Senior Communications Officer

The organisation

Every year in the UK, around 100 children are diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive cancer that mostly affects children under five. Neuroblastoma UK is a small national charity dedicated to finding a cure for this life-threatening disease - and is seeking a talented Senior Communications Officer to help us raise awareness and profile. 

For 40 years, we’ve funded leading research to develop new, more effective and kinder treatments for children with neuroblastoma. You’ll be joining us at an exciting time for the charity as look to fund further research projects to help fight childhood cancer and save more young lives, and build our profile across the national media and social media channels, using the support of our celebrity patrons and families. 

The role

The Senior Communications Officer is responsible for press liaison, pitching in case studies and news stories about our research to the national press, building relationships with our celebrity patrons and families and creating content for our social media channels. A key part of the role is supporting the fundraising campaigns by helping to draft relevant copy for email campaigns and calls-to-action on social media. 

The charity has a small team, so everyone helps with thanking and banking, database management and administrative tasks. And this varied role gives plenty of scope to share creative ideas to develop our portfolio of community activities and challenge events, use your strong communication skills to support fundraisers and apply your excellent organisational skills to track impact and outcomes.

The role currently reports to a committed Board of Trustees, many of whom have a personal connection to the cause. 

We are happy to offer a balance of remote and office-based working. Staff receive a range of benefits including 30 days annual leave (exclusive of public/bank holidays), pension and training/development opportunities to help you achieve your full potential.

Responsibilities

• Developing and managing a communications strategy in support of key awareness raising events, fundraising campaigns, funded research, campaigning and family case studies.

• Writing, pitching and distributing press releases to the national media, building up relationships with key journalists.

• Working with the team to develop, maintain and deliver annual social media calendar     , developing engaging, impactful and relevant content, monitoring comments and engagements.

• Supporting the team in helping to produce email marketing copy for campaigns and in producing and maintaining content for the website.

• Monitoring research studies and progress so that results can be publicised in a timely way.

• Supporting delivery of a programme of events for the charity.

• Being the first port of call and liaison for media, families, supporters and potential supporters who get in touch with the charity via telephone, email and social media.

• Tracking, monitoring and evaluating impact of our media and social media activities and adapting accordingly.

• Supporting in duties outside of your specific team or department as required

Person Specification

• Demonstrable experience of communications and working with the media and social media channels.

• Microsoft Office skills – especially Excel

• Excellent organisational skills

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

• Experience of managing and delivering strategy

• Excellent attention to detail

• Able to work well alone and in a team

• Excellent phone manner

• Ability to deal with sensitive situations with empathy

• Happy and able to work autonomously

• Proactive in optimising existing processes to improve performance

• Proactive in looking for innovative opportunities for Neuroblastoma UK’s fundraising

• Sympathetic to the aims and values of Neuroblastoma UK

• Experience of working with a database – we use Beacon

• Proactive in looking for solutions to any barriers you may encounter - solution focused .

Application Instructions

Please submit CV and cover letter to apply for this role.
The cover letter should detail why you would like to work for Neuroblastoma UK and why you would be a good fit for the role.

If you have any questions, please get in touch.