Communications and Events Lead

Shape and execute the Centre’s communications strategy, and support our programme of events
‍IN A NUTSHELL
We are looking for a skilled communicator who can convey to diverse audiences our conviction that it is possible to achieve our mission to end homelessness within the United Kingdom by 2031. You will be motivated by our mission and able to communicate this fluently and flexibly. But you will understand that, to achieve this, we must break down the task into attainable steps and projects and communicate our work at every stage. You should be comfortable sharing what we can learn to hasten an end to homelessness through our work assembling and analysing evidence and data; through our programmes with local authorities to implement these; and through our work with strategic partners to build a movement committed to our shared goal of ending homelessness. You will be able to present complex issues in a clear and simple way. And you will be comfortable working in a learning culture and are willing to take risks and experiment to identify what works to end homelessness for good. You will also jointly run our events programme.
‍WHY IS THIS ROLE IMPORTANT FOR THE CENTRE’S WORK?
The Centre for Homelessness Impact is the UK’s What Works Centre for Homelessness. We want evidence to become the new normal in the homelessness sector, just as it is in public health and education. Evidence-led Communications and storytelling is central to our engagement, because the right words can make behaviour change engaging, help ideas stick and move people to action, whether inside an organisation or out in the world. We need someone who is an excellent communicator to drive our internal and external communications to help us bring evidence to life. And we need someone with the skills or experience to help to plan and implement impactful and engaging events that reach key stakeholders. You will be part of a small team with big ambitions, committed to working with others to achieve our goal.
‍WE’RE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO CAN:
Help to shape and implement an effective communications strategy for strengthening the Centre’s vision, championing evidence-led policy and practice in homelessness, and helping build the ‘what works’ movement in homelessness
Engage day-to-day in all the Centre’s internal and external communications channels, to ensure content is relevant, engaging and impactful for current and new audiences
Grow our audiences and collect data to show evidence of impact
Support the development of our events programme as a distinctive brand, whose hallmark is a combination of rigour and authority combined with a person-first lens of lived experience, by planning, delivering and executing varied and impactful online, in-person and hybrid events
Build and maintain relationships with external speakers, suppliers and stakeholders
‍RELEVANT EXPERIENCE AND BEHAVIOURS
You will:
Show experience in developing and implementing communications strategies and/or plans
Upload content to our organisation’s website, and other internal and external communications channels
Simplify the complex and communicate in a clear and inspiring way across a variety of media and have demonstrable experience of successfully working on several projects simultaneously, with close attention to detail
Help to manage the organisation’s social media calendar to ensure that we are publishing a variety of content across all our channels that represents all areas of our work
Create and manage our content pipeline ensuring that we are regularly communicating with our audience on our website and in our newsletters about our latest developments
Design a variety of multimedia assets and visuals to support the dissemination of our reports and policy papers and work with freelancers for more complex projects
Track the performance of our website, downloadable resources, newsletters and social media channels to gain further insight into our audiences and digital marketing performance
Help to plan, create and deliver our events programme including our flagship event, our Homelessness Impact Forum, develop tailored events for different audiences and track their impact by gathering feedback
Be committed to the aims of the Centre, and ensure the voices of people with experiences of homelessness inform all elements of our communications work
Nice to Have:
Experience of developing or implementing communications strategies in homelessness or related policy fields
Proficiency in Webflow, Google Suite or Mailchimp
Experience of using Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign or Canva, or willingness to learn
Experience of working with national, specialist and sector media to secure coverage for activities similar to our research and implementation work
Familiarity with audio visual (AV) and live streaming platforms for events
Experience of using Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Meta Business Suite, Twitter / ‘X’ and LinkedIn analytics‍
TERMS OF APPOINTMENT
Permanent role. Full and part-time considered.
Salary: £35,000 to £45,000 (pro rata if part-time) depending on experience.
Location: Flexible, remote or hybrid for London-based staff.
Staff outside London work remotely from home, and we offer a hybrid working environment for staff based within commuting distance of our central London offices, usually with at least two office-based days in an average week.
HOW TO APPLY
If you are interested in applying please send your CV and cover letter by an email via the button below detailing why you think you are qualified for this role and why you want to work at the Centre in up to two sides of A4.
We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, and particularly welcome applications from people with experiences of homelessness.
For a brief discussion about the role please contact Greg Hurst, Director of Communications and Public Engagement: greg@homelessnessimpact.org
‍We reserve the right to close applications at any point.
Deadline: Monday 15th January 2024, 12 noon
Interviews: Monday, Tuesday 22nd/23rd January 2024
Remote working/work at home options are available for this role.