Communication and Design Officer

About the Role

Looking to build your portfolio and gain real-world experience in communications and design?

We’re offering a short-term, flexible opportunity to work with CASCADE (Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre) at Cardiff University. This role is ideal for a student interested in design, communications, or marketing, and will give you hands-on experience contributing to a professional publication.

You’ll play a key role in supporting the development of our Annual Report, working with real content, shaping how it’s presented, and producing a polished, high-quality output. Along the way, you’ll hone practical skills in document design, branding, and content formatting.

About CASCADE

CASCADE is a leading children’s social care research centre based within the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. Our work aims to improve the well-being, safety and rights of children and their families, across areas such as family support, child protection, care experience, and adoption.

A key part of our work is ensuring that research reaches the people who can use it, policy makers, practitioners, and wider stakeholders. We work closely with partners across Wales and beyond to share evidence, inform practice, and support positive change in social care.

Job Purpose

To provide practical communications and design support to CASCADE, with a primary focus on supporting the development of the CASCADE Annual Report.

The post-holder will work closely with the Publicity and Engagement Manager to collate, organise and format content from across the centre, transforming it into a clear, engaging and visually consistent publication. This will include applying branding, supporting layout design, and ensuring a high standard of presentation.

The role will also contribute to wider communications activity where needed, offering the opportunity to gain experience in research dissemination, digital content, and professional communications processes. 

This role is eligible to be offered on a blended working basis, meaning that as well as spending time working on campus you can also choose to spend some time working from another location, e.g. your home (UK based).

Key Duties

• Support the development of the CASCADE Annual Report, including:
  • Collating and organising content from multiple contributors
  • Formatting and editing text for clarity and consistency
  • Designing layouts using Canva, InDesign, or similar tools
• Apply CASCADE and Cardiff University branding consistently across documents and outputs
• Work collaboratively with the Publicity and Engagement Manager to refine content and design
• Assist with general communications tasks, such as:
  • Creating simple graphics or formatted content
  • Supporting content preparation for web or social media
• Ensure a high level of accuracy and attention to detail in all outputs
• Manage own workload effectively and work to agreed deadlines
• Ensure all content adheres to the Welsh Language Standards

General Duties

• Ensure that an understanding of the importance of confidentiality is applied when undertaking all duties.
• Work collaboratively as part of a small team, contributing positively to a supportive working environment
• Abide by University policies on Health and Safety and Equality and Diversity.
• Perform other duties occasionally which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.