PR Officer - 12 Month FTC (5565)

Irwin Mitchell LLP; Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A national law firm in Birmingham is seeking a PR professional for a 12-month maternity cover. You will manage media relations, support PR delivery, and align activities with business strategy. The ideal candidate has strong writing skills, direct media experience, and an understanding of personal injury law. Benefits include flexible pension schemes, extra holiday options, and well-being initiatives.

Benefits

25 days holidays plus bank holidays

Flexible pension schemes

Volunteering days (two fully paid days per year)

Health membership benefits

Qualifications

• Experience in journalist roles or direct PR experience with national/regional media.
• Ability to write compelling human interest case studies.
• Knowledge of personal injury and medical negligence fields.

Responsibilities

• Identify and develop stories for strategic media coverage.
• Manage press releases and media inquiries.
• Drive new client inquiries through media engagement.

Skills

Media relations

Strong writing skills

Digital PR strategies

SEO techniques

Media law knowledge

Tools

Media monitoring tools

Google Analytics

Content management systems

Job description

We’re a national law firm with a local reach. Our legal experts are here for you. Whether it’s personal or business, we understand that everyone’s situation is different. But we’re more than just a law firm – we’re a team of people working together to help individuals and businesses navigate life’s ups and downs. Working here you’ll feel a part of our friendly and inclusive environment.

We’ll value you for who you are and what you bring. We support each other and push boundaries to achieve incredible things and make a real difference to our clients and communities.

We're always looking to support our colleagues to work in a way that works best for them and everyone else, including our clients, the business and the regulators.

Your Role and What You'll Be Doing

We're looking for a PR professional to join the busy Irwin Mitchell press office – helping to maximise media coverage across national, regional, and broadcast media. You'll manage content on our news site and social channels, support day-to-day PR delivery, and respond to media enquiries—focusing on key regional offices and business units. Working closely with Legal, Business Development, and Marketing teams, you'll align PR activity with business strategy to secure targeted media coverage. This role primarily supports our personal injury and medical negligence teams.

This is a 12-month fixed-term contract covering maternity leave.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with colleagues across the business to identify and develop stories that generate strategic media coverage, drafting press releases and comments for approval.
• Take a strategic, ROI-focused approach to PR to maintain and grow editorial share of voice in regional and national mediaWorking with colleagues and clients to write impactful human stories which will attract the attention of the mainstream UK media.
• Help drive new client enquiries through impactful media coverage.
• Contribute to integrated marketing and PR campaigns
• Safeguard the business from legal or reputational risk in media activity applying relevant media law to all activity (e.g. defamation, GDPR, court orders).
• Support clients and colleagues involved in PR activity, including media handling at public court hearings.
• Deliver basic media training and interview prep for legal teams.
• Use media monitoring tools and Google Analytics to report on coverage and inform future strategy.
• Develop newsgathering processes to turn insights into timely content.
• Monitor breaking news for opportunities to provide comment.
• Help manage the Press Office inbox and phone line, acting as a first point of contact for journalists.
• Track and report on PR activity, focusing on ROI and external comms KPIs.
• Collaborate with colleagues in BD and Marketing to amplify media stories across other digital and social channels.
• Align PR with Digital Marketing and SEO teams to maximise content visibility and performance.

About You

• Direct experience and thorough understanding of the media, either as a journalist or from direct PR experience dealing day-to-day with national and regional media with a demonstrable track record of achieving widespread coverage.
• Strong writing skills, able to create human interest case studies quickly and accurately that attract the attention of the mainstream media in the UK.
• Experience in professional services or consumer PR.
• An understanding of markets relevant to Irwin Mitchell, particularly Personal Injury and Medical Negligence.
• Proficient in using media databases and monitoring tools.
• Experience contributing to social media accounts and digital PR strategies.
• Knowledge of basic SEO techniques to optimise news content.
• Familiarity with website content management systems.
• Applicable knowledge of media law, including defamation, GDPR, and court reporting.

Our Benefits

• 25 days holidays as standard plus bank holidays - You can ‘buy’ up to 35hrs of extra holiday too.
• Generous and flexible pension schemes.
• Volunteering days – Two days of volunteering every year for a cause of your choice (fully paid)
• Westfield Health membership, offering refunds on medical services alongside our Aviva Digital GP services.

We also offer a wide range of well-being initiatives to encourage positive mental health both in and out of the workplace and to make sure you’re fully supported.

Irwin Mitchell LLP is an equal opportunity employer.