Communications Officer

OVERVIEW

Recruitment: Feb/Mar 2020

Post: Full-time, 37.5 hrs p/w

Salary: £25—26.5k depending on experience (new NJC scale 19 -22)

Location: STEP Dungannon Office (but covering all STEP locations in Mid-Ulster)

Responsible to: STEP CEO

Tenure:   The post is offered initially as a fixed term post for two years. This post is not specific project funding dependent and offers the right candidate the opportunity to become part of the permanent core management team.

Closing date: Mon 2nd March 2020, interviews week beginning Mon 9th March 2020

What do we do?

STEP is a not for profit community development organisation based Mid Ulster working to build a peaceful, just, equitable and shared society. We have approx. 35 members of staff working in 4 offices across Mid-Ulster: Dungannon, Magherafelt, Cookstown & Coalisland.

STEP is providing a number of services and delivering a number of community and support projects across the Mid-Ulster area.

· Community Advice: Offering front line advice on general information and access to entitlements to specialist advice on debt, housing & immigration

· Social Enterprise: Interpreting & translation Services; room and event space hire at The Junction; Honesty Café - all providing income generation to supplement fund for support work

· Community Support: Providing assistance and support casework in issues around housing, risk of homelessness and family

· Strategic Engagement: Engagement with decision makers and statutory representatives to elevate the voice of service users

· Community Development: Development of project activity to promote participation including good relations PEACE activity, Saturday Language school

· Policy & Research: Representation of grassroots issues to influencers and key stakeholders to shape policy and legislation reforms

· Community Partnerships: Collaborative engagement with key stakeholders in developing and leading partnerships such as Stronger Together (network for organisations working with BME) and An Tearmann (traveller health & support). 

What will you have to do?

STEP has been working for the local community since 1997 and during that time there have been significant changes in the organisation’s service delivery, activities, stakeholders, size etc. Our communications officer will have a varied role in both the internal & external communications of STEP. With 4 offices and a staff of 35 plus, the communications officer will play a pivotal role in ensuring that all staff are aware of things that are happening within the company or external to the company that might affect their work. The communications officer will work across both STEP and STL (STEP’s income generating social enterprise company) with responsibility for spreading the word to the varied stakeholders about STEP (including STL) and its services, news and activities – this will encompass events, media relations, social media, promotional materials, networking and showcasing at external events. The role will require the individual to work on some of STEP’s partnership projects including the Stronger Together Network and input into its events and activities. The communications officer will be the gatekeeper for the STEP brand and reputation and manage all communication and marketing activities that will impact the organisation and its work. They will work closely with the SMT to develop communication plans and strategies and manage communications for STEP.

How will you do it?

The key duties of the Communications Officer will be:

Overall

• To assist in the development and implementation of a realistic and strategic communications plan
• To inform the CEO and relevant staff about any communications activity or activity needed
• To assist in make decisions concerning the allocation of marketing & communications budgets & resources
• To preserve and maintain the positive reputation, brand and identity of STEP
• To deliver all promotional/marketing activity at the highest possible standard
• To manage time & resources and ensure effective use of resources
• To monitor & evaluate the performance of activities carried out
• To work with the Business Development Manager in communication activities within STL and its social enterprises
• To keep abreast of STEP’S policies, procedures and activities and the community sector in Northern Ireland informing the team of any significant news
• To advise STEP SMT on good communication practice and providing solutions to communication issues or challenges  

Branding

• To safeguard the brand identity for the organisation (to include all promotional literature & activity) and continue implementation of new logo
• To assist in the development and update of STEP’s new website using the content management system to ensure the website is up-to-date
• To ensure that all internal & external literature follows the branding guidelines
• To make certain that all staff are aware of STEP’s brand identity and will not compromise this position outside of the organisation
• To identify opportunities to promote STEP as a brand and the various brands under the STEP umbrella including online opportunities
• To ensure that all social media posts are factually correct, non-abusive, neutral and do not compromise the reputation of the organisation
• To successfully utilise crisis communication skills and practices if required and assist the SMT in handling challenging communication situations

Publications

• To maintain and update all promotional literature regarding STEP as required and manage ordering of materials
• To design fliers/posters and other materials using Microsoft Publisher or other platforms as required and liaise with staff, designers, printers on any publications
• To assess the target market each piece of communication is aimed at and ensure appropriate placement and distribution
• To generate creative advertising as requested for media publications
• To produce and/or format and edit organisational reports or other external documents
• To monitor all outward communication to ensure that it complies with STEP branding guidelines and specific funder guidelines

Promotions & events

• To work closely with department managers to develop promotional campaigns & deliver these campaigns in the most effective & efficient way
• To undertake networking opportunities such as attending events on behalf of the organisation and making links with potential project partners and other key stakeholders
• To plan and manage PR events at relevant times during the year to publicise aspects of STEP’s services (arranging literature/invites/refreshments/press etc.)
• To initiate and develop good working relationships with local media and take advantage of media opportunities available in the local areas and across Northern Ireland
• To draft press articles/press releases & supply relevant background (information/photographs etc.) to the local and/or regional press when required
• To organise staff social/training/residential activities when necessary and organise leaving (or other occasion) gifts for staff
• Attend local community events (within or beyond normal working hours) to represent STEP
• Design, construct & format presentations as required by staff members

Internal communication

• To ensure effective communication practices within the organisation (both staff to staff and staff to external publics) and ensure that staff members communicate professionally with each other
• To make sure that staff follow the guidelines on email communication e.g. signatures and the use of headed paper, company logos etc.
• To work closely as part of the organisation team and ensure all staff are aware of all current promotional/marketing activities and that they are aware that all promotional materials should be passed by the Communications Officer before distribution or display in the offices
• To assess the flow of communication within departments/offices in the organisation and introduce improvements accordingly

Any other reasonable duties or requests

What will you need?

• You must hold a University degree level qualification in Communication (or similar) and have completed one continuous period of employment of 12 months in organisational communications work. Alternatively, you must demonstrate knowledge and practice equivalent to the qualification level and have three years’ experience in organisational communication;
• You must have high levels of IT skills and ability to work with Microsoft Packages, specifically PowerPoint & Outlook as well as Digital and Social Media Platforms such as Facebook & Twitter and skills in desktop publishing (e.g. Publisher)/production of marketing materials
• You should have the ability to manage projects from inception stage to evaluation stage and prioritise work with limited supervision and work successfully with external vendors/suppliers and stakeholders
• You should have excellent writing & editing skills and high level of ingenuity and creativity with a good understanding of internal communications
• You must have knowledge of / interest in social policy and promoting participation & social change
• You should have access to transport for the purposes of the role

How can you join us?

From experience, we have found that people can more easily tell their story in their own way. To apply for this job, we require three things:

1. Completion of the Personal Details, Expression of Interest, Equality & Monitoring Forms
2. A cover letter (By considering the job description, you might want to outline why you are attracted to this post/the organisation, how real experiences you have encountered in previous work make you the best person for the job, the skills you have acquired that will allow you to make a success of the position and anything else you feel relevant to in your application) – no more than 2 A4 pages
3. Your most recent CV (including qualifications and previous employment) – no more than 2 A4 pages

REQUEST THE PACK BY EMAILING [email protected]

Everything should be with us no later than 5pm on Monday 2nd of March and we will be scheduling interviews for the week commencing the 9th of March.

These should be emailed to [email protected] by the specified closing time and date or if sent by post, it must be in the Dungannon office (The Junction, 12 Beechvalley Way) by close of business on specified date.