Job Description

Overall Purpose of the role

This role will both provide strategic communication support and communications delivery in support of two connected programmes the Arts Council delivers to the education sector: Artsmark and the Cultural Education Network. Artsmark celebrates schools that bring learning to life through arts, culture and creativity, aligning goals to the eight Artsmark criteria. Schools are recognised for their exceptional commitment to creativity and culture with the Artsmark award, accredited by Arts Council England.

The Cultural Education Network aims to support educators to create more equitable access to Arts and Culture for children & young people.

This role will be based in our Children and Young People (CYP) team, where other Artsmark and Cultural Education Network colleagues are also based. The role will also have a close connection the Arts Council’s Advocacy and Communication Team.

This post will work seamlessly across Artsmark and the Cultural Education Network. The postholder will develop a communications plan for both programmes in collaboration with senior colleagues, and deliver it with excellent content that drives registrations and engagement with the programmes by telling the story of the impact of these programmes, and what they can offer teachers, school leaders, freelance teachers artists, and staff at creative and cultural organisations.

Main day to day responsibilities

In general, you will put strategic communication, creative thinking, prioritisation and problem-solving skills to good use on a daily basis.

You will...

·       Work with CYP and Communications colleagues to develop an overarching communication and marketing plan for Artsmark and the Cultural Education Network – mapping out key milestones, mapping target audiences and stakeholders, refreshing a messaging framework and then putting this plan into action, collaborating with colleagues as you go.

·       Provide sound communications advice for colleagues at various levels. Your proactive ideas will shape projects from the start – from the best way to engage our audiences with new information, to how best to share information with our staff. Reactively, you can also be relied on when issues arise, helping us set the best course of action across multiple channels, including web, social, email, media and internally.

·       Develop, manage and implement communications tasks and campaigns, of different scales, with creativity, precision and enthusiasm. You will be skilled at measuring and reporting on impact. You will work with colleagues and suppliers to get the best from them – on time and on budget – so the proactive communications you devise excite audiences and get results.

·       Ensure and manage the contributions from others in a matrix working setting (i.e. managing input from colleagues in other teams, for the projects you lead). You will champion your own work and projects and connect dots/seek opportunities between the Artsmark and Cultural Education Network teams, and your Advocacy and Communications colleagues.   

·       Use your own skills and knowledge to translate complicated information into effective communication – with a deep understanding of the marketing mix, and other elements of communications, to excite and entice audiences about the benefits the Artsmark and Cultural Education Network programmes can offer them.

·       Your curiosity and interest will bring new ideas and perspectives to the team.

·       You will contribute to a positive working culture in the organisation by taking a proactive approach to learning, responding to change, inclusive practice, and environmental responsibility.

·       You will reflect the Nolan Principles of Public Life and the Arts Council's values with a commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Key relationships and responsibilities

The key day-to-day relationships to maintain are:

·       Members of the Artsmark and Cultural Education Network teams

·       Senior leaders including the Director, Children and Young People

·       Members of the Advocacy and Communication team.

This role will work with other stakeholders too, and these relationships will be important. At the Arts Council they include our executive board and chair, directors, and other senior leaders. Externally, they include schools, cultural organisations, tech organisations, suppliers, and government partners such as MPs and the Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and Department for Education (DfE).

This role also directly line manages the Communication Officer, Artsmark, and there may be potential to grow the team in the future. It will also at times involve managing others, at different levels, in a matrix way of working (for example, leading a project across different teams to achieve your goals).

This role doesn’t have direct budget responsibility, but it will be required to track and account for spend as needed, including securing budget approval.

Essential (Skills, Knowledge and Behaviours)

·       You will have strong writing and editorial skills with the experience to exercise sound and creative judgement and to communicate to different audiences.

·       You will have experience of developing and executing communications and marketing strategies that respond to organisational priorities, establishing audiences, devising content and conducting evaluation with demonstrable experience of their impact.

·       You will have significant knowledge of developing, using and managing campaigns on a range of communication channels and platforms (web content management systems, social media, e-marketing systems, and internal channels), along with sound knowledge of stakeholder development, public affairs and/or media handling.

·       You will be skilled at managing stakeholders (examples of which are listed above), and comfortable working with colleagues to map and manage interaction with key stakeholders to further our work – for example MPs or education leaders.

·       You will have experience of commissioning work from external organisations and agencies and leading these relationships.

·       You will have experience of supporting and mentoring colleagues and focusing them on delivering agreed objectives and outcomes.

·       You will have experience in managing or tracking budgets and delivering value for money.

·       You will be digitally fluent and adept at using digital tools to work in a hybrid, collaborative environment, such as a Sharepoint.  

·       Finally, you will also have a good understanding of the Arts Council’s duty as a public body under current diversity legislation, the current diversity agenda and its relationship to arts and culture.

Desirable (Skills, Knowledge and Behaviours

·       A demonstrable passion for working with the adults who support and enable children and young people in their creative lives.

·       Experience working with the education and/or arts sector, and a wider understanding of these sectors.

Interview dates:

1st: 25/26 September

2nd: 2/3 October