Communications Officer

Role Purpose

This role works closely with our Communications Manager to amplify our key messages and expand our reach by creating engaging content, running digital campaigns, managing communication channels, and evaluating performance to ensure effective audience targeting. This role also fosters a culture of effective internal communication, supporting the implementation of strategies that engage and inform employees and promoting a culture of continuous learning.

At Power to Change, we have been backing community businesses to become more resilient and financially sustainable to have greater impact on their communities in the long term. We know the transformative effect that enterprising communities can have in their local areas. Since 2015, we’ve been backing, catalysing and growing community business in England. It’s grown to become an incredible movement of over 11,000 organisations, led by enterprising people, all trading for the benefit of their local area.

We use our experience to bring partners together to fund, grow and back community business to make places thrive. We are curious and rigorous; we do, test and learn. And we are here to support community business, whatever the challenge. You will be working closely with other like-minded passionate professionals in our organisation to amplify the efforts of community businesses and put them at the heart of a fair economy.

We apply our values to everything we do:

• We are open: We will seek partners and allies beyond the community business sector to better help the community business model go mainstream, and will be open about our learnings as we test and discover new approaches to community-led resilient places.
• We are bold: Our plans are ambitious, and we will continue to enter markets where we see community businesses could thrive, and boldly speak to decision makers alongside community businesses.
• We are informed: We will continue to work closely with community businesses and be informed by their lived experience and needs. We will approach new challenges with fresh eyes and take an evidence-led approach before rolling out solutions.
• We are collaborative: We will continue to work with existing partners and new ones, drawing on each other’s skills to achieve what we couldn’t do alone.
• We are authentic: We will integrate the priorities that we have for community businesses into our own practice. We will aim to advance dignity, justice and belonging in our own organisation, become climate positive, actively embrace digital transformation, and continuously build our own capacities in many areas.

Key Responsibilities

Digital communications responsibilities

• Create marketing and social media content including oversight and management of all social media channels, content ideas/production, campaign planning, scheduling content, and evaluation and reporting.
• Produce and source content for our newsletter(s).
• Provide oversight of our website including creation of new pages and content, updating the website in line with the latest best practice, and working with our web agency to implement fixes for bugs or creation of bespoke pages as needed.
• Implement our messaging and content plans across all channels.
• Support on the delivery of channel performance evaluation and KPIs.
• Ensure that our communication channels are accessible, inclusive and reach a diverse range of audiences.

Media/PR responsibilities

• Work with the Communications Manager to secure positive coverage for community businesses and Power to Change in national, local, and sector media.
• Use social listening to track online trends and dialogue relevant to the community business sector.
• Support colleagues across the organisation to craft compelling blogs, op-eds, etc, to increase our influence.
• Carry out media scanning and analysis to support the Communications Manager and Policy team colleagues with press coverage, ensuring that there is a good awareness of the external media environment and its relevance to Power to Change’s work.

General communications responsibilities

• Work with colleagues across the organisation to ensure effective use of our key messages and provide the systems, expertise, and oversight of our communications processes.
• Provide advice and guidance to colleagues on managing responsive communications and reputational risks.
• Manage the process for external queries, including the effective management of our organisational inboxes.
• Work closely with colleagues across the Policy and Insight team to ensure that our activities are both rooted in our evidence base and working towards overcoming the policy challenges that community businesses face.

Internal communications responsibilities

• Support with implementing our internal communication strategies and plans to effectively engage and inform employees.
• Work with the Communications Manager to ensure our internal communications foster a culture of continuous learning.

Organisational Responsibilities

• Embed and continue to review diversity, equity, and inclusion into our work.
• Be an active and engaged colleague, taking part in support and learning activities.
• Provide ad-hoc assistance to other team members as required.

Skills and Experience

Some knowledge of:

• The community business sector, or the broader social economy sector.
• Communications and campaigns.
• Customer relationship management systems and content management systems (e.g. Mailchimp, WordPress), design tools (e.g. Canva, InDesign), project management tools (e.g. Asana, Trello, MS Office), and media monitoring systems.

Some experience of:

• Social media management.
• Direct marketing, i.e. newsletters.
• Website management.
• Content creation and digital campaigns.
• Use of social listening.
• Internal communications.

The ability to:

• Tell a story, creating and delivering content that resonates with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Synthesise and communicate complex information.
• Convene diverse groups and facilitate discussions.
• Influence with written and verbal communication.
• Manage databases (e.g. SharePoint and Salesforce).