The ms society jobs in belfast, northern ireland
Position: Press and Communications Officer
Hours: Part-Time, 12 hours per week
Contract: Permanent
Location: Office-based in Belfast with flexibility to work remotely
Salary: Starting from £9,045 (FTE £26,384) per annum, plus excellent benefits
Salary Band and Job Family: Band 1, Charity*
*you’ll start at the entry point salary of £9,045 (FTE £26,384) per annum, increasing to £9,611 (FTE £28,033) after 6 months service and satisfactory performance and to £10,176 (FTE £29,682) after a further 6 months.
About us
We make sure people living with MS are at the centre of everything we do. And it’s this commitment that unites us across the UK.
Our strategy is based on what people affected by MS have told us is important to them. It gives us a clear and determined focus.
Our work is based on the hopes and aspirations of our MS community. Together we campaign at all levels, fund ground-breaking research and provide award winning support and information.
Our people are our greatest asset and the key to our success. We offer a vibrant, progressive working environment where you'll be able to make a difference.
About this job
This is a great opportunity to join a dedicated team who are passionate about improving the lives of people with MS. We are looking for someone who is confident in navigating social media channels and has a proven track record in creating engaging content for a range of audiences.
The successful candidate will be supporting the development and delivery of our digital communications to increase our reach across Northern Ireland so you’ll need to have confidence navigating Meta Platforms and online graphic design tools such as Canva or similar.
You will be joining a busy team so communication skills and time management are crucial as well as an ability to spot opportunities and work on your own initiative with support from your manager and the wider Northern Ireland team. If this sounds like you we’d love to hear from you.
Closing date for applications: 9:00 am on Wednesday 14th May 2025
Interested?
PLEASE PRESS THE 'HOW TO APPLY' BUTTON FOR MORE INFORMATION.
Equal Opportunities
We particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities and or from ethnic minority backgrounds.
We’d be grateful if you downloaded and completed the equality and diversity monitoring form and submit it with your application.
Disability Confident Employer
We’re a Disability Confident Employer and we’re committed to promoting equality and diversity.
You can ask for reasonable adjustments as part of both our recruitment and new starter on-boarding processes.
If you need any help or adjustments to apply for this role, please contact us. You can also ask for the application materials to be sent to you in a different format. Such as for them to be sent to you by email or in a larger word format.
More about our employee benefits:
We have a wide range of employee benefits including (but not limited to):
Encouraging work life balance
- 38 days paid annual leave (including bank holidays), pro-rata for part-time
- More annual leave entitlement, based on length of employment
- Smart working options (with the opportunity to work remotely and find a smart working pattern that suits both you and us)
- Flexible working options
Caring for you and your family
- Generous sick pay entitlement
- More sick pay entitlement, based on length of employment
- Opportunity to buy and sell annual leave in each calendar year
- Free access to a GP virtually 24 hours a day/7 days a week allowing you unlimited advice, reassurance and where appropriate diagnosis
- Enhanced leave for new parents
- Free access to a confidential 24 hours a day/7 days a week helpline service for both you and your family with a specialist range of support and information
- Special leave options (such as up to 5 days paid leave for domestic or personal emergencies a year)
- 10 days paid disability leave a year, pro-rata for part-time
- 10 days paid carers’ leave a year, pro-rata for part-time
- Cycle to work scheme
- Death in service scheme
- New family-friendly benefits, including paid leave:
- In the event of miscarriage or still birth
- To support fertility treatments
- For antenatal appointments for both parents
Thinking about your finances
- Enhanced salary sacrifice pension scheme
- Discounted season ticket loan and interest-free emergency loans
- Give as you earn to support other charities of your choice before tax
- New employee portal including lifestyle savings vouchers and personal wellbeing
Enriching your life at work
- Personalised development plans with a wide range of training courses and opportunities to source additional training options with your line manager
- Yearly internal apprenticeship opportunities
- New, modern offices that embrace working together both in-person and remotely
- Various opportunities to influence how we internally operate (including surveys, and focus and committee groups)
- Active and supportive internal employee networking groups for collaboration and peer support
- 2 days paid leave a year for volunteering for MS Society activities during normal working hours (such as fundraising events, or campaigning in the local community)
- 2 days paid leave a year for volunteering with other charities during normal
Safeguarding
We’re committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of everyone who uses our services and we come into contact with.
This is regardless of Gender, Race, Disability, Sexual orientation, Religion or belief, Pregnancy, Gender reassignment.
We recognise our particular responsibility to make sure vulnerable adults and children are protected.
We have measures in place to protect everyone we come into contact with from abuse and maltreatment of all kinds.
Your right to work in the UK
You must have the right to work in the UK to work in paid employment with us. You’ll need to share documents showing you’re eligible to work in the UK if we offer you employment.
You can find the UK visas and permits granting you the right to work in the UK on the UK Government website. We currently don’t have a Sponsor Licence agreement with the Home Office and aren’t able to support you with your visa applications.
No agencies please.
Registered Charity
101 - 500
To fund world-leading research, share the latest information and campaign for everyone's rights. Together we are a community. Together we can stop MS
Thank you!
Introduction to TDS
TDS is a not-for-profit organisation with a clear social purpose: to raise standards in the private rented sector. Established to create a fairer and more professional rental market by protecting deposits and resolving deposit disputes, TDS has since expanded its mission. Today, we invest in a range of additional services and initiatives that further our commitment to improving the sector.
Key initiatives relevant to this role include:
- Developing an influential research programme to ensure that laws and regulations are informed by robust evidence.
- Funding a range of projects and organisations through our two independent charities.
- Leveraging our direct communication channels with millions of tenants, landlords, and letting agents to educate and inform all parties.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Key initiatives relevant to this role include:
- Developing an influential research programme to ensure that laws and regulations are informed by robust evidence.
- Funding a range of projects and organisations through our two independent charities.
- Leveraging our direct communication channels with millions of tenants, landlords, and letting agents to educate and inform all parties.
Introduction to the Role
We are looking for a Research and Policy Officer (Maternity Cover) to join our expanding Policy and Research department, which also oversees the TDS Charitable Foundation. This is a pivotal role supporting our mission to improve standards in the private rented sector through impactful research, thought leadership, and policy engagement.
The successful candidate will play a key part in delivering our research programme, including overseeing flagship projects like the Voice of the Tenant and Voice of the Landlord surveys, and producing high-quality qualitative and quantitative research.
You will also support the smooth running of the Charitable Foundation’s grant-making and governance activities and contribute to our work influencing policy and practice across the UK’s private rented sector.
This is a great opportunity for someone passionate about housing, with a solid grounding in research and an interest in policy, to join a values-driven organisation delivering real-world impact.
PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Research
1. Collaborate with external research contractors to deliver the regular ‘Voice of the Tenant’ and ‘Voice of the Landlord’ Survey.
2. Ensure the research findings are widely disseminated through different channels, including events, publications, briefings and digital content.
3. Help identify research gaps and contribute to the development execution of new research projects or commissioning of external research.
4. Conduct proactive desk-based research to identify emerging trends, new policy developments, and partnership opportunities relevant to the Foundation and the sector.
5. Undertake in-house research activities, such as literature reviews, focus groups, stakeholder interviews, where required.
6. Contribute to the drafting and production of high-quality research reports and briefings, ensuring clarity, accessibility, and relevance for policy and practice audiences.
Policy
7. Monitor and analyse relevant legislative and regulatory developments, consultations, and debates, identifying implications for the sector and TDS’s work.
8. Support the development of TDS’s policy positions by preparing briefings, drafting responses to consultations, and summarising evidence from research.
9. Help communicate TDS’s policy insights and positions clearly and effectively to internal stakeholders, partners, and decision-makers.
Charity co-ordination
10. Act as a key point of contact for grant-funded projects, supporting projects to share progress and impact, and identify any support needs.
11. Help to Coordinate the TDS Charitable Foundation’s quarterly Board of Trustee meetings, including preparing board papers, taking minutes, and following up on actions.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential characteristics
1. Qualifications and experience
Essential:
- Educated to degree level in a relevant subject.
- At least 3 years’ experience in research, social policy or similar role (or equivalent post-graduate study).
- Knowledge of research design
- Proven track record of producing content to communicate to different audiences.
- Experience of building relationships with external stakeholders.
Desirable:
- Knowledge of the housing sector or charitable work.
2. Job Knowledge
Must be able to:
- Demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Show an ability to build relationships with stakeholders.
- Demonstrate organisational skills to help coordinate multiple projects.
- Utilise strong IT skills including sound knowledge of MS Office.
- Prove ability to write content for different audiences.
3. Communication
Must be able to:
- Work as part of a team;
- Have good interpersonal skills, communicating effectively with colleagues, funded projects and other stakeholders.
4. Equal Opportunities
- Must be able to demonstrate a commitment to equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion.
5. Required behaviour and attitude
- Applicants must be able to:
- demonstrate an affinity for customer excellence
- recognise the importance of fairness in all of our work
- demonstrate how they are making a difference in the work that they do
- is able to articulate the importance of teamwork
- are committed to excellence in all that we do;
- help create a great place to work.
TDS offers a plethora of benefits inclusive of:
- 33 days holiday inc bank holidays
- BUPA Private healthcare
- BUPA Wellbeing cash plan
- Pension Scheme
- Additional day off for your birthday
- Plus many more!
Hours of the role
35 hours per week. Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
To apply, please submit your CV and a covering letting outlining how your skills and experience match the person specification.
TDS is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion in our workforce and to be truly representative of all sections of society and our customers.
Registered Charity
101 - 500
Help tenants, landlords, and agents deal with deposit protection and dispute resolution as quickly and easily as possible.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Elrha is a global organisation that finds solutions to complex humanitarian problems through research and innovation. We are looking for a Senior Innovation Manager (Scale) to join our Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF) team on a fixed-term contract until 31 March 2026.
In this role you will ensure high-quality, impactful innovation delivery while positioning Elrha as a global leader in humanitarian innovation. You will be responsible for the provision of strategic technical insights in the design and delivery of focused innovation initiatives and drive the strategic development and integration of innovation methods across our work.
If you have substantial experience in innovation delivery and practice, with a focus on impact, we are keen to hear from you. We welcome applicants with development, social and humanitarian innovation experience.
Your application will need to demonstrate:
- Substantial experience in innovation delivery and practice roles, including leading the design and delivery of innovation programmes with a focus on impact at scale.
- Deep technical knowledge of innovation theory and practice, specially including the area of scaling of innovation
- Proven understanding of the humanitarian and/or development system, including the challenges and key stakeholders within the sector(s)
- Excellent representation skills, including extensive experience facilitating workshops, speaking at events/meetings, and communicating effectively in a range of formats
- Track record of published research, guidance and tools on innovation theory and practice (academic and/or grey literature)
- An interest in the humanitarian or development sectors, ideally demonstrated through academic qualifications and/or paid or voluntary work.
Experience of working with grant making processes and systems would also be an advantage.
If you want to be part of an organisation that creates positive change in the humanitarian sector, then join us and we'll give you every opportunity to succeed.
We offer:
- Remote working as standard – staff can access office bases in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Manchester if required/ appropriate. We expect staff to attend team meetings and away days in person as required.
- As standard we work 35 hours per week. We are also happy to discuss flexible working patterns and many of our staff work non-standard working hours.
- Our benefits include minimum 5% employer pension contribution (3% employee contribution), life cover, organisational sick pay, family friendly pay and leave schemes; 26-day basic annual leave entitlement with incremental increase depending on length of service (plus bank holidays), opportunities for learning and development, a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and retail discounts platform.
- Please read through the Information for Candidates document for further information about working at Elrha including information about Our Values, Strategy, Benefits and Salaries.
Note for applicants:
- Candidates must have the independent right to work in UK, and be resident in the UK, at the time of appointment as we are unable to support visa sponsorship for this role.
- Please read through the job description for a detailed list of requirements, and ensure you complete the personal statement to explain how you feel you meet the requirements of the role and why you feel this is next career move for you. Applications without this information will not be shortlisted.
- Elrha is an independent subsidiary of SCUK and benefits from some SCUK systems and processes.
- We reserve the right to close the advert early should we receive a very high volume of applications.
- We do not use recruitment agencies.
Closing date: 11:59am Thursday 8 May 2025
Interview date: Thursday 22 May 2025
Registered Charity
21 - 50
A global organisation that finds solutions to complex humanitarian problems through research and innovation.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.