Head of Communications
Closing date:
Salary: Banding Level 5 £45,000 - £50,000
Contract type: Permanent / Working hours: Full timeLocation:
Opportunity for hybrid working
The Head of Communications is a fundamental role within the Somerset Wildlife Trust.
The role is responsible for leading the development and coordinated delivery of the Trust’s communications in line with the Wilder Somerset 2030 strategy. This includes identifying key audiences, crafting core messages, and selecting effective communication channels to raise awareness and understanding of the Trust’s work. The postholder will support staff across the organisation in achieving the strategy’s aims while managing a team of specialists and responding to emerging issues professionally and astutely.
Working across teams, the Head of Communications will develop and deliver an annual communications plan that meets the organisation's priorities.
The role is responsible for leading the development and coordinated delivery of the Trust’s communications in line with the Wilder Somerset 2030 strategy. This includes identifying key audiences, crafting core messages, and selecting effective communication channels to raise awareness and understanding of the Trust’s work. The postholder will support staff across the organisation in achieving the strategy’s aims while managing a team of specialists and responding to emerging issues professionally and astutely.
Working across teams, the Head of Communications will develop and deliver an annual communications plan that meets the organisation's priorities.
Key Responsibilities and Tasks
Responsibility 1: Leadership & Cross Team Working
- Strategic Planning: Lead the development of the communications delivery plan and annual calendar, involving all areas of the Trust, defining key audiences, messages and channels with the aim of increasing awareness and understanding of the Trust. Provide effective leadership and build strong working relationships with departments across the charity to ensure integrated communications plans and campaigns are developed and implemented to achieve the maximum impact with external audiences.
- Communications Delivery Plan:Effective coordination of both messages and activity – both reactive and proactive throughout the year. Including improvements with revised website navigation and architecture, SEO improvements and content targeted at priority groups, including use of video, and influencers.
- Senior Leadership Team:Be an active member of the Senior Leadership Team taking collective responsibility for decision making, risk and budget management across the Trust. Work with the Senior Leadership Team to ensure all communications effectively contribute to and support all strategic goals of the Trust.
- Brand Marketing:Work with teams to improve our products and services and how these meet the needs of our audiences, including working with focus groups (with co-creation when relevant).
- Building Capability:Coordinate providing support and training for all staff to achieve effective communications, which supports the Trust’s overall brand and positioning, including mentoring the communications team.
- Systems & Processes:Maintain and develop systems for gathering information and communications planning within the Trust and from project partners, RSWT and SWT. Embedding into all teams’ ways of working.
Responsibility 2: Communications Delivery
- Line Management:Manage, support and develop a team of staff and volunteers to deliver the communications work programme, providing effective line management. Including the provision of specialist support and advice for the development of specific communication campaigns or tools across the organisation.
- Budgets:Ensure communication activity elsewhere in the Trust is produced within allocated budgets and timeframes.
- Performance:Set and manage KPIs and budget for communications programmes, monitoring and reporting performance and reforecasting in line with Trust requirements. Continuous improvement.
- Brand:Develop the Trust’s brand, ensuring a clear and distinctive brand proposition and engaging brand identity, which also supports the Trust as part of the Wildlife Trusts movement. Ensure the brand’s consistent use and monitor the link with the Trust strategy and values.
- Public Affairs:Oversee the PR and media relations (press office function), and act as a key charity spokesperson when required. Horizon scanning and being aware of emerging issues to develop opportunistic messages to optimise nature recovery actions.
- Crisis Management:Protect the Trust's reputation by ensuring the effectiveness of robust crisis management plans and the definition of clear policies and position statements.
- Design, Content & Print:Coordinate the Annual Report with teams and Trustees. Editor for the members’ magazine and print products to support membership retention and enable action for nature.
Responsibility 3: Campaigns for Change
- Strategic Campaign Planning:Work with our policy, advocacy and engagement specialists to design campaigns that move people through the engagement funnel, change behaviour, influence policy, and improve supporter retention. Work with the Exec Team to set campaign objectives tied to clear outcomes: acquisition, activation, retention, behaviour change, policy influence, or income generation.
- Supporter Journeys & Segmentation:Map and optimise journeys across channels (email, web, social media, print, events) with named next steps that move people toward deeper engagement and action.
- Marketing Campaign Leadership:Own the strategic design of multi-channel marketing campaigns and provide clear briefs and creative direction to the delivery team. Ensure channel integration so website journeys, email, print content and social media activity are coordinated and measurable. Keep storytelling compelling while optimising for acquisition and action.
- Advocacy & Policy Campaigns:Work across teams to design campaigns to influence systems change by leveraging our data and evidence, combining public voice, stakeholder engagement and targeted advocacy tactics.
- Behaviour Change Campaigns:Work with our engagement specialists to apply social marketing techniques and behavioural frameworks to shift norms and the adoption of actions for nature. Translate data and evidence into interventions that use communication tactics such as prompts, social proof, incentives and nudges to create measurable behaviour change.
Please note: we reserve the right to close the position early if application volumes are particularly high. We encourage you to get your application in sooner rather than later.
Application Process
Please complete the application form below and send with your CV to recruitment@somersetwildlife.org
For further information on the role contact Adam Murray, Action for Nature Director at adam.murray@somersetwildlife.org.
We offer some fantastic benefits including:
- 7% employer pension contribution
- Life assurance
- Flexible and agile working
- Wellbeing support – EAP, wellbeing champions
- Diversity networks through RSWT/TWT
- Paid volunteer days
- Continuous Professional Development opportunities
- 33 days of holiday (25 + bank holidays) + Christmas shutdown
- Staff social calendar and events
The opportunity to make a real and positive difference to nature, communities and the climate
Wilder Communities Manager (Maternity Cover)
This Wilder Communities Manager manages a team of engagement and community officers and the “Wilder Communities” workstreams which covers volunteering, community organising, advocacy, community networks and advice, individual actions for nature (e.g. gardens), training and resource development.
The key priorities for this maternity cover role will be:
- Ensure consistent and supportive management of the team (currently 4 colleagues)
- Excellent project management. Oversee and report on funded projects, including partnership projects.
- Oversee, update and “hold the fort” on core/business as usual workstreams including maintaining key community and stakeholder relationships.
- Work alongside the Head of Engagement to support project pipelines, including the development of new funded projects and potentially recruitment of new roles, in line with core delivery goals.
We are looking for someone with experience working with volunteers and communities to deliver environmental projects or enabling people to take action for nature, and a good knowledge of Somerset’s geography, communities, demographics and wildlife. You should be a competent manager of people and projects, with a passion for the work of Somerset Wildlife Trust.
This is a maternity cover post expected to begin as soon as possible from mid-February 2026, for a period of 12 months.
Managing the “Wilder Communities” workstreams which cover: volunteering, community organising, advocacy, community networks and advice, individual actions for nature (e.g. gardens), training and resource development.
Managing a team of engagement and community officers and working closely with colleagues from across the Trust to identify and develop opportunities to enable, support, inspire and coordinate communities to manage public and private land to benefit biodiversity and enhance Somerset’s Nature Recovery Network. Working with funders and managing projects to enable the delivery of our strategic goals.
Working closely with the Wilder Lives Manager to proactively look to engage across diverse groups of people and deliver benefits for people as well as wildlife, and move people from engaging with nature to advocating and taking action for nature.
The key priorities for this maternity cover role will be:
- Ensure consistent and supportive management of the team (currently 4 colleagues with potential for further recruitment)
- Excellent project management. Oversee and report on funded projects, including partnership projects.
- Oversee, update and “hold the fort” on core/business as usual workstreams, including maintaining key community and stakeholder relationships.
- Work alongside the Head of Engagement to support project pipelines, including the development of new funded projects and potentially recruitment of new roles, in line with core delivery goals.
Responsibility 1: Wilder Communities and action for nature
- Take a lead role in the development and delivery of SWT’s Team Wilder vision of inspiring and empowering 1 in 4 people to take action for nature by engaging new and inclusive audiences to take action for nature.
- In collaboration with colleagues, support peer-to-peer community connections online and offline with a particular focus on delivering our annual community forum, Wilder Together.
- Support, facilitate and contribute to networks as required, including the PCNR Network, Wilder Churches and Specialist Group Forum.
- Inspire and support existing and new community groups to become Wilder Communities, facilitating, training and enabling them to contribute to the Nature Recovery Network.
- Support Wilder Leaders – individuals in their communities, businesses, schools and elsewhere to act as our advocates for nature recovery and inspire action where they live and work.
- Train and support Wilder Champions, SWT volunteers who will work with you to deliver Team Wilder.
- Organise and deliver an annual training programme as part of the SWT event programme including face-to-face and online training workshops to enable people to develop skills to take action for nature including; species ID and recording, practical skills and community organising.
- Manage a team of delivery officers who will help you deliver on the ground, managing budgets and ensuring projects deliver planned objectives.
- Project manage both core workstreams (e.g. wilder gardens) and funded projects delivering community action and engagement priorities.
- Project manage the NHLF 30 x 30 Wilder Communities project, including staff and budgetary management and working directly with the NHLF fund manager. Support staff with the conclusion of contracts (March and May 2026), ensuring wellbeing of staff during transition periods, and smooth conclusions and handovers of the project. Complete both the funder's evaluation report and external documentation, managing the contracted designer to deliver a high-quality product. Work closely with the Wilder Lives manager who manages the youth workstream of this project.
- Project manage the engagement of the Two Moors Pine Martens Bounce Back project.This is a partnership project led by Devon Wildlife Trust, concluding in March 2027. Manage the Exmoor Pine Marten Engagement Officer, ensuring effective time management and delivery of agreed outputs for this NHLF-funded project. Work closely with DWT colleagues and wider partners, including sitting on appropriate working groups.
- Encourage and support an ongoing countywide network of communities and leaders contributing to the Nature Recovery Network, including the delivery of core events (Wilder Together and Wilder Matters), supporting regional network and forums, and cultivating a culture of reciprocation and the “Team Wilder ethos” both amongst communities and colleagues.
Responsibility 2: Resources, advice and communications
- Work closely with the Communications Team to engage diverse audiences to grow a community of people taking action for nature, developing creative content that inspires people to take action through the use of digital channels, magazine and press.
- Oversee the Team Wilder inbox. Managing and supporting colleagues to handle enquiries, triaging land advice enquiries to other colleagues, directing to resources and offering initial community and land management advice.
- Manage the community ecologist and community officer to offer initial site visits and baseline assessments for schools and community sites, in collaboration with nature recovery colleagues, volunteers and SWTC. With your grounding in ecology, you will be able to support colleagues to deliver appropriate advice for a community context, and have an understanding of the function and remit of different teams within SWT.
- Work with other staff, volunteers and external experts, to oversee the creation, delivery and direction of training resources including written advice, courses and webinars that meet the needs of Wilder Communities and Leaders.
- Lead on the creation of high-quality and engaging content for various newsletters and other external communications to inform audiences of what we are doing and how they can take action for nature.
- Act as a strong advocate for the Trust and Team Wilder in external communications, highlighting the importance of nature for wildlife and people and promoting pro-environmental behaviours.
Responsibility 3: Impact and influence
- Work with the Head of Engagement and others to deliver impact and outcome monitoring frameworks that highlight people’s values and behaviour change over time, supporting data collection and analysis.
- Sit on the Wildlife Trust movement-wide meetings and collaborations to represent SWT, share, learn and improve.
- Work collaboratively with partners including councils, neighbouring Trusts and other NGOs, to deliver key partnership projects and strategies in Somerset.
- Work closely with colleagues in the Nature Recovery Team, Reserves Team and Somerset Environmental Records Centre to ensure “Team Wilder” delivers Somerset’s Nature Recovery Network and citizen science programmes that contribute to Somerset State of Nature
- Provide leadership and guidance to others within SWT to enable them to understand their role in “Team Wilder” and support them to deliver on this strategic goal within their work area.
- Ensure our work is representative of our communities and proactively looks to engage across diverse groups of people and is fully inclusive, helping us to deliver our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan.
- Contribute to wider fundraising and bid writing, to build capacity to deliver Team Wilder across the county.
This is a Full-time position (37.5 hours per week), but we will consider part-time (3-4 days a week) for the right candidate with responsibilities revised accordingly.
This role is not suitable for job sharing.
Based at our Taunton office with opportunities for home working. Evening, weekends and county-wide travel occasionally required.
Application Process
Please complete the application form below and send with your CV to recruitment@somersetwildlife.org
For further information on the role contact Becky Fisher, Head of Engagement becky.fisher@Somersetwildlife.org.
We offer some fantastic benefits including:
- 7% employer pension contribution
- Life assurance
- An annual professional institution subscription if applicable
- Flexible and agile working
- Wellbeing support – EAP, wellbeing champions
- Diversity networks through RSWT/TWT
- Paid volunteer days
- Continuous Professional Development opportunities
- 33 days of holiday (25 + bank holidays)
- Staff social calendar and events
The opportunity to make a real and positive difference to nature, communities and the climate