Senior Communications Officer

3 weeks ago


Abingdon, United Kingdom South Oxfordshire District Council Full time

**Salary and grade**: £37,891 Grade 6
**Duration of role**: Two-year fixed term
**Hours per week**: 37 hours
**Location**: Hybrid working/Abbey House, Abingdon

Closing Date: 15/02/2023

About the role and what we’re looking for

Are you a passionate communicator equally adept at writing a powerful press release as a posting an engaging Insta reel? Can you make recycling riveting, planning pithy and council tax trendy? Working in

the South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Council’s Communications and Engagement team is anything but dull and we’re looking for someone to join our busy, dynamic team,

You’ll contribute to the external and internal communications activities relating to the councils’ work across their different service areas.

You will advise on appropriate timing and content of messages and appropriate channels to reach a variety of stakeholders, maximise awareness of the council’s work and encourage behaviour change among all audiences.

Main duties and responsibilities
- write effective press releases on complex topics and evaluate effectiveness
- write content for different audiences and channels, including the councils’ staff newsletter, town and parish newsletters and Councillors’ newsletters
- communicate plans for projects and topics relating to the councils’ work across different service areas
- manage the councils’ media relations service
- regularly review the information on specific pages of the council’s websites
- manage the councils’ websites and shared intranet
- photographing and filming council services, events or activities for use in council publicity
- briefing suppliers on design, print and web requirements
- managing and leading on key communications projects, working as part of multi-disciplinary teams as required

Your essential skills, knowledge and experience
- a relevant professional qualification or equivalent demonstrable vocational experience
- exceptional written and verbal communication skills
- considerable proven media relations experience, including writing press releases on complex topics
- experience of developing and delivering successful communications campaigns and plans
- excellent organisational and project management skills
- digital knowledge and experience that includes social media video content
- detailed knowledge and understanding of website content management systems, ideally Wordpress

Desirable skills
- awareness of local government governance and the role of elected councillors in decision-making
- local government experience
- an awareness of how to create accessible content online

Your style and behaviours
- well-developed communication skills, to communicate in a clear manner
- forward thinking and solution focused, confident working with others
- proactive and happy to manage a story or situation on your own
- customer focused and insightful of the needs of different stakeholders
- building effective relationships, internally and externally
- willing and able to come up with creative solutions to ordinary and extraordinary challenges
- able to support colleagues with more complex communications issues
- resilient, able to identify and provide solutions to problems
- able to prioritise own workload and work with others to ensure cover for the communications function
- prepared to change own plans in the short term to fit in with organisational needs
- high standards of both personal and professional ethics and credibility
- aware of own strengths and weaknesses and committed to addressing areas for development
- political awareness and understanding of the roles of elected politicians and council staff
- acts with discretion, diplomacy and demonstrates high levels of confidentiality
- willing to travel, as required

About us
Our vision and values are important to the councils, and we expect you to support them and embed them in the way we work.

Our vision
We are seen as being customer-focussed, approachable and business-like. We are honest and open and are renowned for providing high-quality cost-effective services.

Our values
- We act with integrity and show respect
- We are all accountable
- We are passionate about our business
- We strive for simplicity
- We love success

The benefits we offer
- A basic 24 days annual leave per annum
- Flexible working and annualised hours - a flexible approach to work that our employees love
- Salary pay awards
- A generous career average pension scheme which includes life insurance of three times your salary
- The opportunity to purchase a bike through Cyclescheme
- A salary sacrifice car lease scheme - a fully inclusive driving package for a fixed monthly cost
- Various schemes to keep you healthy
- We give you two days per year to volunteer within the local community.

You may have experience of the following: Communications Officer, Media Manager, PR, Public Relations, Public Relations Officer, Press Officer, Media Manager, Media Officer, Social Media Officer, Social Media Manager, Arts, Heritage, Culture, etc.

REF-202 808


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