Media and Communications Officer

Directorate:  Membership, Media and Development

Reports to:

Interim Head of Communications and Marketing

Band:

B

1.1  Job purpose

To provide media relations and communications support to promote the College, its work and
the specialty of anaesthesia.

Working within a small communications team, the Media and Communications Officer plays
a  lead  role  in  identifying  and  responding  to  media  opportunities.  This  role  also  plans  and
implements communications activity to support the College’s strategic aims and embed our
values.

1.2  Key tasks and responsibilities

Media Relations

•  Draft  and  edit  compelling  written  materials,  including  media  releases,  statements,
opinion and comment pieces, letters to editors and lines against enquiry, aligned with
College strategic aims

•  Manage day-to-day proactive and reactive media relations, building and maintaining

good relationships with journalists

•

•  Develop  and  implement  media  plans  for  College  outputs,  including  researching
relevant outlets and journalists, working up pitches and sending out media releases
Set  up  media  interviews,  brief  spokespeople  and  coordinate  media  training  where
appropriate
Log media enquiries and advise College spokespeople on responses, ensuring internal
sign off process is observed

•

•  Carry out media monitoring and horizon-scanning to monitor reputation and identify

opportunities for outreach

•  Maintain  the  media  contacts  database,  ensuring  compliance  with  General  Data

Protection Regulation (GDPR)

•  Provide  summaries  of  media  coverage  and  progress  against  key  performance

indicators (KPIs) for internal reporting and evaluation

•  Provide out-of-hours contact and support for media as part of a rota

Communications

•  Work  with  the  Associate  Director  of  Marketing  and  Communications  to  develop
communications plans / campaigns to support promotion of, and engagement with,
College  products  and  outputs,  such  as  publications,  research  and  events.  This  will
include  identifying  different  audiences  and  the  most  appropriate  channels  for
reaching them and distilling key messages

•  Plan,  source  and  write  engaging  content  for  a  range  of  channels  to  promote  the
College’s  work,  engage  our  members  and  communicate  key  messages.  This  will
include  producing  content  for  websites,  email  newsletters,  social  media  platforms,
speaker notes, publications and video

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•  Oversee  and  provide  editorial  support  to  colleagues  to  ensure  content  is  of  a  high

standard and consistent with the College’s brand and tone of voice

•  Contribute to the development and maintenance of an organisation-wide activity and

content planner

•  Respond to general communications enquiries from teams across the College
•  Update the College website
•  Work with colleagues in the People and Culture Team on internal communications
•  Contribute to the management of the College’s social media channels. This is primarily
the responsibility of the Communications Officer but this role will fulfil this responsibility
in their absence

Other Duties

•  Work  proactively  with

the  Communications  Officer

to  ensure  all  College

•

communications are aligned
Support the Communications Officer with general communications and social media,
as necessary

1.3  Qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience

•  Experience  of  translating  complex  /  technical  information  into  clear  and  succinct

messages for different audiences

•  Experience  of  working  with  the  media,  providing  proactive  and  reactive  media

relations

•  Experience of writing media releases, opinion pieces and general articles, ideally on

health subjects

•  Experience of identifying media opportunities and pitching to journalists / media outlets
•  Experience of working within a fast-paced communications environment
•  Excellent  written  communications  skills,  with  the  ability  to  write,  edit,  proofread  and

optimise content for different audiences and platforms

•  Ability to make a case for a particular course of action and to gain buy-in from internal

stakeholders

•  Excellent attention to detail, project management and organisational skills
•

Strong  interpersonal  skills,  with  the  ability  to  build  productive  working  relationships
quickly, including with senior stakeholders

•  A  team-player,  willing  to  contribute  across  the  wider  team  as  required  and  to

undertake routine administrative tasks

•  Ability to prioritise tasks in the face of competing demands and manage expectations

of internal stakeholders

•  Good  working  knowledge  of  the  media  landscape  and  an  understanding  of  what

works well to achieve coverage

•  Broad knowledge of best practice for digital and social platforms, tools and trends
•  Knowledge of, and interest in, the healthcare sector and the NHS and an awareness

of the issues that may affect the College

Desirable:

•  Communications / marketing / public relations / media qualification

Signature: ..................................................................................................................................

Name: ........................................................................................................................................

Date: ..........................................................................................................................................

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