and activities.
- Contribute to costed plans for communications campaigns that meet key strategic goals and include monitoring for impact.
Media relations
- Lead on the Society’s media relations work – proactively identify and exploit appropriate media opportunities to promote campaign priorities, drafting media statements and managing launches and announcements.
- Develop and maintain relationships with journalists across our key topic areas and respond to press queries.
- Expertly advise, assist and brief the Society’s key spokespeople in respect of media relations issues and opportunities.
- Manage, and develop the Society’s statistical ambassador scheme, supporting individuals and ensuring we have a pipeline of spokespeople that reflects the diversity of the data professions.
Content creation and editorial
- Develop communications content including blogs, press statements, posts and thought pieces to communicate our campaigns and policy work.
- Contribute to the operation of the Society’s social media accounts, working with wider staff to ensure we are reflecting the breadth of the Society’s activities across the various platforms.
- Produce write-ups of events and roundtables.
External affairs
- Work with the CEO and Head of Policy and Advocacy to identify and develop relationships with external stakeholders, both UK-based and international and across government, civil society, academia and business, acting as a convenor, trusted advisor and critical friend.
- Lead on the Society’s statistical excellence awards programme, including developing and maintaining relationships with awards sponsors to ensure the awards are both impactful and financially sustainable.
- Lead on the planning and delivery of policy focused events
- Support the publication, launch and dissemination of relevant outputs across the policy team, and work with colleagues to ensure relevant and timely and communication of policy positions to support policy and advocacy objectives.
- Maintain a database of relevant stakeholders.
Management
- Monitor and report on progress and performance against targets.
- Project manage campaigns, external affairs and communications activities, ensuring that work is appropriate, of high quality, and sufficient volume to maintain presence and reputation.
- Manage the budget for the communications function.
Interfaces with other teams and groups
- Contribute to a cross-RSS communications group to share comms plans and outputs and identify opportunities for synergy and collaboration.
- Provide support to key Society groups, for example the Campaigns Advisory Group.
- Work with staff responsible for business development to pursue sponsorship opportunities where appropriate.
- Engage with teams across the organisation to identify comms opportunities to advance our campaign priorities.
Person Specification
- Significant relevant experience in media relations and external affairs
- Excellent written / oral communication skills, including writing, editing, sub-editing and proofreading
- Excellent organisation, project and budget management skills
- Ability to work effectively, managing multiple projects and deadlines and reprioritising and achieving results in a changing environment.
- Ability to work on own initiative, escalating issues where appropriate.
- Experience organising events in a policy context
- Strong interpersonal skills: ability to persuade, inspire, influence, achieve results through others.
- Collaborative team worker: proven ability to work efficiently and effectively with colleagues, committees, volunteers, and people with a wide range of perspectives, and to foster consensus.
- Ability to establish and develop an extensive network of external contacts in the industry.
- Work closely with members of the Society who provide expert support on a voluntary basis including the President and Vice-President for External Affairs.
Desirable
- Interest in or experience of statistics, research, or other aspects of the Society’s work
- Familiarity with developments within data science, statistics, machine learning, AI and related subject areas.
- Experience working with volunteers.
- Scientific background or experience.
Working for the RSS
Pension and benefits
Our defined contribution pension scheme can be joined after three months in post. Your contributions of up to 8% of salary will be double matched by the Society (making a maximum contribution by the Society of 16%). A training budget, season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and employee assistance programme are also available.
Location
The RSS office is in central London. We offer flexible working arrangements, and this is a hybrid role with a minimum two days a week working in the office. In person attendance for certain meeting is required, including all-staff / team meetings and governance / committee meetings that take place in person. Limited travel within the UK and internationally may be required.
Working hours
35 per week full-time. Applications for job shares, part-time and flexible working will also be considered. The post-holder will be the point of contact for any out-of-office hours press queries.
Holidays
25 days per annum, plus bank holidays and an additional shut down between Christmas and New Year.
Probation
This post is subject to a six-month probation period.
How to apply:
Applications should be sent to via email and be in the form of a supporting statement telling us:
- Why you should be considered for the role and how it fits with your career
- How your skills and experience align with the person specification
Please also send us your CV.
Note that applications by CV-only will not be considered. We may arrange interviews before the deadline has passed. Any questions about the role should also be sent via email. If you are interested in applying but cannot do so until nearer the deadline, please email us to register your interest.
Applications should be in the form of a supporting statement telling us:
- Why you should be considered for the role and how it fits with your career
- How your skills and experience align with the person specification .
Please also send us your CV. Applications by CV-only will not be considered. Any questions about the role should be directed to the email address referred to on our jobs board. If you are interested in applying but cannot do so until nearer the deadline, please email us to register your interest.
Thank you!
Using Anonymous Recruitment
This organisation is using Anonymous Recruitment to reduce bias in the first stages of the hiring process. Submit your application as normal and our system will anonymise it for you. Your personal information will be hidden until the recruiter contacts you.
Communications and Events Officer
Job Description and Person Specification
Job title Communications and Events Officer
Hours 28 hours per week (can be flexible on work pattern)
Salary £27,000 FTE £21,600 actual pro rata
Location Hybrid work between home and our Vauxhall office – please read more about our approach to hybrid working in the relevant section below. Please note that our offices are fully wheelchair accessible and that we are committed to making our workplace fully inclusive
Reports to Policy and Communications manager
National Voices
Making what matters to people matter in health and care
National Voices is the leading coalition of health and social care charities in England. We have more than 200 members covering a diverse range of health conditions and communities, connecting us with the experiences of millions of people. We work together to strengthen the voice of people: patients, service users, carers, their families, and the voluntary organisations that work for them.
Our Vision:
People shaping their health and care.
Our Mission:
We advocate for more inclusive and person centred health and care, shaped by the people who use and need it the most.
We do this by:
· Understanding and advocating for what matters to people especially those living with health conditions and groups who experience inequalities.
· Finding common cause across communities and conditions by working with member charities and those they support.
· Connecting and convening charities, decision makers and citizens to work together to change health and care for good.
The Role
The purpose of the Communication and Events Officer role is to:
- Communicate National Voices’ all relevant organisational output to members, decision makers, external influencers and media, including policy, improvement, lived experience and insight work.
- Assist the organisation to plan, develop and deliver content and logistics for our operations teams’ internal event commitments, including supporting on the Annual General Meeting, board events and staff team days etc.
- Work with voluntary sector organisations and people with the greatest health and care needs to develop National Voices’ communications positions and deliver against funded project work
The role will be a mix of communications and internal events work, with 75% of the role focused on communications.
Responsibilities
Deliver on our communications work
· Develop engaging content that conveys National Voices messages to members, external stakeholders, and media (including managing the day to day running of social media platforms) to maximise the reach and impact of the organisation’s policy messages and funded project work
· Support the Policy and Communications Manager with media relations activity by drafting media statements, liaising with journalists and other media activity as required
· Create National Voices’ membership content, including member newsletters and member blogs
· Oversee and manage process of external design of National Voices reports with designer
· Manage the comms and events calendar and work with internal and external team to schedule project releases and other events
· Support the maintenance of National Voices’ website, keeping the site up to date and coordinating input and content from National Voices staff and members.
· Coordinate the production of key publications, from liaising with partner organisations to overseeing design and production
· Communications administrative tasks including developing and maintaining press list, tracking press coverage and social media analytics data
· Support operation team’s internal comms around job postings, organisational policy changes, and office announcement.
Support the operations team internal events programme
· Work across the organisation to support our internal events programme including leading on some events. This includes support on logistics like venue booking, arranging catering and providing technical support.
· Support the creation and development of materials for events and presentations.
· Support in the organisation of our Annual General Meeting and board events where needed.
· Work with the team to lead on staff social events.
· Provide ad hoc support to the operations team as required.
General
· Take a pro-active approach to including our members and people with lived experience in all areas of our work.
· Support the senior team in identifying potential new members and funding opportunities where possible.
· Follow processes set out to measure, monitor and communicate the impact of our work.
· Support good project, financial and data management.
· Contribute to the team’s planning activities and undertake other relevant duties as appropriate.
· Deputise for other members of the team when needed.
· Check the post when in the office and flag important notices with relevant members of staff.
· Be prepared to take part in full day events, including providing planning and support
· Be prepared to take part in events outside of core hours, when sufficient notice has been given
Person Specification
Values, attitudes and behaviours
· Passionate about National Voices’ mission and work.
· Proactive, flexible and responsive
· Comfortable working in a team, as well as under own initiative
· Calm under pressure and able to work to tight deadlines.
· Committed to reducing inequality and embracing diversity.
· Comfortable with a range of views and perspectives and keen to make connections and build relationships.
· Willing and confident to assert views, constructively challenge others and receive constructive feedback.
Skills and abilities
· Strong communication skills, both written and oral.
· Able to synthesise complex information and present it in simple and impactful ways.
· Strong organisational and project management skills, including demonstrable ability to prioritise workload and maintain quality.
· Excellent people skills, able to work collaboratively and flexibly in a small, friendly team, and communicate and collaborate with a wide range of external stakeholders at all levels
· Ability to embed clear and reliable processes amongst a team of creative and busy people
· Strong IT skills including Microsoft Office programmes, CRM systems, online conference/meeting software and other programmes where required.
· Able to work well under pressure and to tight deadlines while maintaining attention to detail.
Our approach to hybrid working
We recognise the importance of coming together regularly, in-person, as a team, so we can share learnings and spend social time with each other. We also recognise that people need flexibility, and that homeworking enables focused work and can fit well in people’s lives.
We ask all staff to take part in pre-arranged team meetings which take place every six weeks in our office space. We also might ask you to meet in-person with members of your team from time to time, or to be available for face-to-face meetings with clients and partners where this enhances the work.
We assume that this would usually not amount to more than one day per fortnight for people who work full time.
We are happy to discuss how this sits in your life. This can be agreed by your line manager.
Equality and Inclusion
As reflected in our Equality Action Plan, we are committed to being a truly diverse organisation. We want to ensure that our trustees, staff members, lived experience partners and volunteers come from a wide range of backgrounds, each bringing their own unique perspectives and experiences. We want to ensure that everyone feels heard and is fully able to participate and thrive.
We are committed to diversifying our team in order to broaden the insight and experiences we can draw on, and to do our work more credibly. So we strongly encourage people from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background, and people who live with health conditions or disability to apply. Our offices are fully accessible and we are an LGBT+ friendly employer. Men are currently underrepresented in our team so we would welcome applications from men and non-binary people.
We welcome applications from people who have been in contact with the criminal justice system. For some roles, you may be asked to undergo a basic or enhanced DBS check, but you will only be deemed ineligible for roles which relate to any offences on your criminal record.
We have a range of benefits in place to ensure everyone can thrive, for example:
· We are a Disability Confident employer
· We offer enhanced parental and sickness leave
· We offer flexible working wherever possible
· We provide our employees with an annual wellbeing allowance
· And much more
Application guidance
Please submit a cover letter along with a CV to apply.
Applications should be addressed to our Director of Policy and External Affairs, Sharon Brennan, and submitted through CharityJob.
Please apply by Monday the 5th May 2025
We will let you know the outcome of your application by 9th May 2025
Interviews will be held on 20th May 2025 on Teams
Please note, we will be blind shortlisting all applications, so we ask you not to include your name in your application.
If you are invited to interview, we will ask you about any reasonable adjustments you will need to be able to participate. We will share interview questions in advance of the interview. If you require any adjustments at any stage of your application, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Matthew Haslehurst Director of Finance and Operations.
Please specify any access or other requirements of which we need to be aware for the online interview.
Thank you!
Using Anonymous Recruitment
This organisation is using Anonymous Recruitment to reduce bias in the first stages of the hiring process. Submit your application as normal and our system will anonymise it for you. Your personal information will be hidden until the recruiter contacts you.
About us
The Early Education and Childcare Coalition unites the voices of parents, children, providers, early years professionals and the wider business community, working together for investment and reform of early education and childcare in England.
We believe that we all benefit from a well-functioning early education system and we all have a role to play in ensuring it works for children, parents and the economy.
We are backed by some of the most high-profile campaign and research organisations in the UK. Our members include early years provider membership bodies, parent campaign groups, early childhood experts, trade unions, the business lobby, anti-poverty campaigners and NGOs. Together, we use our collective voice and research to build public and political support for early education and childcare.
And it’s worked. Thanks to the dedication of our members, early years is now one of the top six priorities for the new government’s Plan for Change, but our work isn’t done – we have an ambitious agenda to ‘rescue and reform’ the system, ensuring that:
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every child can access high-quality education and care that their parents can afford and that will support them to thrive
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every provider is funded fairly for the places they offer
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every early years professional is rewarded and recognised for the skilled work they do
This year we launch a new three-year programme to achieve one of those key aims – raising the status of the early education profession, and we need a Campaign Manager to help us drive that work.
About the role
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Hours: 30 hours (4 days per week). Some out-of-hours work may be required for which TOIL will be given.
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Duration: Two-year contract with possible extension subject to funding.
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Location: Homeworking, but within easy reach of London
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Salary: £48,000 per annum FTE (£38,400 pro-rata)
Although we work remotely with a team that is spread nationwide, this role does require someone that is based in or close to London in order to deliver our Westminster programme of activities.
We work flexibly and it won’t come as a surprise to you that we understand the challenge of caring commitments. We trust you to manage your time, but we do expect that most of your hours are worked during standard office hours so that we can collaborate as a team and engage with our coalition partners. Our core working day is a Thursday. As a fully remote team this helps us to stay in touch and connect.
This role is initially offered on a two-year fixed term basis which we expect to renew in line with funding and is offered at four days per week. If you have a preferred working pattern, please speak to us and we would be happy to see if we can make it work.
The Coalition has experienced significant growth over the last two years and with early years firmly on the political agenda, we expect this to continue. Our hope is that this role will evolve and the successful candidate will continue to progress within this growing and impactful organisation.
For the last two years, the Coalition has been incubated by the Women’s Budget Group, the UK’s leading feminist economic think tank. Our growth means that we are now ready to spin out into a separate and independent legal entity. That means that your employment contract will initially be with WBG on behalf of the Coalition but will then transfer across to the newly constituted organisation. This won’t change your role, your terms or your pay, but we want to tell you now. We are happy to answer questions at interview about that.
What you can expect to be doing
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Whilst the coalition currently has almost 40 core member organisations who shape our policy and lead on our shared campaigns, we are looking to grow our network of supporter organisations – these are partners who share our belief in the value of early education and childcare even if they do not work directly in early years policy. The Campaign Manager will lead a new project to identify, onboard, engage and grow this supporter network, ensuring they remain up to date with the latest research produced by the Coalition and its partners.
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With the support of the Head of Advocacy and our external comms partner, develop a new narrative to raise the profile of the early education workforce and deliver a series of campaign moments across paid, earned and owned media to support this work.
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Deliver ongoing comms and campaign projects designed to grow the coalition’s profile across a range of stakeholders.
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Analyse and scope political developments related to the early education and childcare workforce, identifying opportunities to engage and influence.
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Support the organisation of Coalition in person and online events.
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Engage collaboratively with Coalition members to coordinate and amplify their collective and individual voices and work.
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Support with the creation, writing and publication of communication materials including blogs, case studies, press releases and research reports.
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Work with our research partners to drive the aims of the programme.
About you
You will be creative, resourceful and highly effective at building relationships across a wide range of stakeholders. Above all else, you’ll be as passionate as our members about the opportunity that the early years holds for children, families and wider society.
You will play a pivotal role in driving the aims of our new programme, delivering campaign moments that raise the status of early educators while amplifying our emerging research from this programme, and activating new messaging and narratives.
With the support of our Head of Advocacy & Communications, you will grow our network of supporters, securing the backing of organisations from across civil society, the business community and the public sector for our shared aims.
Ideally you will have a good working knowledge of the challenges facing the sector and a good understanding of key influencers in this space including think tanks, MPs and journalists.
You will be a confident communicator with strong writing skills and an eye for detail. The right candidate will be comfortable working in a small team where we all muck-in and benefit from each other’s skills.
Person specification
Essential
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Strong background in advocacy and campaigns.
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Good at building and nurturing relationships at all levels of seniority.
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Experience of working in a fast-paced campaign environment or working on high-profile campaigns that have had good cut-through.
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Excellent knowledge of both the media and political landscapes.
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Ability to write compelling, high-quality content for various audiences.
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Comfortable with remote-working with the ability to self-manage when necessary.
Desirable
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Good understanding of the complexities and challenges facing the early education and childcare sector.
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Experience of working on employment-related issues or with other public sector/education workforces.
The application process
Please apply with CV and cover letter by the listed closing date. No agencies please. We use anonymous recruitment.
The EECC is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion. We use anonymous recruiting during the application process and we use positive action under section 159 of the Equality Act in relation to disability or race. This means that if we have two candidates of equal merit in our process, we will seek to take forward the disabled or Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic candidate in order to diversify our staff team.
We can only consider applicants with the right to work in the UK.
We regret that our small team does not have capacity to respond to unsuccessful applicants individually.
Closing date for applications: 9am, 19th May
Interviews: W/c 26th May
Start date: ASAP
Non Charity Employer
6 - 10
Working together for an early education and childcare sector that delivers for our children, for parents, and for the economy.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Using Anonymous Recruitment
This organisation is using Anonymous Recruitment to reduce bias in the first stages of the hiring process. Submit your application as normal and our system will anonymise it for you. Your personal information will be hidden until the recruiter contacts you.
Kentown Support is a new charity, here to ensure that every child with a life-limiting condition and their family across the UK has access to a model of integrated community children’s palliative care. We will:
· REPLICATE and roll out the Kentown model to reach more children;
· CREATE sustainable teams around the child and family; and
· EQUIP professionals and parents/carers with the knowledge and expertise to deliver the best health and social care for children with life-limiting conditions through high-quality research, education and training.
Our Marketing and Communications Manager will play a key role in growing our reach and influence, building Kentown Support’s brand across the children’s palliative care sector.
In this home based role, you will use your creative flair to develop and deliver strategic communications and marketing plans to our audiences using a range of channels. Working closely with colleagues, partners and service users, you will lead and implement all aspects of our communications’ strategy: Brand management & development, Web & social media, PR & Media and Storytelling & publishing.
We are building a compassionate and high performing organisation at Kentown Support. We are looking for an ambitious, energetic and collaborative colleague who has both a passion for their work and the difference it can make to children and their families. This is a rare opportunity to join an incredible charity at the beginning of its journey.
With the privilege of starting a new organisation is the ability to define the way in which we work. We are creating an environment based on trust and integrity with everyone’s wellbeing at the of core of its success. More traditionally, Kentown Support also offers 25 days’ holiday (pro rata) with an additional day off in your birthday month, 2 paid volunteering days (pro rata), an employee assistance program (including death in service) and 6.5% employer’s contribution to our workplace pension.
We are holding interviews on Teams on Monday 12th May, and final interviews in person on Monday 19th May, location to be decided.
Our website is currently under development, so while helpful on one key area of our work, it does not show the whole range of our activities.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
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Policy and Communications Manager
Job Description and Person Specification
Job title Policy and Communications Manager
Hours 28 hours per week (can be flexible on work pattern)
Salary £42,000 FTE Actual for this role £33,600 pro rata
Location Hybrid work between home and our Vauxhall office – please read more about our approach to hybrid working in the relevant section below. Please note that our offices are fully wheelchair accessible and that we are committed to making our workplace fully inclusive
Reports to Director of Policy and External Affairs
National Voices
Making what matters to people matter in health and care
National Voices is the leading coalition of health and social care charities in England. We have more than 200 members covering a diverse range of health conditions and communities, connecting us with the experiences of millions of people. We work together to strengthen the voice of people: patients, service users, carers, their families, and the voluntary organisations that work for them.
Our Vision:
People shaping their health and care.
Our Mission:
We advocate for more inclusive and person centred health and care, shaped by the people who use and need it the most.
We do this by:
· Understanding and advocating for what matters to people especially those living with health conditions and groups who experience inequalities.
· Finding common cause across communities and conditions by working with member charities and those they support.
· Connecting and convening charities, decision makers and citizens to work together to change health and care for good.
The Role
The purpose of the Policy and Communications Manager role is to:
- Deliver against our National Voices’ policy and project work through a programme’s life cycle, from inception to delivery and evaluation, and within budget
- Manage our communications work to our members and external stakeholders to successfully communicate all relevant organisational output including policy, improvement, lived experience and insight work.
- Work with voluntary sector organisations and people with the greatest health and care needs to develop National Voices’ deliver our policy and communications positions in line with our strategy and members priorities.
The role will be a mix of policy and communications, with 75% of the role likely focused on policy.
Responsibilities
Management oversight
· Manage projects or programmes which are significant in terms of income, profile or risk, and which are often delivered in partnership with others.
· Identify possible future partnerships, follow-on work and funding opportunities that arise from our policy and external affairs work, including from stakeholder relationships, and proactively work to secure income
· Line-manage staff, in the first instance our Communications and Events Officer, to include appraisals, setting objectives, monitoring performance and supporting development.
· Support the policy and external affairs team to deliver against our priorities and projects, including deputising for the Director of Policy and External Affairs, working in sync with other team managers and holistically supporting junior staff members
Deliver against our policy priorities and projects
· Identify, monitor and evaluate policy issues to formulate new policy positions, taking responsibility and action for our position on specific policy areas. This may include developing policy briefings, position papers, consultation responses, blogs, reports, letters and other policy and public affairs documents that capture our policy positions.
· Lead on policy projects from inception to delivery and evaluation including keeping to a set budget where appropriate.
· Develop and collate qualitative and quantitative policy evidence, from analysing previous reports and external stakeholder guidance to developing and delivering against workshops, focus groups, round tables, engagement events and in-depth interviews.
· Work with voluntary sector organisations and people with the greatest health and care needs to understand their experiences, perspectives and ambition using methods laid out above but with a willingness to adapt and flex where needed.
· Connect with policy and comms stakeholders both within our membership and in the wider policy landscape, to spot and make connections among members and to deliver against our five-year strategy objectives
· Work with the wider team to consider how our we evaluate and monitor the success of our project work and our wider influencing wins
· Represent National Voices at external events and conferences where required
Deliver on our communications work
· Work with the Communications and Events officer to help them develop engaging content that conveys National Voices messages to members, external stakeholders, and media to maximise the reach and impact of the organisation’s policy messages and funded project work
· With the support of Communications and Events Officer support media relations activity by drafting media statements, liaising with journalists and other media activity as required
· Manage the sign-off of relevant comms materials including social media, member newsletter, blogs, articles and media statements
· Liaise with senior external stakeholders such as from the Department of Health and Social Care, including attending relevant briefings, and supporting larger joint press activity with other stakeholders when required.
· Oversee management of comms and events calendar, which will be proactively compiled by the Policy and Communications officer, especially where there are conflicts or competing needs
· Along with other managers provide a second review of reports we produce including ensuring adherence to brand guidelines
General
- Take a pro-active approach to including our members and people with lived experience in all areas of our work.
- Support the senior team in identifying potential new members and funding opportunities where possible, as well as costing and drafting bids or supporting others to do so.
- Follow processes set out to measure, monitor and communicate the impact of our work.
- Support good project, financial and data management.
- Contribute to the team’s planning activities and undertake other relevant duties as appropriate.
- Deputise for other members of the team when needed.
- Be prepared to take part in full day events, including providing planning and support
- Be prepared to take part in events outside of core hours, when sufficient notice has been given
Person Specification
Values, attitudes and behaviours
- Passionate about National Voices’ mission and work.
- Proactive, flexible and responsive
- Comfortable working in a team, as well as under own initiative
- Calm under pressure and able to work to tight deadlines while maintaining accuracy.
- Committed to reducing inequality and embracing diversity.
- Comfortable with a range of views and perspectives and keen to make connections and build relationships.
- Willing and confident to assert views, constructively challenge others and receive constructive feedback.
Skills and abilities
- Excellent communication skills, including written and oral, including stakeholder engagement
- Demonstrable experience in delivering against a policy influencing agenda
- Able to synthesise complex information and present it in simple and impactful ways.
- Strong organisational and project management skills, including demonstrable ability to prioritise workload and maintain quality.
- Excellent people skills, able to work collaboratively and flexibly in a small, friendly team, and communicate and collaborate with a wide range of external stakeholders at all levels
- Experience in Identifying and developing funding opportunities, ideally including costing and drafting bids
- Ability to embed clear and reliable processes amongst a team of creative and busy people
- Strong IT skills including Microsoft Office programmes, CRM systems, online conference/meeting software and other programmes where required.
- Able to work well under pressure and to tight deadlines while maintaining attention to detail
- Previous line management experience is preferred
Our approach to hybrid working
We recognise the importance of coming together regularly, in-person, as a team, so we can share learnings and spend social time with each other. We also recognise that people need flexibility, and that homeworking enables focused work and can fit well in people’s lives.
We ask all staff to take part in pre-arranged team meetings which take place every six weeks in our office space. We also might ask you to meet in-person with members of your team from time to time, or to be available for face-to- face meetings with clients and partners where this enhances the work.
We assume that this would usually not amount to more than one day per fortnight for people who work full time. We are happy to discuss how this sits in your life. This can be agreed by your line manager.
Equality and Inclusion
As reflected in our Equality Action Plan, we are committed to being a truly diverse organisation. We want to ensure that our trustees, staff members, lived experience partners and volunteers come from a wide range of backgrounds, each bringing their own unique perspectives and experiences. We want to ensure that everyone feels heard and is fully able to participate and thrive.
We are committed to diversifying our team in order to broaden the insight and experiences we can draw on, and to do our work more credibly. So we strongly encourage people from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background, and people who live with health conditions or disability to apply. Our offices are fully accessible and we are an LGBT+ friendly employer. Men are currently underrepresented in our team so we would welcome applications from men and non-binary people.
We welcome applications from people who have been in contact with the criminal justice system. For some roles, you may be asked to undergo a basic or enhanced DBS check, but you will only be deemed ineligible for roles which relate to any offences on your criminal record.
We have a range of benefits in place to ensure everyone can thrive, for example:
· We are a Disability Confident employer
· We offer enhanced parental and sickness leave
· We offer flexible working wherever possible
· We provide our employees with an annual wellbeing allowance
· And much more
Application guidance
Please submit a cover letter along with a CV to apply.
Applications should be addressed to our Director of Policy and External Affairs, Sharon Brennan, and submitted through CharityJob.
Please apply by Monday the 5th May 2025
We will let you know the outcome of your application by Friday 9th May 2025
Interviews will be held on 22nd May 2025 on Teams
Please note, we will be blind shortlisting all applications, so we ask you not to include your name in your application.
If you are invited to interview, we will ask you about any reasonable adjustments you will need to be able to participate. We will share interview questions in advance of the interview. If you require any adjustments at any stage of your application, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Matthew Haslehurst Director of Finance and Operations
Please specify any access or other requirements of which we need to be aware for the online interview.
Thank you!
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About SafeLives
We are SafeLives, the UK-wide charity dedicated to ending domestic abuse, for everyone and for good.
Last year alone, 14,000 professionals received our training. Over 80,000 adults at risk of serious harm or murder and more than 100,000 children received support through dedicated multi-agency support designed by us and delivered with partners. In the last six years, over 4,000 perpetrators have been challenged and supported to change by interventions we created with partners, and that’s just the start.
Together we can end domestic abuse. Forever. For everyone.
About the role
As part of a team, this post will support the Policy, Public Affairs and Communications Manager to advance internal and external stakeholder communications and the development of, and public and political interest in, a more strategic approach to perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Hours: 37.5 hours per week.
Location: Bristol/London/remote, with occasional travel across UK.
About The Drive Partnership
The Drive Partnership, formed by Respect, SafeLives and Social Finance, is working to transform the national response to perpetrators of domestic abuse. We work to end domestic abuse and protect victims by disrupting, challenging, and changing the behaviour of those who are causing harm. Together we have developed the Drive Project to address a gap in work with high-harm, high-risk perpetrators of domestic abuse. We also work to advocate for systems and policy change- to develop sustainable, national systems that respond more effectively to all perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Benefits
- 34 days' holiday incl. public holidays
- Flexible working e.g. compressed hours
- Cycle to work scheme
- Eye care vouchers
- Pension scheme with 4% employer contribution
- Childcare vouchers
- Employee assistance programme
- Clinical supervision
- Holiday purchase scheme to buy up to an additional 5 days
- Enhanced family leave policies
- Enhanced sick pay
- Professional development fund
- Individual learning budget
- Restorative practice training
- Time off in lieu
If this challenge sounds as exciting to you as it does to us and you believe you have the qualities we have described, please take a look over the job description and submit a 500-word cover letter and CV.
Closing date: 9.00am on Monday 5th May 2025.
SafeLives is a committed provider of equal opportunities for all; please see our job description for full details.
No agencies, please.
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