Media Lead – Scotland

Full time (flexible working options available)

Edinburgh, Scotland/Home Based

Closing Date: 7 October 2024

Ref 6848

Save the Children UK's Media Lead – Scotland is crucial and fulfilling role. 

• Are you an experienced news journalist or a background in media handling? 

• Do you have excellent verbal and written communication skills, adapting for different audiences? 

• Are you experienced and confident with developing media and communication strategies? 

• Do you have line management experience?

• Are you motivated by our vision of creating a world where every child doesn't just survive but thrives and can go on to change the world – and of inspiring and leading others to do the same? 

If the answers to these questions are yes, we would love to hear from you 

Please note: This is a 12 month Fixed Term Contract (until end of January 2026). This role is based in Scotland.

About Us 

Save the Children UK believes every child deserves a future. In the UK and around the world, we work every day to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. When crisis strikes, and children are most vulnerable, we are always among the first to respond and the last to leave. We ensure children's unique needs are met and their voices are heard. We deliver lasting results for millions of children, including those hardest to reach. 

Job Purpose 

Save the Children is looking for an ambitious and driven media professional with exceptional project management skills to develop and lead on Save the Children's media activity in Scotland, as well as line managing and supporting the senior media managers in N. Ireland and Wales and supporting them to implement their strategies. 

The role will involve developing and driving the media and communications strategy in Scotland to support fundraising, policy, public affairs and brand objectives. You will also help create materials and social media content for Scotland's communications channels. The scope will cover Save the Children's Scotland, UK-wide and international work. 

The role will also line manage two senior media managers – one in Wales and one in Northern Ireland. You will lead and support them to deliver effective media and communications plans, while ensuring strategic co-ordination across the devolved nations and with the Save the Children UK office in England. 

You will be highly organised and persuasive, with a good knowledge and understanding of child poverty issues and key political debates. You will have experience as a news journalist or in media handling, and a strong track record of success in obtaining media coverage in a variety of outlets. We are looking for someone with excellent communication and interpersonal skills and a proven ability to manage competing priorities under pressure. You will have demonstrated the ability to manage or support others to achieve results. 

As a rights-based organisation, we are committed to anti-racism and actively opposed systemic oppression of any form. You will support our commitment to celebrate diversity, challenge inequality, and build an inclusive environment for every one of our employees so we can better represent the children we protect.

Main Accountabilities

The Media Lead – Scotland's key duties will be to:

• Develop and implement a media and communications plan for Scotland that will deliver proactive and reactive coverage in support of Save the Children's influencing and fundraising objectives. 

• Lead and manage the Senior Media Managers in Wales and Northern Ireland to develop and implement their own media plans. Provide them with technical and strategic guidance. 

• Map, build and maintain relationships with key journalists, editors, commentators, opinion formers, bloggers and documentary makers in your media market. 

• Write compelling and hard-hitting media briefings and press releases focussing on Save the Children's work in Scotland, to influence policy makers and key stakeholders. 

• Cultivate and harness the skills and expertise of colleagues – especially programmes and policy teams in Scotland - in our media and communications work, including by launching products like reports and coaching media spokespeople. 

• Respond quickly to relevant breaking news to achieve cut through for policy calls. 

• Identify and support children and families to tell their stories in media and communications, ensuring that ethical standards and best practice are maintained at all times. This includes children and families supported by Save the Children in Scotland and those fundraising or campaigning for our work. 

• Protect Save the Children's reputation, developing and implementing crisis management media strategies and rebuttal as required. 

Person Profile

• Experience as a news journalist or in media handling, and a strong track record of success in obtaining media coverage in a variety of outlets. Experience should include strong examples of developing strategies and obtaining significant coverage on own initiative. 

• Demonstrated the ability to manage or support others to create plans and achieve results. 

• Excellent working knowledge of the media environment in Scotland. 

• Ability to work fast, effectively and independently – including without immediate media and communications oversight. 

• Ability to work at all levels of a large organisation, including with senior managers, children, young people and their families, and volunteers. 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor to a range of audiences. 

• Ability to summarise complex data (scientific, technical, economic) confidently and accessibly. 

• A sound grasp of what different media outlets want and an understanding of where to seek out news-worthy stories. 

• Good contacts for generating news stories with news journalists and wider media.

Aptitude

• A demonstrable commitment to the principles of diversity and inclusion and their practical application and integration in the work environment

• A commitment to Save the Children UK's aims and core values of accountability, ambition, collaboration, creativity, and integrity. 

Save the Children UK is committed to diversity and equality of opportunity in all aspects of our work both external and internal. We strive to be an inclusive employer and particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups such as returning parents or carers who are re-entering work after a career break, people who are LGBT+, from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, with a disability, impairment, learning difference or long-term condition, with caring responsibilities, from different nations and regions, and from less advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. 

Closing date for applications: midnight Monday 7th October 2024.

Please note: To avoid disappointment, you are advised to submit your application as soon as possible as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a high volume of applications are received. This is to ensure that we can manage application levels whilst maintaining a positive candidate experience. Unfortunately once a vacancy has closed, we are unable to consider further applications.

Ways of Working:

The majority of our roles can be performed remotely in the UK, but there are likely to be times when you will be required to come to your contracted office (up to 2-4 days per month or 6-8 days per quarter).  This will be agreed with your Line Manager and team and is intended to be time spent on collaborating with colleagues and relationship building. 

Please note: travel costs to your contracted office will be at your own expense. 

Flexible Working - We are happy to discuss flexible working options at interview.

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion: 

Save the Children UK believes in a world that is fair, inclusive and equitable where all children have the opportunity to change their world. We apply this to our workforce and we are committed to developing and supporting a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organisation where all employees have a sense of belonging and feel that they can be "Free to Be Me". We are not looking for just one type of person - we want to recruit people who can add fresh perspectives, innovative ideas or challenge that disrupts the risk of group think. 

We are especially interested in people whose childhood experiences - of life on a low income, of migration, of being in a racialised community, of the care system, of being LGBT+ or in an LGBT+ family or living with (or with someone with) a disability - help us to see things we might otherwise miss. Whatever your story is we want to hear it because we know that different voices, ideas, perspectives and knowledge, working together will enable us to better the lives of children around the world. This is the reason why we are all here.