Communications Manager - Headwater Catchment

Allen & York Ltd; Oxford; Remote; GBP 36,000 - 44,000; Part time

Job summary

Allen & York is seeking a Communications Manager for the Headwater Catchment Project. This remote role with occasional travel leads communications, engagement and dissemination across a £7.75 million programme in England and Wales.

The post is 14 hours per week, fixed-term to Sep 2028, in partnership with Anglian Water, aiming to engage water companies, regulators and communities. You will develop strategic communications, manage digital channels and ensure outputs are accessible, with strong

Qualifications

• Experience leading communications, public affairs, or marketing in complex partnerships.
• Ability to work across multi-organisation collaborations and coordinate activity.
• Experience developing and delivering strategic communications plans.
• Experience managing multi-channel campaigns and events.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience translating technical information for diverse audiences.
• Strong organisational and project management skills.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Communications: co-lead communications workstream, deliver plan and milestones.
• Stakeholder Engagement: build trusted relationships with partners and stakeholders.
• Knowledge Transfer and Dissemination: disseminate findings and translate outputs for audiences.
• Digital Communications: help manage project website and social media.
• Media and Public Relations: handle media inquiries and draft materials.
• Monitoring and Evaluation: track KPIs and produce impact reports.

Skills

Strategic communications

Stakeholder engagement

Media relations

Content creation

Project management

Written/verbal communication

Job description

Communications Manager - Headwater Catchment Project

Job Title: Communications Manager

Location: Remote with occasional travel

Salary: £40k per annum FTE

Contract

14 hours per week, fixed-term contract to September 2028 but could be extended to the lifetime of the project subject to funding.

Job Purpose

This amazing project aims to make headwater catchment restoration a mainstream approach across the water sector, unlocking lasting benefits for freshwater habitats, communities and the wider environment. The Communications Manager, working in partnership with the Anglian water, will lead and coordinate communications, dissemination, stakeholder engagement and knowledge transfer across the £7.75 million programme, ensuring its evidence, tools, lessons and achievements reach and engage water companies, regulators, policymakers, environmental organisations, landowners, communities and the wider public.

Through clear, engaging and evidence-led communications, you will build awareness, influence key audiences, promote project outcomes and support policy engagement, helping the project to evidence tools and learning to achieve lasting impact across England and Wales.

Key Responsibilities working in partnership

Strategic Communications

• Work with our co-leaders Anglian Water to manage the Communications workstream for the project, ensuring milestones and deliverables are produced on time.
• Develop and implement the Dissemination and Communications Plan.
• Lead delivery of project-wide communications activities across the programme.
• Develop audience-specific communications strategies.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Work collaboratively with project partners and stakeholders, building trusted relationships that support coordinated delivery, effective knowledge exchange and uptake of project outputs.

Knowledge Transfer and Dissemination

• Lead dissemination of project findings, evidence and learning throughout the project lifecycle.
• Ensure outputs are translated into accessible and engaging formats for different audiences.

Digital Communications

• Co-develop and manage the project website
• Coordinate project social media activity, working with the communications team and other partners.

Media and Public Relations

• Act as a key point of contact for media enquiries.
• Draft press releases, opinion pieces and media briefing materials.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Monitor performance against communications objectives and KPIs.
• Produce reports on communications reach, engagement and impact.

Person Specification

Essential Knowledge and Experience

• Demonstrable experience of leading communications, public affairs, stakeholder engagement or marketing activity in a complex organisation or partnership.
• Demonstrable experience of working collaboratively across complex, multi-organisation partnerships, building trusted relationships and coordinating activity to achieve shared outcomes.
• Experience of developing and delivering strategic communications plans.
• Experience managing multi-channel communications campaigns.
• Experience organising events, workshops and stakeholder engagement activities.
• Strong media relations and content creation skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience working on funded programmes or collaborative research projects.
• Experience translating technical information into accessible content for diverse audiences.
• Strong project management and organisational skills.

Desirable

• Experience within the environmental, conservation, water, infrastructure or public sectors.
• Knowledge of freshwater conservation, catchment management, biodiversity or environmental policy.
• Familiarity with government, regulatory or policy engagement processes.
• Experience of digital engagement tools and analytics.

About us

Allen & York have been matching purposeful people with purpose-led organisations for 30 years. We partner with our clients and candidates on roles that build an understanding of climate change, promote sustainability and create inclusive and responsible organisations, working towards a sustainable world for us all.

Committed to inclusiveness in the workplace, we aim to increase diversity across all areas and therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their ethnicity, race, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, age, or whether or not they have a disability.

Let us help build a better world, together.