Hours:                        35 hours per week with the requirement to work outside core hours and be part of an on-call rota

Disclosure Level:      Basic. This role will occasionally involve direct or indirect work with children

Reports to:                 Senior Public Relations Manager

Location:                    Working from home and at 1 Westfield Avenue, London E20 1HZ

At the UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK), we pull together to achieve the best possible results for children in danger around the world. We believe in an inclusive workplace and in the power of fulfilled colleagues who share the same values and goals, enjoy their work, and are motivated to do their utmost for children.

Our work is guided by the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which recognise the universality of children’s rights.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Media team delivers world class media and communications work for UNICEF UK, leading on all public relations, news and emergencies and partnership communications work. It is part of the Communications Department, which sits within the wider Public Engagement Directorate.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The PR & Media Officer is a multi-disciplined role responsible for delivering on UNICEF UK’s media work for public fundraising, brand awareness, advocacy campaigns and humanitarian emergencies.

This role includes managing multiple relationships across UK media (News and PR) and working alongside both internal and external stakeholders to deliver effective, ambitious, and well-messaged traditional and digital media coverage to promote our high-profile communications campaigns.

This role spends approximately five months of the year delivering media and communications for Soccer Aid for UNICEF including leading on PR delivery for income generating mass fundraising product and school’s campaigns, as well as corporate communications delivery for Soccer Aid for UNICEF corporate partners. The rest of the year, this role supports income generating priorities across both the Public Relations and News and Emergencies, working on some of the most important humanitarian crises and global advocacy campaigns of our time.

WHAT WE WILL EXPECT YOU TO ACHEIVE

Support and lead the delivery of developing creative ideas, drafting key messages, writing press materials, pitching to consumer, news and digital media, and delivering on media plans to promote UNICEF UK’s strategic public fundraising and news and emergencies work.

Work with external and internal stakeholders to help deliver well-messaged media coverage for Soccer Aid for UNICEF which could include PR for supporting TV shows across ITV, UNICEF UK talent communications and acting as day-to-day media delivery lead for UNICEF UK led fundraising activities such as Soccer Aid Schools Challenge and mass fundraising.

Play a key role on media plans for UNICEF UK Ambassadors and High Profile Supporters to generate well-messaged media coverage as required; as well as supporting on PR for UNICEF UK fundraising galas, fundraising events, and public fundraising campaigns

Contribute to the delivery of an ambitious and creative strategy for UNICEF UK’s communications around proactive and reactive news and emergency content, in order to support UNICEF UK’s wider fundraising, advocacy and influencing objectives.

Work closely with UK and global colleagues to develop and deliver proactive media strategies that highlight crises affecting children globally to support UNICEF UK’s advocacy, brand, and fundraising objectives, with liaison with UNICEF country and regional offices on issues affecting children and UNICEF programmatic work that will be of interest to UK press.

Develop and manage key internal and external relationships. These include:

• Internal stakeholder teams such as Ambassador Relations, Creative, Brand, Advocacy, Campaigns and Marketing.

• UK media contacts, specifically national, news and consumer print and broadcast media, digital media and bloggers/vloggers.

• Communication colleagues at UNICEF HQ and field offices, at PR agencies, corporate partners and other NGOs

Support digital thinking for the media team working closely with UNICEF UK’s digital team to help identify new and innovative ways to promote UNICEF UK as well as ensuring there is a strong digital element to all of our media and communication work.

Participate in the Media team’s process for monitoring and evaluating media coverage and PR campaigns, identifying reactive opportunities using the news agenda to raise awareness of UNICEF and its work across PR and News & Emergencies

Take part in the media team on-call rota, which will require out-of-hours proactive and reactive work and cover key press office duties, as and when required.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

This section details the skills, behaviours and experience required for the role. All criteria in the Person Specification are essential.

Effective Behaviours:

Supporter Driven

• Develop highly productive working relationships with journalists, key influencers and supporters and can use in-depth knowledge of media to inform and shape UNICEF UK plans.

Communication

• Can present complex ideas (orally and in writing) in a compelling way and produce excellent written materials. Be sensitively decisive, taking time to consult with relevant stakeholders and senior staff to agree decisions and communicate these effectively.

Positive relationships

• Form and maintain effective working relationships within own team, across the wider organisation and with partners in complex stakeholder environments.

Efficiency and Effectiveness

• Manage and prioritise complex pieces of work to deliver impressive results when faced with challenges. Manage conflicting priorities to ensure that objectives and deadlines are met. Provide in-depth expertise to advise internal and external contacts and influence plans and activity. Anticipate risk and put plans in place to minimise their impact.

Creating and Innovating

• Able to keep up to date with key issues, debates and developments in the media (digital, news and consumer) on issues that UNICEF UK works on and capable of coming up with unique and creative ways to strengthen UNICEF’s position in the crowded news space.

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

• Has worked in a PR agency, media relations office and/or in journalism, ideally with experience of working on fast past and high profile issues in order to proactively deliver high-level consumer and/or news media coverage.

• Writing communications materials including press releases, features and case studies and implementing communications strategies.

SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE

• An excellent, up to date knowledge of recent and ongoing humanitarian situations, international development issues and children’s rights.

• The UK media, including journalists across print, broadcast, online and digital media.

• The best tools and tactics to use to ensure a truly multi-channel, digital first media approach.