Senior Communications Officer

Birmingham City University; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 37,000 - 41,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a vibrant university community as a Senior Communications Officer, where your creativity and organizational skills will shine. In this pivotal role, you will craft engaging content for staff and students, ensuring that vital information flows seamlessly across the campus. You'll work closely with leadership to promote organizational developments and foster a sense of community. With opportunities for hybrid working and generous annual leave, this position offers a supportive environment for personal and professional growth. Embrace the chance to make a meaningful impact in a dynamic educational setting, where your contributions will help shape the future of students and staff alike.

Benefits

Generous annual leave entitlement of 40 days

Opportunity for hybrid working

Direct contribution pension scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Cycle to Work Scheme

Qualifications

• Experience in communications and public affairs is essential.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple projects.

Responsibilities

• Deliver effective communications to staff and students.
• Coordinate stakeholder engagement and media relations.
• Support crisis communications when necessary.

Skills

Communication Skills

Project Management

Event Delivery

Public Affairs

Stakeholder Engagement

Education

Degree in Communications or related field

Tools

Email Marketing Tools

Content Management Systems

Job description

Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom

Job Info

• Job Identification 110
• Job Category Administration and Operations
• Posting Date 12/19/2024, 04:45 PM
• Apply Before 01/19/2025, 11:59 PM
• Job Schedule Full time
• Job Shift Standard
• Locations Marketing & Communications Department

The full-time starting salary is normally £37,332.00 per annum, with progression available in post to £40,581.00 per annum. Full Time, Permanent

Grade: SO2

Interviews will take place week commencing 03 February 2025.

What’s in it for you?

In return for your dedication and hard work, you will benefit from ongoing opportunities for personal and professional development, as well as the following key benefits:

• Opportunity for hybrid working.
• Generous annual leave entitlement of 40 days (including bank holidays and closure periods).
• An attractive direct contribution pension scheme, or the option to retain LGPS for existing and previous members.
• Wellbeing advice and support through our Employee Assistance Programme.
• Cycle to Work Scheme.

We are seeking a resourceful and organised Senior Communications Officer to join our Communications team.

Working with Birmingham City University’s Staff Communications Manager and the Student and Graduate Communications Manager, this role will be central to delivering informative and compelling communications for our staff and students.

On the staff communications side, the successful candidate will help ensure organisational developments and employee success are shared and promoted. They will also contribute to the development and implementation of innovative solutions for two-way engagement with the Vice Chancellor’s Office. And they will oversee the work of communications officers and assistants in regard to these projects.

For student communications, the role will ask you to be creative across a range of channels, providing content that is engaging and of high quality. Your content will inform students about what’s happening on campus, and opportunities both within and outside of the classroom.

Your role will need you to:

• Have direct daily responsibility for the delivery of effective communications.
• Support the delivery of regular communications to staff and students, including events, the daily Tiger Today newsletter, and regular targeted emails to students.
• Deliver targeted campaigns to students, raising awareness of academic/campus issues and developments, and extracurricular opportunities.
• Deputise for the Staff Communications Manager.
• Be lead member from the staff communications team on selected institutional projects.
• Horizon-scan on behalf of the Staff Communications Manager and Student and Graduate Communications Manager, flagging concerns when appropriate.
• Help coordinate ongoing stakeholder communications relationships developed as a result of our stakeholder engagements, and horizon-scan for future stakeholder engagement.
• Identify opportunities from media relations, internal communications and alumni relations work to develop profile raising events that engage and build audiences for the University’s strengths.
• Become central a key point of coordination for university stakeholder engagement, forming a close link with relevant teams across the University.
• Draft briefings for staff and students.
• Help foster a sense of a BCU community.
• Support with crisis communications if issues arise.

You will have:

• An interest in communications, and a desire to further develop your public affairs skills.
• Experience of administratively supporting a range of projects with minimum supervision.
• Experience of delivery of events.
• Experience of working in a busy and pressured work environment.
• Preferably experience of working in the education or not-for-profit sector.
• Experience of working both independently and collaboratively.
• Strong communication skills, both oral and written.

Come and be a part of the team.

Please click the below link to download the Job Description:

The appointed candidate will normally be employed through our subsidiary company BCU Support Services Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Birmingham City University. Appointees with prior LGPS membership who wish to enter the LGPS scheme will be able to do so, and will be employed by Birmingham City University directly.

About Us

At the heart of our Strategy for 2030 and Beyond, it is our mission to enable our students to transform their lives and to achieve their potential. Through our education and research, and the roles our graduates go on to play in the world, we not only support individuals to transform their lives, but we also play a part in transforming society.

Located in the centre of the UK’s second city, we are a university with a long heritage of innovation and of making, dating back to our origins in 1843 when we were founded as the Birmingham Government School of Design.

Our heritage of making through innovation and its application through knowledge exchange, and of creative research and practice, today finds it expression in our STEAM agenda, in our research and enterprise, and in our commitment to challenge-based learning. Working across disciplines, and delivering impactful research and enterprise, interdisciplinarity is at the heart of the continuing transformation of our academic portfolio.