External Communications Officer

Job Title:  External Communications Officer  

Reporting to: Senior External Communications Manager & Head of External Communications

Location: Central London office / hybrid working from home

Salary: £26k-£29k per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours: 37.5

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to join a multi-award-winning communications team and gain experience in a varied role at the cutting edge of the housing and care sector. 

Key responsibilities include leading on External Communications activity, developing and implementing a plan in line with the Communications & Marketing strategy, with a particular focus on press office and public affairs at a national and local level.

You will develop and maintain an effective press office function to build, promote and protect Anchor’s reputation in the national, local and specialist media, supporting our positioning as a leading provider of services for people in later life including handling proactive media requests and crafting responses to effectively manage any issues.   

A keen writer, your excellent communication skills will support the team and senior stakeholders across the business to develop press releases, case studies and news stories managing photoshoots and maintaining relationships with MPs and political stakeholders and develop social media content.

Organisation skills and efficiency are crucial to delivering in this fast-paced environment, which will also include being responsible for the day-to-day admin and general support for the External Communications team.   

You will have the opportunity to work on integrated campaigns which champion older people as well as collaborating with and bringing insights to the wider Communications and Marketing functions within the directorate on projects and new initiatives.

This role would suit a highly efficient and organised person, who can multi-task and support the varied activities within the External Communications team, operating within the wider Communications and Marketing Directorate.

About you

You need relevant and recent PR, communications and/or Public Affairs experience to apply for this role.

You will be educated to Degree level or equivalent through relevant training and/or experience and evidence of continued professional development.

The post holder must have excellent communication, writing and proof-reading skills and work well independently and as a team and be a self-starter. 

You will have experience in media relations and social media and awareness and practical application of the latest comms and PR trends and/or Public Affairs.

You will be an organised and independent individual who must be able to manage their own workload and keeping key stakeholders up to date as needed and be able to prioritise and manage multiple projects, issues and stakeholders at any one time.

About Us

Anchor began more than 60 years ago and today is England’s largest not-for-profit provider of housing and care for people in later life. 

It provides retirement housing to rent and to buy, retirement villages and residential care homes, including specialist dementia care. In total, Anchor serves more than 65,000 residents in 54,000 homes across almost 1,700 locations. Its residential care services employ the majority of the 10,000-strong workforce, providing services to residents at over 120 care homes.  

Anchor operates in more than 85% of local councils in England. 

At Anchor we know that quality services start with quality people. We work hard to be recognised as a leading employer and are committed to retaining and attracting the best in our industry.

We believe in values. We are Accountable, Respectful, Courageous and Honest. We believe our people should be proud of the work they do making a difference to society and our residents.

Anchor – a great place to work

Anchor is England’s largest not-for-profit providers of care and housing for older people. Our heartfelt ambition is to transform housing and care so everyone can have a home where they love living in later life.

We’re not-for-profit which means every penny we make or save is invested in the people who live with us, the places they live and the people who work here. That means a better standard of care and customer service, better wages, more investment in training and development and improved facilities.

A rewarding environment

From health and happiness to finance and your career, we’ll give you all the support you need.

Health & happiness

• Gym, fitness and wellbeing discounts
• Mental health support
• Flexible working options
• Access to online GP appointments

Finance

• Pension plan – contribute between 4% and 8% and we’ll match it or better
• Quick and easy pension transfer service
• Savings and financial advice, loans, free life assurance
• Discounts on shopping, holidays, phones, technology and more

Career

• Ongoing personal and professional development programme
• Leadership Pathways online learning resources
• Career progression and promotion opportunities

To see our full range of benefits, check out our dedicated being well website Please follow the link or copy and paste https://anchorbeingwell.co.uk/ into your browser 

Celebrating diversity, celebrating you

Anchor is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We aim to celebrate diversity and inclusion in all that we do, as we know that the more diverse our colleagues are, the better care and support we can give to our residents and each other.  

We are proud to have an LGBT+ group for our residents, and also Disability, LGBT+ and race and ethnicity colleague networks. These work to celebrate diversity, address concerns, review policy and practice and empower their members.  We also have an Inclusive Ambassador network to allow all colleagues to be part of promoting diversity and to be an ally to others.

We are a Gold Standard Inclusive Employer, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, Menopause Friendly and a signatory to the Care Leaver Covenant, HouseProud Pledge and Age Friendly Employer Pledge schemes.