Department: Fundraising Engagement
Appointment Type: Permanent
Full Time/Part Time: Full time
Hours per week: 37.5
Flexible working options: Compressed hours, Flexi-time, Flexi-place
Full-time Salary: Circa £39,000 (Grade 6)
Closing Date: 14/07/2024
Job Summary
We are a multi-award winning, creative and innovative charity, with high ambition in the fundraising and communications arena. We are recruiting for a PR Manager who will be is responsible for engaging with traditional, new, and niche media, across campaign areas including music, art, gaming and sport, and devising PR plans that support these and other fundraising and advocacy goals.
You will play a leading role in planning and executing the PR communications activities for War Child UK, as well as overseeing superb content development that supports PR activities. You will also play an important part in executing our brand narrative around children affected by conflict and how War Child are supporting them with power and impact.
Your Role
The PR Manager is responsible for developing and leading highly impactful media strategies to support our priority objectives of raising income and advocating for change. You’ll ensure that we enhance our profile, reputation, influence and brand narrative in our approach to our communications work.
The PR Manager will work with teams across the Fundraising and Engagement Department and the wider organisation to maximise the potential of our PR engagement within and outside of specific campaigns. You will have responsibility to ensure that our PR content is impactful, distinctive, emotive and drives supporters to donate and take action.
It will also be your responsibility is to advise, shape and plan PR activities for maximum impact and benefit. You will also be responsible for implementing them either directly or through external support.
Alongside supporting our fundraising and marketing activities you will play an important role in War Child’s UK advocacy goals, alongside your colleagues in the team.
Your Responsibilities
- Develop, manage and lead proactive media strategies that promote War Child’s PR campaigns across music, art, gaming and sport, such as Day of the Girl, Secret 7, Sound and Vision, Jingle Jam, Brits Week (among others) and ensure that these PR elements are effectively integrated into wider marketing and communications plans.
- Secure media coverage that helps mobilise the public to raise money or take action to support us. This includes developing and leading media partnerships that enhance our profile and coverage in pursuit of advocacy and fundraising goals.
- Provide expert advice and insights to the Head of Communications and Campaigns, the Fundraising Engagement Director, CEO and other senior people within War Child UK on how to manage communications in a crisis, ensuring our internal protocols follow best practice and that all relevant internal stakeholders know how to follow them.
- Ensure we have a robust set of media KPI’s and the means to capture data, track, monitor and report on media performance using our media database.
- Manage the press office to ensure that journalists are engaged with promptly and professionally in a way that enhances our reputation as an effective and trusted media operation.
- Provide expert strategic advice across the organisation on the best routes and angles to secure impactful media coverage and to identify and respond to media opportunities.
- To write, edit, commission and disseminate press-releases, op-eds, statements and other content to secure coverage of War Child across print, broadcast, and online media.
- Build, lead and maintain strong relationships with journalists across a range of priority target media outlets and publications that help secure coverage for our goals – including through managing and overseeing press trips.
- To work with colleagues at War Child Alliance and Member Countries to implement UK elements of international media campaigns, as well as engage with them to devise and share content and messaging that supports our advocacy and fundraising efforts.
- Ensure that War Child is positioned as the leading, expert and influential voice on issues relating to children in conflict by increasing our footprint across target media outlets – including mainstream press and broadcast – as well as on influential online news sites and communities, sector-leading websites and blogs.
- Maintain strong oversight of the news agenda and identify trends, opportunities and threats for War Child’s media and other objectives.
- Developing our press infrastructure and capacity to enable us to quickly and effectively respond to relevant news stories as they evolve, and to comprehensively monitor our own coverage and reach and to report periodically on coverage.
- Contribute to creating a culture committed to the safeguarding of children and adults and compliant to WCUK’s Child Safeguarding and Adults at Risk Policies.
These duties provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a definitive list. Other reasonable duties may be required consistent with the grade of the post.
You Are
- An experienced media professional, with a track record of developing, leading and managing creative PR campaigns related to music, art, gaming or other creative sectors.
- A demonstrable record of strategically identifying target journalists and outlets and successfully placing coverage – both mainstream and niche – that reach priority audiences.
- Experience of developing media partnerships with online outlets, magazines newspapers, broadcast media and able to navigate these relationships to ensure the best possible outcomes for War Child.
- Well connected with strong and strategic media contacts, preferably with journalists and outlets who specialise in music, art, gaming or other creative fields.
- Experienced in developing and commissioning content, ideally with experience of effective storage, management, editing and production of such content for PR purposes.
- Experienced in developing press angles and hooks that achieve cut-through for campaigns related to music, art, gaming or other creative fields in a competitive media landscape.
- Able to manage and prioritise multiple tasks and requests and respond flexibly as urgency requires – whilst consistently meetings deadlines and delivering agreed outputs.
- Already has or would welcome quickly developing an understanding of the sensitivities involved in media work when it comes to vulnerable children and young people, and how to balance objectives with safeguarding obligations.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with a high degree of emotional intelligence to deal with a variety and internal and external stakeholders and the ability to build effective working relationships at all levels.
- Excellent writer with experience writing and editing press releases, op-eds, blogs, statements and media plans.
Up to date knowledge of fundraising regulation and GDPR, and its implications within PR and communications. - The willingness to learn or have a track record of engaging with media outlets on communications related to policy or advocacy issues (desirable).
Our Values
- Bold: We use our passion and creativity to deliver high quality evidence-based work designed to maximise our beneficial impact for children in conflict.
- Accountable to children: Children can rely on us to respond to their voices and to treat them with respect and dignity.
- Anti-racism: Anti-racism is not merely a belief. It includes actions that we mainstream throughout our work to change and challenge policies and behaviours that perpetuate racism.
- Transparent: We expect to be held to account by our supporters and participants and we respond with openness and honesty.
- Supportive of each other: We support each other to achieve ambitious goals and be the best we can be. We are honest and open, sharing our successes & confronting our challenges.
Our Benefits
- Flexible working – we recognise the considerable benefits that flexible working can bring and are happy to discuss any possible flexible working options with our employees from hiring. For most roles, the following types of flexibility are usually possible: flexible hours, occasional working from home and compressed hours.
- Annual leave – 28 days per year (full-time) rising to 33 days with service, plus bank holidays
- Pension – all eligible employees automatically enrolled into a Group Personal Pension Plan with a 5% employer contribution, with minimum employee contribution on a salary sacrifice basis
- Family leave – we offer enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption & shared parental leave
- Health & wellbeing – employees may take advantage of a healthcare cash plan and a range of wellbeing initiatives and training. In addition, all employees have access to free, confidential one-to-one wellbeing consultations with trained counsellors.
- Learning & development – dedicated to the investment in learning and continuing professional development for all our employees
- Workplace Nursery Benefit – employees make tax and NI savings on nursery costs for children up to the age of 5
- Range of flexible benefits such a Cycle to Work scheme and season ticket loans.
Flexible Working
We positively support flexible working arrangements. These currently include: office working, homeworking, part-time hours, compressed hours, flexi-time, flexi-place (hybrid working) and job shares. We would be happy to discuss individual flexible working requests during the interview process.
How to Apply
To apply, simply submit an application through our Current Vacancies page and attach a copy of your CV.
If you have any questions about reasonable adjustments before or during your application, we welcome the opportunity to talk about what we can do to fairly adapt our process for you. Please share what you’re comfortable with to help us put the right support in place, by emailing careers@warchild.org.uk. Anything you tell us will be kept completely confidential by our HR team.
We are unable to provide sponsorship for this post. In order to apply, you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the country where this role is based.
Safeguarding
Our work with children and at-risk adults to keep them safe is the most important thing we do. We are committed to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults in all areas of our work. We have zero tolerance for any behaviours and practices that puts children and/or vulnerable adults at risk of abuse and/or harm.
All candidates selected for interview will be asked relevant child safeguarding question(s) during the selection interview. Successful applicants will be expected to be compliant with and sign up to our Safeguarding policy, our Code of Conduct and PSEAH (Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse & Harassment). You can find these policies: https://www.warchild.org.uk/our-work/policies-and-reports/safeguarding
Diversity and Inclusion
We value diversity and inclusion and are committed to ensuring that all our people and job applicants are treated fairly, irrespective of where, what or whom they were born, or of other characteristics.
We want to offer a safe and inclusive workplace where all our people, especially those who are currently marginalised or underrepresented, can be themselves at work.
You can read our Diversity and Inclusion policy on our website, and if you have any questions about our commitment to diversity and inclusion do get in touch: https://www.warchild.org.uk/our-work/policies-and-reports/diversity-and-inclusion
Pre-employment Checks
Employment with War Child will be subject to the following checks prior to your start date:
- a satisfactory police record check to include a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and/or an
- International/National Criminal Record Check
- a clear vetting and Due Diligence check
- receipt of two professional satisfactory references