Place of Work: Head office, Farringdon, London
Reports to: Head of Communications
Line management responsibility: Publishing & Editorial Manager, Production Manager, Senior Graphic Designer, Graphic Designer
Budget Responsibility: In excess of £100K.
Child Protection Level: Level 2 - the responsibilities of the post do not require you to have regular contact with children or young people, but you may have infrequent contact, usually with different groups of children or young people
Introduction:
Our Change for Children plan, launched in 2007, set a new ten-year vision for achieving major breakthroughs for children. This new agenda has changed fundamentally the role of communication at Save the Children, and therefore the demands on the Communications team. More than ever, effective communication is becoming a central part of almost everything we do, from programme delivery, to our work in emergencies, to our big plans for a global campaign to save children’s lives. And building our brand in the UK – still the number one priority for the Communications team – is on course to become a key enabler of our ambitious plan for growth in income, influence and impact. So it has never been more important to deliver high quality communications that engage our audiences, promote our brand, and build our voice in the UK and internationally. As such, this post is a key contributor to our vision.
Job Purpose:
Lead our ‘in-house agency’ service producing high quality materials that promote Save the Children’s brand, and manage quality and value for money of materials produced outside of the team. Grow our influence and income through a market-driven publishing strategy for specialist policy and practice titles, and provide a translations service.
Key accountabilities specific to this role:
1. Provide an in-house agency service to Save the Children (in the UK) delivering high quality, on-brand materials including marketing collateral, corporate publications, and campaign materials.
2. Oversee Save the Children's publishing strategy - building influence and income through market-driven commissioning and marketing of specialist publications.
3. Advise on, and monitor, effective and compliant use of Save the Children’s visual brand.
4. Internally commission online projects, photography, video and other material as required.
5. Externally commission print material as required, and maintain a roster of external suppliers for this purpose, ensuring positive working relationships, quality and value for money.
Key accountabilities shared by all Communication team heads:
6. Offer leadership in communication practice for the wider organisation, and offer skills training – both formal and informal – to help raise quality standards across the organisation.
7. Deputise for the Head of Communication as required
8. Manage performance through developing annual work plans for both your team and individual staff, and monitoring work through regular supervision and annual appraisals.
9. Develop your team through regular assessment and fulfilment of training needs, nurturing creativity, and promoting a positive and energetic working culture.
10. Manage and monitor a budget, and operate within its constraints.
11. Actively maintain positive working relationships outside of your working unit, in the wider department, and internationally as appropriate to the role.
12. Keep up to date with current practice in the field of work, and be committed to personal development appropriate to the role.
13. To be expert in the Save the Children brand, and actively promote and develop it.
14. To be familiar with children's rights issues, and consult and involve children in your work where appropriate.
15. Be available to work out of hours as required, for example during emergencies or periods of high media activity.
16. Undertake extra duties and special projects as required.
Working contacts:
Internal - Work with colleagues at all levels of the organisation, especially commissioning teams such as Fundraising, Campaigns and Policy.
External - Your main external contacts will be external suppliers (e.g. print and design).
Person specification:
- Substantial experience and demonstrable success in delivering high quality communications, from reports to marketing materials. At least three years experience of managing a creative team.
- Understanding of the strategic role of communications in supporting a corporate strategy, and experience of working at a strategic level.
- Understanding of technical aspects of the role, including digital asset management, design & publishing software, and print formats.
- Commercial-mindedness, with experience of income-generating ventures through marketing.
- Excellent stakeholder management skills, including the ability to inspire and mobilise people from diverse business areas, to deliver a coherent strategy meeting multiple objectives.
- Sound strategic thinking, project management and planning skills, including ability to think creatively and innovate.
- Experience of staff management including ability to motivate a team, set priorities, achievable work plans, and evaluate progress.
- Experience of managing a budget.
- Exceptional communications skills both written and verbal, ability to research, analyse and interpret information and to summarise complex issues, and tailor communications to different audiences and cultures.
- Commitment to Save the Children’s vision, mission and values.
- A commitment to support for cross-organisational initiatives.
- Commitment to team working and demonstrable understanding of how to contribute.
- Ability to operate within an administratively self-servicing environment, therefore computer literate.
Desirable:
- Experience of working for an international organisation
- Knowledge of international development issues