Senior press officer jobs in bath, bath and north east somerset
We are seeking a compassionate, visionary, and strategic Chief Executive Officer to lead Mermaids through the next stage of its evolution, dedicated to improving the lives of gender-diverse children and young people, and those who are important to them. As CEO, you will be responsible for driving the charity’s mission, shaping its strategic direction, and ensuring the delivery of high-quality, affirming support services. You will act as a visible and credible advocate for trans and
gender-diverse youth, build strong relationships with stakeholders, and influence public policy and sector practice. Working closely with the Board of Trustees, you will oversee a small committed team, ensure robust financial management with the Chief Operating Officer, and lead fundraising efforts to secure a sustainable future. This is a unique opportunity for a values-driven leader who brings both strategic acumen and a deep commitment to equity, inclusion, and lived
experience.
Service Delivery:
• Provide strategic and operational leadership across all service delivery areas, including support line services, group work, advocacy, external communications, and policy.
• Ensure services are high quality, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of trans and gender-diverse children, young people and the special people in their lives.
• Lead the continuous improvement and development of service delivery models, ensuring impact, effectiveness, and alignment with the charity’s mission.
• Champion a culture of safeguarding, accountability, and young person-centred practice throughout all service delivery.
• Act as the organisation’s Safeguarding Lead, with oversight of on-call, safeguarding training, and ensuring appropriate escalation mechanisms are in place.
• Oversee the design and implementation of advocacy and policy activities, ensuring the charity’s voice is informed by lived
experience and is impactful at local and national levels.
• Act as a visible and hands-on leader for frontline teams, providing support, supervision, and inspiration to staff and
volunteers.
• Monitor performance, outcomes, and feedback to ensure services are meeting objectives and delivering positive change
for beneficiaries.
Governance:
• In partnership with the board of trustees, set and articulate our vision, mission and strategy, and keep this under continual
review.
• Lead the development and implementation of Mermaid’s strategic plan, ensuring sustainability and growth.
• Liaise with the board of trustees to ensure the charity’s governance, structure, policies and procedures are appropriate
and effective, taking remedial measures and implementing change as necessary. This includes supporting board
development.
• Work closely with the Chair and Board of Trustees to support strong governance and informed decision-making.
• Provide accurate and timely reporting on organisational performance, risks, and impact.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory guidance and legislation, including the Charity Commission and the Fundraising
Finance & Fundraising:
• Working with the Chief Operating Officer and the Board of Trustees, ensure Mermaids has robust, deliverable fundraising
and finance strategies in place, and subsequent action plans are embedded throughout the organisation to support their
delivery.
• In partnership with the Chief Operating Officer, ensure Mermaids has robust finance, HR, IT, data privacy and governance processes and procedures are embedded.
People and Culture:
• Line manage senior staff including the COO and service delivery managers.
• Foster a positive, collaborative, inclusive internal culture that values lived experience and wellbeing.
• Continue work to embed a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion across the organisation, as well as a focus on accessibility.
• Work to define and drive trans-centred leadership across the organisation, including ensuring that the organisation is a trans-positive, supportive employer.
External Engagement and Advocacy:
• Represent Mermaids publicly, including acting as the key spokesperson and strategic policy stakeholder, ensuring
organisational awareness of the external landscape and the changing needs of trans children, young people and their
families, and advocating for these needs to be met.
• Lead communications strategy, and lead press engagement by responding to media inquiries, interviews, press conferences and media events.
• Lead on stakeholder engagement, including with funders, supporters, community partners, and policy influencers.
• Advocate for the rights and needs of trans and gender-diverse children, young people and the significant others in their lives at a national level.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Director of Development (Part time)
£70K FTE, 2 year fixed-term contract, 1 day per week
We are looking for a senior philanthropy professional with a strong interest in music and a proven track record in growing and building high level funding relationships, to work part time to build and engage a committed network of major individual donors to fund the long-term sustainability of La Nuova Musica (LNM) and fulfilment of its creative vision.
Welcome from the CEO
La Nuova Musica is a leading ensemble in its chosen field of music from the 17th and 18th centuries with a focus on the voice. This is a unique opportunity to shape future opportunities for LNM. You will be joining us at a pivotal time as the orchestra builds on its current success with a board that is fully engaged and eager to establish a professional, strategic approach to philanthropy. LNM deeply values the role of philanthropy, particularly as public funding is highly constrained.
You will have the full backing of the CEO, the Board and the Artistic Director who are ready to work closely with you to build and steward transformative philanthropic relationships that align with our artistic and strategic ambitions.
You will also have access to an influential network and be introduced to and collaborate with our most senior philanthropic supporters. While the number of supporters is currently small, they are among the most respected and well-connected individuals in the arts.
We believe that this is a rare opportunity to make a lasting impact and, while our philanthropic foundations are still developing, they are promising. The Board understands that meaningful, long-term philanthropic growth requires time, trust, and strategic investment—and they are committed to supporting you on that journey.
About La Nuova Musica
La Nuova Musica is an early music ensemble led by its founder and Artistic Director, David Bates, and known for spirited performances that receive widespread acclaim from audiences and five-star reviews from the press.
“If anyone can be relied on to make Baroque music sound newly hatched, it’s the aptly named La Nuova Musica. They dust out the tiniest corners of phrasing and embellish the music so that it sounds more dizzy with life than you’ve ever heard before”. The Times
LNM appears regularly at the Wigmore Hall, St Martin in the Fields, the London Handel Festival as well as festivals around the UK. They made their BBC Proms debut in 2022 with a performance of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas described as “a superbly evocative night” in The Times and “a musical tour de force” in Opera Today. In 2024 they appeared for the first time at the Grange Festival in a series of performances of Monteverdi’s opera, The Coronation of Poppea, hailed by Opera Today as “truly a five-star production, and easily one of the best interpretations of Monteverdi or a Baroque opera I have seen.'
LNM has also appeared in concert halls and festivals across Europe including the Handel Festival Halle, La Seine Musicale Paris, the Göttingen International Handel Festival, the Salzburg Festival, the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, and the Steffani Festival in Hanover.
Their reputation is enhanced by a series of award-winning recordings for Pentatone and Harmonia Mundi. Their latest recording of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas was selected as one of two opera recordings for the prestigious Abbiata award in Italy, alongside a recording of Katya Kabanova conducted by Simon Rattle with the LSO. It was one of Gramophone’s recordings of the year and BBC R3’s CD Review chose it as their Recording of the Week. “the way it zings off the page bristling with dramatic life and energy from the first bars, and with a range of voices and imaginative instrumental accompaniment, fills it with incident and colour”.BBC Radio 3.
An earlier release, Handel’s Unsung Heroes, was selected by BBC Music Magazine as their Recording of the Month and awarded 5 stars as “a stunning collection of Handel opera numbers. For originality, risk-taking and erudition, it towers above its predecessors. The project is a heroic achievement for all involved.”
La Nuova Musica’s strategic goals
We are bursting with ideas and feel we have so much more that we want to achieve. We perform regularly at the Wigmore Hall in London and are in the process of establishing a presence in Salisbury (David Bates’ hometown) and in Oxford, where we are working with an excellent chamber choir of young amateur singers, Schola Cantorum. By giving the same concert in all these cities, we make best use of our artistic and financial resources at the same time as broadening our reach.
We also aim to deliver new strands of activity. One is relaxed concerts for anyone who needs an informal setting to enjoy our performances. The other offers high quality professional experience to singers and players from the modern instrument world in understanding baroque and early classical music. This is important for several reasons, not least to build and strengthen the UK pool of musicians for the future to preserve this repertoire.
We receive no public funding and are only able to continue thanks to the support of generous individuals who love what we do and want us to do more. As is the case in our sector, ticket sales do not cover the cost of performances. We also need to pay our administrative team for any activity to take place at all. We currently operate thanks to a small but highly experienced and committed team who work remotely, at significantly reduced rates, because of their belief in David Bates and La Nuova Musica. To achieve our vision, we need to secure ongoing funding for core running costs (approximately £120k per year) as well as additional funding for specific artistic projects and other activity (approximately £120k per year, though this will vary from year to year).
Thanks to the fantastic support of generous individuals, LNM can engage with some ambitious projects such as Handel’s Giustino, our first co-production with the Royal Ballet and Opera which takes place in October 2025. We have successfully raised the money required for this and can now put in place some important and ambitious projects for the next three years.
These include:
·Promoting two concerts each year in St Martin in the Fields, which entails risk on a larger scale than the Wigmore Hall where we are engaged (paid) to perform. (£15k p.a.)
·Developing further our work in Salisbury with two annual concerts which feed off our regular series in the Wigmore Hall and St Martin in the Fields. (£12k p.a.)
·Developing our relationships in Oxford along the lines of Salisbury (see above) (12k p.a.)
·Developing a relaxed concert strand where performances are specially prepared and delivered to suit anyone who needs an informal setting to enjoy our performances. (10k per run of events)
·Grow existing strands of work which provide experience for amateur singers, young professional singers and players in informed baroque and early classical performances. (15k per run of events)
·Recording some of our best work to act as a calling card with promoters and the public. (£40- 50k per recording)
·Build on our existing work to make and keep early music relevant, thus protecting its cultural heritage, by commissioning new work for the ensemble which combines the sounds and techniques of early music with that of living composers. (£15-20k per commission)
The Role
Role Dimensions
·To deliver excellence in supporter stewardship, building commitment and increasing funding and support from current LNM major individual supporters
·To research and lead a prospect pipeline for new five and six figure multi-year commitments
·To design and execute special high-level events for prospect/donor cultivation and development
·To develop and write compelling propositions for key trusts and foundations
·To ensure all fundraising is conducted as per the Codes of Fundraising Practice and other regulatory guidelines
Essential Experience and Skills
oProven delivery performance at a significant giving level, both individually and leading others to achieve (including Trustees and senior leadership)
oAbility to build long term HNW relationships, alongside several personal skills including being persuasive, receptive, inquisitive, dynamic, politically savvy and inspirational
oProven experience of building and leading excellent donor stewardship programmes at a senior level, including high level implementation of special events, and proposition development for trust and foundations
oUnderstanding and knowledge of key fundraising regulations with experience of implementing process and systems required to deliver best practice.
Reporting Structures
The Director of Development is a member of the senior management team and will report to the CEO John Summers, whilst working closely with the Artistic Director, David Bates, and Finance Director, Val Hawkin.
The entire team work remotely and meet up on-line and in person when required.
The Director of Development line manages a part time administrator (Job Description available on request)
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Who we're looking for
Brilliant storyteller with confidence in their digital marketing, copywriting and PR skills.
Changemaker who is excited about embedding and championing our new brand.
Motivated communicator who will improve engagement with our stakeholders.
Creative leader who enjoys a proactive and responsive environment.
Impact and evidence champion to influence target audiences, raise awareness and garner support.
Values-led collaborator who will build strong relationships with our team, members and strategic partners.
Our focus is on creating libraries of tomorrow with children and young people today.
We want all children and young people to feel at home at the library, to be understood, empowered and inspired. Our collaborative network is made up of member, partners and supporters. We believe in the need for safe spaces and real-life connections to support the demands of modern life. Together, we’re creating change, and you can be a part of it.
Our charity is going through a rebirth, with a new name, strategy and brand identity launching this autumn. This is a pivotal time for a passionate, skilled communicator to join our team. We’re looking for someone to bring the energy and expertise to take us into this new chapter and to new heights, maximising impact and reach.
We are an Arts Council England Investment Principles Support Organisation. Our members are leaders in children and young people’s public libraries and schools library services (SLS).
What’s important to us needs to be important to you too. We want to focus on impact, to work openly, to collaborate with and learn from others, to take the time to care for ourselves and each other, and to have fun together. We want to build an environmentally sustainable charity, and we want to be celebrated as an inclusion changemaker in the sector.
Experience as a communications professional is essential and you’ll be energised by the opportunity to:
- Raise our profile higher within the sector.
- Raise awareness of the range of activities and impacts libraries deliver for children and young people through research, evidence and compelling communication.
- Develop, manage and deliver targeted advocacy for public libraries and schools library services.
- Maintain and cultivate proactive relationships with advocacy and influencing partners to ensure children and young people are always represented in national policy discussions.
- Embed and champion a strong brand, which supports our members and resonates with new stakeholders to ensure we are the ‘go to partner’ for children and young people’s libraries.
- Maximise our use of existing and new research and data to evidence the impact of library services for children and young people’s and schools library services.
- Promote the sector-leading work of our charity, grow our membership and develop new and innovative ways to increase our reach and engagement.
- Develop a strong case for support to attract new funders and supporters.
We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process and we’ll endeavour to be as accommodating as possible. If you would like to discuss specific requirements, please get in touch.
Further information including the role description and application form is available on our website.
Registered Charity
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Creating libraries of tomorrow with children and young people today.