The Communications Manager is an important role within this organisation, expected to take ownership of the communications function.

Role: Communications Manager
Salary Band: £28,000 - £43,374 (expected starting salary c. £32k)
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full Time
Location: Woodstock, Oxfordshire
Reporting to: Head of Policy and Communications
Responsible for: Digital Marketing Officer

About the Employer
Our client is a national charity with a vision for resilient, thriving, and inclusive rural communities. To achieve this, they support people in rural areas to set up and run a wide range of businesses that are genuinely owned by local communities, whereby members have equal and democratic control.

They are currently recruiting for two Communications positions, to join their growing team in Woodstock. The new Communications Manager and Digital Marketing Officer will take ownership of communications and work with the team to champion the community-ownership model as a way of promoting equity, diversity and inclusion in rural areas across the country.

In 2022 this charity launched a new and ambitious strategy, with a central ambition to grow the rural community-owned business network by 20% by 2026. The strategy also aims to extend the organisation's reach and to offer support in more places where the community-ownership model is currently under-utilised, or where there is less awareness of its potential benefit.

To support this ambition, they have sought to undertake a refresh of their brand and they are now working with a third-party agency to review what needs to change, to help the organisation’s brand be more accessible. The refresh also intends to consider how the charity can more effectively promote the impact and raise awareness of the community business movement across the UK.

About the Role
The new Communications Team will become brand ambassadors, and working with the Head of Policy and Communications will oversee the roll-out of the refreshed brand.

It is important that the charity's communications are representative of the diverse sector they represent and engages communities in all four UK nations. As a membership organisation, representing the “member-voice” is a priority for this organisation. The Communications Team will work closely with the Membership Team to ensure that the experiences, views, aspirations and operational impact of members are reflected in communications work.

You will receive direction from the Head of Communications and be supported by the Communications and Marketing Officer. The post holder will be responsible for leading the delivery of all external communications across a range of channels, including; public relations work, media engagement, and digital communications including website management, social media and email marketing.

About You
To be successful in the role, you will be enthusiastic about this charity's vision and the role of community-owned businesses in helping to achieve that. You will be an excellent communicator with a proven aptitude for building solid relationships with a range of stakeholders. You will have demonstrable experience of working in a communications environment. Your ability to think and act strategically will enable you to raise the profile of this organisation, attract new members and engage with existing members to promote the role of community businesses across the UK.

A team-oriented, collaborative individual, you will demonstrate your ability to engage at all levels, and to inspire confidence in team members. Adaptable and capable of working flexibly and sharing responsibility and accountability with a colleague. You will be able to make clear decisions under pressure, and manage a demanding workload, expectations and priorities to yield results.

Benefits this employer can offer employees:

• They operate a workplace pension scheme and currently contribute 5%
• 27 days’ paid holiday in addition to the 8 statutory bank holidays i.e. 35 days (pro rata)
• In addition to holiday entitlement, they offer an additional discretionary day’s leave on or around staff birthdays.
• They offer staff the opportunity to volunteer for up to 14 hours per annum within their working time.
• They operate a non-contributory life insurance scheme.
• This employer considers staff wellbeing and mental health to be very important and currently has 2 Mental health First Aiders (MHFAs)
• A generous annual training budget is developed based on individual, department and organisational needs.
• They have partnered with an Employee Assistance Programme to provide additional employee benefits.
• Good public transport links and the office has ample free on-site parking.

Closing date for applications: Monday 23rd October 2023, 17.00pm
Interview date: Interviews will be held during the week commencing 31 October 2023 at the company's offices in Oxfordshire or via video conference.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

To find out more information, please click the apply button. You will be taken to a simple CHM Recruit form and then redirected to complete your application for this position.

This employer is committed to the advancement of equality, diversity and inclusion. They seek to be a genuinely inclusive organisation by advancing equality, diversity and inclusion through their policies and practices. They therefore encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds.

Our client is a registered charity, and a company limited by guarantee.

No agencies please.