Citizens UK is a people-powered alliance of diverse local communities working together for the common good. Our mission is to develop leaders, strengthen civic organisations and make change. Our 550 member communities are deeply rooted in their local areas and connect every day to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Through the method of community organising we enable people experiencing powerlessness to develop their leadership and come together with the power and strategy to make change. 

This leads to hundreds of neighbourhood improvements - from zebra crossings outside primary schools to renovated public toilets in cemeteries. And it leads to some of the biggest campaign impacts in the UK, such as winning over £1.5 billion of wages through the UK Living Wage campaign, securing a legal cap on the cost of credit to control exploitative lending, and ending the detention of children for immigration purposes. We enable local campaigns to grow into large-scale social change projects such as the Living Wage Foundation, Parents and Communities Together (PACT), Sponsor Refugees, and Refugees for Justice, that form an integral part of our theory of change. The most prominent of these is the rapidly growing Living Wage Foundation with a network of nearly 10,000 accredited Living Wage Employers across the UK. 

PURPOSE - We’re looking for a proactive and relational Digital Engagement Manager to support our digital communications work in what is set to be an exciting period in our history.

We’re looking for someone who is excited by using digital tools to problem solve and innovate to bring people together. Part of a  busy team of communications specialists in a growing team, you will play a critical role in shaping our digital engagement through our website, social media channels and email campaign marketing.

Our external affairs work is fast-paced but committed to the distinctive ethos of Citizens UK – where local leaders and people experiencing injustice are in the lead. For the right candidate, this will be an exciting opportunity to be part of a new team, testing and learning new digital tactics and designing engagement strategies that support communities to win campaigns. Initially focused on our migration and refugee work, this role will benefit from experience of and/or a keen interest in the sector.

You’ll be a strong communicator with the ability to tell a story in short time frame, with brilliant instincts for how to take complex issues and translate them into strong digital campaigns for multiple audiences. You’ll be tech savvy and have experience using a website CMS and campaigning tools, using your skills to work with multiple stakeholders and competing priorities. The ideal candidate will be analytical and adaptable, able to demonstrate using analytic tools to test and learn new approaches to campaigning and amplifying voices at the heart of community stories.

Reporting to the Senior Communications Manager, you will play an integral role in shaping the digital strategy, while ensuring that colleagues develop their capacity and understanding of how to use digital tools most effectively.

Responsible for line-managing the Digital Engagement Officer and Marketing and Content Officer, the ideal candidate will also be a patient and kind people manager who gets enjoyment from supporting the personal development of valued and talented team members.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

Working as the Digital Engagement Manager for Citizens UK, your main responsibilities will include:

Situational Awareness and Research

• Lead the team in conducting stakeholder analysis; identifying and segmenting audiences and their positions and interests.

• An in-depth understanding of the positions and interests of key stakeholders; along with a growing awareness of how they may be influenced.

• Confident to test and learn from new digital and marketing approaches

• Ensure that the delivery of the communications strategy is aligned with Community Organising principles.

Strategy Development

• Participate in development of the communications strategy, contributing tactical and creative ideas around implementation.

• Shape digital engagement and marketing strategy, ensuring that plans deliver against the influencing goals; evaluating effectiveness of the strategy and adjusting as required.

• Work with project teams to support the development of tailored digital strategies

Reputational & Risk Management

• Demonstrate awareness of potential reputational risks and proactively develops appropriate protocol and messages, including expected professional fundraising standards.

• Effectively represents Citizens UK with senior stakeholders

Materials Development and Dissemination

• Demonstrate a track record of effective supervision and quality control of output – critically ensuring compliance with plan and audience appeal.

• Ensure all work is completed within brand guidelines.

Digital, social media and website

• Able to lead the team in the use of social media to increase brand awareness and impact; able to generate innovative approaches. 

• Lead on supporter engagement through Action Network, building the capacity of Organisers and leaders to effectively use digital campaigning tools

• Support on tactical advice for digital fundraising

External Relationships

• Manage relationships and communication with external suppliers where required

Campaign and Events Management

• Take an integrated communications approach to all our digital engagement activity

• Identify opportunities, initiate and grow new campaign tactics; including planning and organising work effectively.

• Establish systems for monitoring and evaluating key performance indicators and delivering to time and budget.

Internal Comms and Knowledge Management

• Identify gaps in our internal knowledge management in digital practices and strengthen these with clear processes and documents to drive best practice amongst wider team.

• Run periodic training \ briefings for the team and wider stakeholders.

• Adopt a strong solution focused approach to help teams overcome any challenges and maximise their digital engagement efforts 

• Contribute to the maintenance of the Editorial Calendar

• Provide training to key members of staff to upskill colleagues.

• Act as a brand ambassador for the whole organisation.

Internal Relationships

• Provide line management support and leadership on our digital engagement, ensuring colleagues feel supported, developed and valued

• Ensure the work produced across the team is of high quality, and reflective of Citizen UK’s values

• Provide digital support and advice to colleagues across chapters and projects

• Work closely with project leads across our migration work to coordinate digital engagement tactics.

• Liaise with other managers and teams within the charity effectively.

• Work closely with the Senior Communications Manager and the wider communications team on the development and implementation of all digital initiatives.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

(E) = Essential, (D) = Desirable

EXPERIENCE

• Background in communications with experience working with digital tools (E)

• Experience working with multiple internal project teams (E)

• Experience managing a team (E)

• Experience of developing creative approaches to fundraising and taking a test and learn approach (E)

• Experience of working on integrated communication campaigns (D)

• Expertise at managing a website CMS and leading on website UX (E)

• Proven experience of Paid Media platforms – e.g. Facebook Business Manager, Google Ads (E)

KEY SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

• Wide range of digital skills across marketing platforms including Action Network/ Nation Builder or similar (E)

• Proficient in SEO, Google Analytics, content marketing and social media strategies (E)

• Expertise with Adobe Creative suite or similar design and production products (e.g. Premier Pro, Fireworks, Indesign, Illustrator, Photoshop etc) (E)

• Excellent written and verbal communication and ability to tell stories (E)

• Strong understanding of brand and design principles(E)

• Ability to manage external agencies and stakeholder engagement (E)

• Strong understanding of integrated campaigning tactics (E)

• Excellent written and communication skills to create compelling, creative and persuasive digital communications (E)

• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage and take responsibility for own workload, handle multiple priorities and to work independently (E)

• Excellent presentation skills (E)

• Flexible, adaptable and proactively responsive to change (E)

• Ability to work independently and prioritise effectively (E)

• Excellent time and project management skills (E)

• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines (E)

• A flexible and adaptable approach to work (E)

• A passion for social justice and communities (E)

• Excellent stakeholder management skills (E)

• Interested in working with diverse people of all backgrounds (E)

• An understanding of the migration and refugee policy space (D)

• Ability to analyse data from different sources including databases (D)

PERSONAL QUALITIES AND VALUES

• Self-motivated (E)

• Adaptable and innovative (E)

• Creative and curious (E)

• A willingness to learn about and embed the practice of Community Organising (E)

• A strong team player (E)

• Accountable (E)

• Relational (E)

• Kind (E)

• Inclusive (E)

The successful applicant will be required to undertake a satisfactory Enhanced DBS check. DBS checks are renewed on a 3-year cycle.

If you have any questions about this role please get in touch via the candidate application portal.

Interviews will be held on 07.06.22 (and possibly 08.06.22).