Citizens UK 

Citizens UK is a people power 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 £2 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 over 14,000 accredited Living Wage Employers across the UK. 

Purpose 

We’re looking for someone who wants to combine their passion for social change with their commitment to digital communications. The person in this role will line manage a small and talented team of two officers (Marketing and Content, and Digital Communications), and should enjoy supporting others to flourish through a kind and relational approach. 

Part of a busy department of specialists in communications (including digital and press), public affairs and policy, you will play a critical role in shaping our digital engagement strategy through our website, social media channels and email marketing. As well as leading the team to expand our reach and build brand awareness through creative content, you will also have a keen eye for analytics and work with our partner agencies to deliver effective campaigns across paid social media ads, Google Ads and CMS management.  

You’ll be joining the team at an exciting time; supporting communities to engage decision makers and win change post-General Election. 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. You’ll be a strong communicator with the ability to tell a story in short time frame and have interest in a range of social justice issues including refugee and migrant justice and the real Living Wage.  

Reporting to the Director of Communications, 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.  

Main Responsibilities 

Working as the Digital Engagement Manager for Citizens UK, reporting to the Director of Communications, 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. 

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

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 & 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 community leaders to effectively use digital campaigning tools 

• Work with developers to maintain and update website CMS, support the team in creating news and blog content and help upskill colleagues to create content for the website. 

External Relationships  

• Manage relationships and communication with external suppliers where required 

Campaign and Events Management 

• Take an integrated communications approach to digital engagement activity. 

• Identify opportunities, initiate and grow new campaign tactics. 

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

Internal Comms & 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. 

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

• 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. 

Personal Specification 

(D) Desirable, (E) Essential 

EXPERIENCE 

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

• Experience working with multiple internal project teams (E) 

• Experience managing a team (preferably line management) (E) 

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

• Experience of working on integrated communication campaigns (D) 

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

• Professional or volunteer experience in the charity sector (D) 

KEY SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE 

• Wide range of digital skills across marketing and CMS platforms (such as Mailchimp, Action Network, Nation Builder, Wagtail or similar) (E) 

• Proficient in Google Analytics (E) 

• Proficient in content marketing and social media strategies across X, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram (E)  

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

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

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

• Proficient in content marketing and social media strategies across TikTok and YouTube (D) 

• Proficient in SEO (D) 

• Strong understanding of integrated campaigning tactics (D) 

• Strong understanding of brand and design principles (D) 

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

PERSONAL QUALITIES & VALUES 

• A passion for social justice and communities (E) 

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

• Self-motivated (E) 

• Adaptable and innovative (E) 

• Creative and curious (E) 

• A strong team player (E) 

• Accountable (E) 

• Relational (E) 

• Kind (E) 

• Inclusive (E) 

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

Interviews are to take place via video call w/c 22 July 2024 (subject to change).