Regional Media Officer

Location: Hybrid working in the UK (travel to London office and occasional national travel necessary)

Responsible to: Head of Communications

Salary: £39,000 per annum

Contract type: Full-time, 37 hours a week

Closing date: Sunday 04 February 2024 at 23:59

Interviews: We will be interviewing on a rolling basis, so please apply as soon as possible

Who we are

Speakers for Schools is the largest social mobility charity in the UK. We help to level the playing field between state and independent schools by giving all young people access to the same prestigious networks available to the top fee-paying schools.

We believe that by inspiring young people to explore their ambitions through our speaker programme, facilitating access to multi-day experiences of the world of work, and supporting young people to successfully seize opportunities available to them, then we can make a profound difference to the lives of young people, their future happiness and prosperity.

By 2028, our ambition is that every young person in the UK has access to high quality work experience. Yet today, less than half of young people leave secondary school having had any work experience whatsoever.

Role Summary

The Marketing and Communications (Marcomms) Directorate helps create demand from schools to engage in work experience and helps to increase the supply of employers that are able and willing to provide high quality placements. Through press and media activity, we raise the profile of our programmatic activity[DW1]  and we support the Policy, Research and Impact Directorate to remove system level barriers to success, by shining a light on issues and helping the charity become a trusted and influential voice on issues of social mobility in the UK.

As our Press Officer, you will be responsible for securing media coverage, both proactive and reactive, raising the profile of Speakers for Schools amongst other schools and employers, and helping the charity become a leading voice on issues of social mobility in the UK. You will be confident in working on your own initiative and managing day to day priorities independently.

Key Duties / Responsibilities:

Strategic Purpose

• Increase organisational profile by positioning Speakers for Schools as a ‘turn-to’ commentator on issues related to social mobility
• Develop stories that highlight and drive interest in our programmatic offering
• Respond to press enquiries received by telephone and email, acting as a guardian of the charity’s reputation by providing professional, articulate and appropriate responses in a timely manner
• Devise and implement creative PR plans to promote key charity research & policy stories, events, projects and partnerships, using a broad range of communications tools and channels 

Engagement

• Work with the Policy, Research and Impact Team to further hone process and practice, to ensure accuracy, interest and timeliness of responses to media enquiries
• Build effective relationships with media contacts and journalists, and awareness of particular media interests
• Engage with colleagues across the charity, building highly effective relationships with the CEO, Directors and their teams, providing support with media opportunities and public facing messages
• Work with the Social Media and Content Manager to create engaging content that stimulates conversation in relation to our PR strategy

Delivery

• Generate content in respect of press releases, biographies, coverage for events, briefing notes, articles, speeches and other drafting, as appropriate.
• Produce high quality press releases with accuracy, succinctness and speed
• Manage the monitoring, dissemination and evaluation of media coverage, including dissemination of daily and weekly news summaries

 For the full list of responsibilities please see job description attached.

Skills / Experience / Knowledge:

Essential:

• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written
• Ability to interpret technical information for a wider audience
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills
• Experience of building and maintaining journalist relationships
• Experience of building media strategies around PR moments
• Experience of using journalist databases and media monitoring platforms
• Can work to tight deadlines when pressing items need to be delivered.
• Experience of managing a complex workload
• Prior experience of working in a press office

Desirable

• Experience of writing articles and thought leadership pieces
• Experience of media training spokespeople
• Knowledge of education and social mobility sectors
• Experience with social media/creating content

Diversity at our core

Speakers for schools is committed to an inclusive and accessible recruitment process and encouraging equality and diversity among our workforces. As a Disability Confident Employer, we acknowledge that some candidates may require additional support to overcome barriers experienced during the application process. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview, please reach out to us.

The Application Process:

Please apply as soon as possible by submitting your application through our recruitment portal here.

The deadline to submit your application is Sunday 04 February at 23:59. Please note that we reserve the right to close this advertisement early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications

We will be interviewing on a rolling basis, so please apply as soon as possible.

Speakers for Schools is committed to safeguarding the young people we work with and expects all staff members to share this commitment. Appointees are subject to a DBS check. Having a criminal record will not automatically exclude applicants. You are also required to have the Right to Work in the UK for this role.

If you have not heard from us two weeks after the closing date, please presume your application has been unsuccessful.  

Benefits offered at Speakers for Schools:

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Morning of your birthday off
• Pension scheme
• 3 voluntary days per year
• Wellbeing programme
• Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption package
• Subsidised office furniture
• Perkbox
• £500 a year training allowance