Communications Officer

19861BR

School of Medicine

Administrative Support

Advert

Communications Officer

Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences

School of Medicine

College of Biomedical and Life Sciences

We are looking for a Communications Officer to join the Canopi mental health service in the Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences.

In this role, you will work as part of a team providing professional communications, marketing, events and engagement advice and support to the Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, with primary responsibility for work relating to the Canopi mental health service.

We’d Like To Hear From You If You Have Substantial Experience Of Working In At Least Two Of The Following Areas

• digital or social media
• media and press releases
• website development or management
• event planning and production
• internal communications
  
  

Please contact Catrin Hopkins hopkinsc7@cardiff.ac.uk for an informal, confidential discussion about the role.

This post is part time (21 hours per week) available from 1 April 2025 and fixed-term until 31 March 2027.

Salary: £27,644 - £30,805 per annum, pro rata (Grade 4). Appointments to roles at Cardiff University are usually made at bottom of scale unless in exceptional circumstances.

This post is based at the Hadyn Ellis Building, Cathays campus.

The majority of roles at Cardiff University are currently operating under “blended working” arrangements, with staff having the flexibility to work partly from home and partly from the University campus depending on specific business requirements. Discussions around these arrangements can take place after the successful candidate has been appointed.

Cardiff University offers many excellent benefits, including 40 days annual leave (incl bank holidays), local pension scheme, a cycle to work scheme and other travel initiatives, annual increments within the pay scale, and more. It is an exciting and vibrant place to work, with many different challenges and is a proud Living Wage supporter.

How we will support you in performing in this role –

Role

There are some things that you must have before you can start this role (see ‘Essential Criteria’), but other things can be developed either through training, or just by general on-the-job experience. We want to support and develop you once you have started in the role using a combination of the following to get the best out of you:

• Regular one-to-ones with your manager
• An experienced and supportive team around you
• Supporting you through job-relevant training and development that you may require
• A mentoring scheme
  
  

Date Advertised: 28 April 2025

Closing date: 19 May 2025

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds. We therefore welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

Job Description

JOB PURPOSE

Providing comprehensive and professional support and guidance to the Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences on communications, marketing, events and engagement.

Primary responsibility will be for work relating to Canopi mental health service with secondary responsibility for the wider division.

Duties And Responsibilities

Key Duties

• Provide detailed advice and guidance on communications, marketing, events and engagement administration and planning processes and procedures to internal and external customers (staff, students or members of the public).
• Provide expertise in communications to support the needs of a variety of stakeholders, using judgement and creativity to suggest the most appropriate course of action, where appropriate, and contribute to the solving of more complex issues.
• Collaborate with others to make recommendations to improve our ways of working.
• Establish productive relationships with key individuals (University colleagues and external contacts) to help improve the level of service the team provides to its customers.
• Perform a variety of administrative duties to support the team and the division to achieve its objectives.
• Gather and analyse data (e.g. website analytics, social media metrics, event monitoring) so that informed decisions can be made, establishing basic trends and patterns in the data and providing reports and recommendations for management, as appropriate.
• Instruct and guide colleagues across the University within events and engagement administration and planning.
  
  

Specific Duties

• Write copy on different platforms for a diversity of purposes and with a wide range of audiences.
• Plan, organise, publicise, manage and evaluate events.
• Organise committees and meetings, produce minutes and follow up on actions.
• Be responsible for the Canopi mental health service social and digital media activities, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
• Work collaboratively with communications staff at College level and across Cardiff University to ensure an integrated approach to marketing and communications.
• Deliver high quality communications, ensuring consistency and compliance with the key communications messages of Cardiff University. Adhering to quality standards, branding, design, accessibility and textual style guidelines.
  
  

General Duties

• Abide by all University policies and undergo appropriate personal and professional development.
• Perform other duties which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.
• Uphold the Professional Services Values and Behaviours or local equivalent.
• Ensure that an understanding of the importance of confidentiality is applied when undertaking all duties.
  
  

Please note: A Disclosure and Barring (DBS) check will be carried out for the successful candidate.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

• Ability to communicate in writing clearly, concisely, and effectively to provide detailed advice and guidance on communications, marketing, events or engagement administration and planning.
• Evidence of a good standard of numeracy and IT literacy.
• Experience of working in a communications role or environment and ability to set up standard office systems and procedures, making improvements to these as appropriate.
• Specialist knowledge of at least two of the following areas:
• digital and social media
• media and press releases
• website development or management
• event planning and production
• internal communications
• Ability to communicate specialist and complex information effectively and professionally to a range of customers with varying levels of understanding.
• Ability to advise and influence key stakeholders in your area of work.
• Ability to explore customers’ needs and adapt the service you provide accordingly to ensure a quality service is delivered.
• Ability to use your initiative and creativity to solve problems, respond to queries and make recommendations, identifying and proposing practical solutions.
• Ability to work unsupervised to deadlines, planning, setting and monitoring your priorities and those of the team.
  
  

Desirable Criteria

• NVQ3 / A-levels or equivalent qualification in relevant discipline
• Experience of working in a similar role or environment, e.g. Higher Education.
• Ability to speak/understand Welsh or a willingness to learn.
• Experience of project planning or events management tools e.g. Eventbrite.
  
  

Additional Information

Additional Information

We want to employ people with a wide variety of experiences. We welcome applications from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. We are particularly seeking applications from candidates who come from backgrounds that are underrepresented at the University, including people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.

We are looking for a team player who will work with colleagues to provide a great service to staff, students and the public. You don’t need to have worked for a University before; this is an opportunity to show your potential and start or continue your career at Cardiff University.

IMPORTANT: Evidencing Criteria

It is the School of Medicine's policy to use the person specification as a key tool for short-listing. Candidates should evidence that they meet ALL of the essential criteria as well as, where relevant, the desirable. As part of the application process you will be asked to provide this evidence via a supporting statement.

Please ensure when submitting this document / attaching it to your application profile you name it with the vacancy reference number, in this instance for this post, 19861BR

If candidates do not provide written evidence of meeting all of the essential criteria then their application will not be progressed. The School of Medicine welcome the submission of CVs to accompany evidence of the job-based criteria.

Salary Range Min.

27,644

Salary Range Max.

30,805

Job Category

Admin / Clerical, Medical & Dental

Grade

Grade 4