Media Relations and Social Manager

Agriculture And Horticulture Development Board (ahdb; Coventry; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

An agricultural development organization based in Coventry is seeking a Media Relations and Social Manager. This role involves leading media strategies, managing social media content, and building key stakeholder relationships. Ideal candidates will have comprehensive experience in communications and a strong understanding of agriculture. The position offers hybrid working and an attractive benefits package including 33 days of annual leave and a market-leading pension scheme.

Benefits

33 days of annual leave

Life assurance cover

Defined contribution pension scheme

Enhanced parental leave

Employee Assistance Programme

Training and development opportunities

Recognition awards

Tax-free childcare scheme

Online discounts and savings

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience in managing social media content.
• Strong understanding of trade and consumer press.
• Experience in issues management in a fast‑paced environment.
• Ability to build effective working relationships.
• Excellent writing, planning, and negotiating skills.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain effective relationships with internal teams and media contacts.
• Create and manage engaging content across social media channels.
• Track and assess emerging media trends.
• Identify and collaborate with key influencers.
• Lead media campaigns and evaluate performance.

Skills

Creating and managing social media content

Understanding of agriculture

Interpersonal skills

Writing skills

Organizational skills

Attention to detail

Job description

We are currently recruiting for a Media Relations and Social Manager to work on a hybrid basis, two/three days from our HQ in Coventry and the remainder working remotely from home, Monday to Friday.

We are looking for a dynamic communications leader to shape and deliver impactful media and social strategies that align with our brand and strategic objectives. The role has responsibility to manage key stakeholder relationships, create and deliver engaging content across multiple channels and provide both tactical and strategic leadership to drive audience engagement.

At the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), we inspire our farmers, growers and industry to succeed in a rapidly changing world. Working at AHDB, you won't just be helping our farmers produce the food we eat and look after our environment, you'll be helping to shape the future of food production and leaving a legacy for the next generation.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain effective relationships with internal teams, external partners and media contacts, acting as a key point of contact for AHDB
• Create and manage engaging content across social media channels, including video and graphic assets, aligned with the communications strategy
• Track and assess emerging media trends, including AI, to recommend innovative tactics that keep our approach fresh and relevant
• Identify and collaborate with key influencers to deliver impactful social and influencer campaigns
• Provide strategic, tactical and technical leadership across defined issues, workstreams and sectors
• Lead and deliver media campaigns, projects and initiatives from planning through to evaluation
• Coordinate with senior communications managers, sector leads, suppliers and agencies to ensure alignment and delivery of media activity
• Contribute to the development and evaluation of media plans, setting and tracking KPIs with sector and workstream leads
• Use a variety of communication formats such as press releases, interviews, social media, blogs and podcasts to reach target audiences effectively
• Monitor media performance using analytics, adjusting strategies to improve reach, engagement and KPI outcomes
• Participate in the on‑call rota and support off‑site activities as required

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience in creating and managing social media content across multiple platforms, with an understanding of agriculture
• Strong understanding of trade and consumer press as well as broadcast media platforms
• Experience of issues management in a fast‑paced environment
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to build effective working relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders
• Excellent skills in writing, planning, influencing and negotiating
• Excellent time management and organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise tasks and manage deadlines
• High level of attention to detail, ensuring accuracy and precision in all tasks and deliverables
• Flexibility to be part of an on‑call rota and support off‑site activities as required

Benefits

We believe in rewarding our people for their hard work, so we have a great mix of benefits and opportunities to give you the recognition you deserve:

• 35 hours per week, to include hybrid working
• 33 days of annual leave plus one privilege day (inclusive of bank holidays)
• Life assurance cover (4x salary)
• A market‑leading defined contribution pension scheme with Legal & General
• Enhanced pay of 20 weeks for maternity, adoption and shared parental leave, subject to length of service
• Comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
• Excellent training and development opportunities and an agreed development plan
• Recognition awards throughout the year
• Access to the Government's tax‑free childcare scheme
• Reward Gateway membership - this gives you a huge number of online discounts and savings