Media Relations Manager

Salary: £34,000 - £39,000 per annum depending on experience.

Contract: Permanent, full-time, 35 hour working week.

Location: London, Kings Cross / Hybrid. Our Hybrid Working Arrangement gives you more choice about how, when and where you work best. Contractually based at our offices in London, we “Work Smarter to Live Better”. This means a mixture of working from the office or remotely in a way that balances the needs of Hospice UK, your team and yourself. 

Benefits include: Up to 7% pension contribution, membership to the Simplyhealth cash plan and access to an employee assistance programme, life assurance, generous annual leave entitlement starting with 25 days holiday in your first year increasing with length of service to 30 days and wellbeing programmes.

Closing date for applications: Noon on Wednesday 11 May 2022.

Interviews: Wednesday 18 – Thursday 19 May 2022.

The role:

How we die has never been more relevant or more pressing – and Hospice UK is shaping the conversation and agenda on this most important topic. Our Media Relations Manager is one of the people driving that work. Partly driven by the demands of the pandemic, and partly thanks to a refreshed communications strategy developed over the past two years, Hospice UK’s media work has developed hugely and we now regularly secure agenda setting coverage in national outlets.

In recent months we’ve secured a ten-minute package on Channel 4 News, op-eds in outlets such as The Times, and news pieces in everything from Politico to the ‘I’ to the Sunday Express. We know there is real appetite in the media to examine and scrutinise the nature of death and end of life care in the UK and Hospice UK is better placed than others to drive that conversation. The potential for powerful storytelling based on lived experience when it comes to death, dying and grief is huge.

Where a few years ago our work may have struggled to cut through the news agenda and excite health, political and features journalists, we now have a profile, strategy and way of working that makes this role dynamic, exciting and full of potential. We’re looking for the right person to seize that opportunity and grow and develop our media coverage even further.

We know that the nature of salaries and job titles in charity media roles is variable and inconsistent, and this can make judging whether you are suitable for a role a bit of a challenge. We’re not that worried about what your job title is now, or how many years of experience you have. While some knowledge of healthcare would be helpful, it’s not essential. If you’re not sure if you meet all of the criteria in full, but think you could make a success of the role, then don’t be put off. We’re open to adapting the role to the right candidate.

More information about the role can be found in the job description and person specification.

The team:

Hospice UK’s Communications and Campaigns team is a small, friendly and dynamic bunch. Lots of us have started in the past couple of years or so and we’re really proud of how we’ve responded to the pandemic and transformed our communications. The team is led overall by our Director of Communications and Campaigns, Sarah West, and this role is line managed by the Head of Communications and Engagement, Charlie King.

We’re a team who is testing lots of new things and learning as we go. We’ve tried new approaches, strategies and tactics in the past couple of years – we’re chuffed that many have worked well, but we don’t panic when things don’t always go to plan. That’s especially the case with our media work, where rather than simply chasing as many clips as possible, we’re looking for the quality coverage that really drives the agenda.

We want you to enjoy your work and have the chance to develop and grow. That doesn’t just mean good training opportunities, but more importantly, a culture and team set up where you have the chance to shape your workplan and seize opportunities as you see them. Hybrid working is part of the deal too, so you will be looking to work between the office and home, with a mixed working pattern to suit both you and us.

We look after each other. Working on death and dying isn’t always easy and as a communications team we work with some pretty tough stories. But we try our best to live our value of being ‘compassionate’, and we know that it’s a job where the personal and professional can blur very quickly. We’re good at supporting each other with that.

About Hospice UK:

Hospice UK is the national charity for hospice and end of life care. We work to ensure everyone affected by death, dying and bereavement gets the care and support they need, when they need it. Each year our hospice members collectively support 225,000 adults and children with a terminal or life-shortening condition, and provide 72,000 families and carers with bereavement support.

About You:

We’re not worried whether you’re an experienced journalist or someone from a commercial PR background, whether you’ve worked for a charity or have much knowledge of healthcare. We’re not worried about what your degree is in or where it’s from, or if you have one at all.

We’re keen on your ideas, your skills, your approach, your tenacity and your creativity. You might be a seasoned pro or you might be still pretty early in your career and looking to take the next step. We’re looking for someone who can think big, and understand how media is part of a bigger process of change.

If you’re looking for the next big step in your career, and this sounds like the job you’re looking for, please get in touch. If you’d like to have an informal chat about the role please feel free to contact Charlie King.

If you would like to apply for this role, please send the following documents to recruitment@hospiceuk.org by noon on Wednesday 11 May 2022

• Your CV. Please remove your name, address and contact details from your CV.
• A completed supporting statement form - outlining how you meet the person specification criteria and providing examples from your experience and skills. No more than 2 pages please!
• A completed equalities monitoring form.

Please make sure you provide your contact details in your email.  We’ll contact you to let you know whether we would like to meet you, and interviews will be held on Wednesday 18 - Thursday 19 May 2022. 

Additional notes:

To be considered for this role you must have the right to live and work in the UK for your application to be progressed.

Your CV and covering letter / supporting statement will be carefully assessed on a points scoring basis, therefore please make sure we can see how your experience and skills match the job requirements. Removing your name, address, contact details and other potentially identifying personal information helps us to reduce the risk of unconscious bias during recruitment.