Job Description

Head of Communications

Location: The role is based at the Trust’s office in West Berkshire with a minimum of three days per week expected to be worked at our Newbury office. Flexible working arrangements are available with the understanding that this must meet the objectives of the charity and requirements of the role.

Accountable to: CEO

Start date: 11/11/2024 or as soon as possible thereafter

Hours of work: Full-time (1 FTE), Monday-Friday, permanent

Salary range: £48,000 – £58,000, depending on experience.

Purpose

Key responsibilities and duties

This is an exciting and vital role to shape and deliver a multi-channel communications strategy for a leading mental health charity, focused on supporting the systems around children and young people including parents/carers, schools, colleges and universities. The main responsibilities will include creating and overseeing the activation of the marketing strategy and using data insights and analytics to grow and develop the Trust’s reach and support. The role will also act as the guardian to the organisation’s website as the main resource and marketing hub.

The role will enable the charity to proactively grow awareness, drive engagement, enhance its public profile and shape understanding of the Charlie Waller Trust by taking an audience-first approach to communicating our impact and purpose in an engaging and strategic way.

As a member of the senior leadership team, the role requires working closely with the CEO and other heads of teams to develop and grow the marketing and communications strategy, to raise awareness of the charity’s resources and to support the generation of income through the marketing of fundraising and workplace activities. The role will also work closely with and report into the Board of Trustees.

We are looking for a strategic thinker, with experience of both traditional and digital marketing. Someone who enjoys working with data and is always on the lookout for interesting angles or new channels or tactics to test. A passion for using marketing to understand and reach new audiences is vital. An analytical eye is needed alongside an ability to be creative and a desire to share success stories to further raise awareness of the organisation and to extend its reach.

Empathy for our audience and the ability to communicate in a way that allows them to feel seen and understood is important; you will need to have strong interpersonal skills, a desire to develop and build a team and to maintain communication and relationships with others across the organisation.

Inquisitive and creative, you’ll enjoy proposing fresh ideas and approaches for marketing with a keen eye for detail and a solid understanding of how marketing sits within the organisation as a whole.

Key Responsibilities and duties

Creating, leading and overseeing the delivery of the organisations marketing strategy including:

• Planning and developing the marketing strategy in line with organisational directives, new resources and initiatives.
• Overseeing strong relationships with key media outlets, journalists, and influencers to secure press coverage and increase public awareness.
• To ensure the appropriate and most effective marketing channels and tactics are used to support the programme and fundraising teams.
• Overall responsibility for the website – direction, content, consistency and tone of voice.
• Use of audience insight and data analysis to determine priorities and curate campaigns, projects and content from across the organisation.
• Development and improvement of user and supporter journeys.
• Marketing project initiation and management.
• Set and oversee marketing budgets

Strategic marketing sign-off including:

• Final sign-off on all website activity – strategy, content, SEO, landing pages and resources.
• Final sign-off of priority campaign materials – publications, newsletters, printed materials and press releases.

Internal and stakeholder communications including:

• Membership of the senior leadership and management teams.
• Assist the senior leadership team and trustees to oversee strategic and operational issues, managing risks related to communications, brand and public image.
• Quarterly marketing reporting to trustees.
• Working in partnership with other agencies on issues of common concern.
• Membership of project group (a cross-departmental group responsible for selecting, tracking and evaluating projects).
• Manage marketing agencies and freelancers to deliver work in line with the marketing strategy in an efficient and timely manner.

HR responsibilities including:

• Overseeing the recruitment to expand the marketing and communications team where required.
• Provide effective management of the communications team (5 direct line reports and 2 other staff).

About our Trust

The Charlie Waller Trust was created by the Waller family in 1997 in response to the loss of their son and brother Charlie who tragically took his own life whilst suffering from depression.

We have since become one of the UK’s most respected mental health charities for children and young people. Our overarching mission is to educate young people and those with responsibility for them – parents and carers, teachers, college and university staff, and employers – about children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

The Charlie Waller Trust is a great place to work. We care about mental health and wellbeing in our team and have a positive, enabling workplace culture. Our values drive our work:

• Warm: Positive personal connections are central to mental health; we aim to reflect that in all our relationships with beneficiaries, supporters, staff and volunteers.
• Empowering: We support all those we work with, and who work for us, to use their minds, hearts, energy and creativity to fulfil their potential.
• Collaborative: Partnership and cooperation are at the core of our work; we seek the views of those we wish to support and aim to put them at the centre of our activity.
• Compassionate: We recognise vulnerability in ourselves and others, especially where there is more than one reason people may be vulnerable to mental health problems, discrimination or inequality.
• Open: We believe in being honest about the way we work, our aspirations and where we need to improve; openness and good communication are key to good mental health.

Terms and Conditions

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and are working to ensure that our staff represent the communities we aim to support. We actively utilise positive action as set out in the Equalities Act (2010) to ensure we attract and recruit candidates from backgrounds and groups that are currently underrepresented in our workforce. We therefore particularly encourage applications from men and non-binary folk, and those from Black, Asian and minoritised backgrounds.

When we recruit, we will ask all our shortlisted candidates to tell us about any reasonable adjustments they need. Our current office is only accessible via a flight of stairs. We would of course discuss home-based working and holding team meetings in an accessible location as appropriate.

Benefits

We want people to thrive at the Trust; we believe you do your best work when you feel your best. That being the case, our team comes first, and we are proud of our culture: we offer a supportive, flexible and enjoyable place to work.

As part of our employed team, the following benefits are available to you:

• Flexible working policy – we’re committed to helping you find a healthy work-life balance.
• Generous annual leave allowance – pro rata 25 days annual leave (increasing to 30 days after 5 years’ service), PLUS bank holidays PLUS the period between Christmas and New Year.
• A workplace pension scheme to support you with saving for your retirement with a sliding scale of matched contributions depending on length of service for the organisation.
• Access to a ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing Plan’ – helping staff to stay mentally well and to support them through periods of poor mental health. This includes support for the cost of talking therapies where these are not available via the NHS.
• Opportunities to experience our charitable activities and impact at first hand by attending training and events and through involvement in relevant projects.
• Learning and development opportunities specific to job roles and on mental health and wellbeing topics.
• Coaching (offered to CWT pro bono, depending on team member and need).
• Social events and team days.
• Bike to work scheme.
• Time off for volunteering.
• Unpaid leave/sabbatical particularly if this supports personal or professional development (offered after 2 years in post).

Person Specification – Head of Communications

The successful candidate is likely to have most of the following competencies and experience but not necessarily all. If you feel that you are a strong candidate, please do apply.

Skills required and relevant experience

Essential

• A minimum of two years’ experience at a senior level in a similar role.
• Experience of leading on strategic marketing planning and public relations (PR), analysis and activation.
• Demonstratable track-record of using audience data and insights to make strategic recommendations.
• Solid understanding of digital marketing channels and how to use them to target relevant audiences.
• Ability to build meaningful working relationships (internal and external) to shape and direct campaigns and activities and to work together to get the results.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to inspire confidence by adopting an entrepreneurial and creative approach.
• Demonstratable experience of managing budgets.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Experience of planning, executing and evaluating effective awareness raising campaigns and public relations activities.
• Experience of producing / commissioning high-quality written information for a wide range of audiences.
• Experience of appointing, managing, developing and appraising staff.

Desirable

• Solid understanding of websites from front end – user experience, readability and content, to coding and infrastructure at the back end of the website.
• Experience of influencing and networking at a senior level – prior experience of working alongside a board of trustees beneficial.
• A proven leader, with the skills to manage and expand upon the marketing, PR and comms team.
• Experience of briefing and managing external agencies and freelancers to deliver against the marketing strategy.

Attainment

Essential

• A communications or marketing qualification (degree or CIM) or equivalent experience to a similar level.

Desirable

• Leadership or management training.

Personal attributes

Essential

• Initiative-taker and solution-minded with a can-do attitude towards any task or challenge.
• Professional, enthusiastic and flexible, with a strong willingness to learn.
• Capable of working as part of a team and autonomously.
• A commitment to working to meet the charity’s objectives.

Desirable

• Interest in and awareness of children and adolescent mental health issues.

How to Apply

Job Types: Full-Time. Salaries: 40,000 - 60,000.

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