Senior Communications Officer

At Smart Energy GB, we aim to engage and communicate with our diverse nation about the smart meter rollout across England, Scotland, and Wales. We are an independent organisation set up by the government to deliver the national public engagement campaign, raise awareness of smart meters and drive adoption of this technology in everyone's homes. Smart meters are essential building blocks in the creation of a cleaner, greener energy system for the future.

We are looking for a Senior Communications Officer, with experience supporting on the design and development of communications campaigns and writing and editing press release, articles, social content and other written material to a high standard of style and accuracy, to join our team in our London office!

Reporting to a Senior Communications Manager, you will contribute to all of the varied and interconnected aspects of the communications team’s work. In a typical week that could include bringing creativity and innovation to support the development of PR campaigns and content for a wide range of audiences. It might mean finding the perfect influencer account or trend to complement our campaigns. Or working to deliver innovative print, social or podcast content with a media partner.

Key tasks / responsibilities

• Work with the PR Manager and Senior PR Manager to develop and deliver creative PR campaigns, targeted to specific audience groups

o Produce campaign plans – including concepts, angles, media lists and approaches

o Project management – creating timing plans, managing schedules, adjusting and revising plans

o Arrange media interviews and create briefing materials for senior colleagues, talent and other spokespeople, preparing them in advance

• Contribute to the production of high quality and engaging communications resources and materials. Including, but not limited to:

o Accurate, clear and engaging media-friendly copy, press releases, Q&As and spokesperson briefs

o Planning and attending radio recording sessions, video shoots and photoshoots - providing guidance on messaging and tone, as well as delivering practical and logistical support

o Reviewing content for accuracy and providing constructive feedback on tone and style – including video, written materials (including advertorials, articles and press releases), social posts and influencer content

• Working collaboratively to deliver high-quality campaigns and content

o Building positive and productive working relationships with agencies and partners (including PR, media agencies, production companies, media partners, influencers and partner organisations)

o Proactively identifying opportunities to improve processes or ways of working within the communications team or with partners

o Working with colleagues across digital and other functions to ensure campaigns are delivered on time and effectively

o Attending and contributing to internal and/or external working groups and meetings

• Supporting evaluation and reporting

o Supporting the production of monthly comms evaluation and other analysis

o Supporting the delivery of internal and external reports and presentations that demonstrate the effectiveness of our communications work

• Perform other tasks as requested by senior colleagues
• Take part in the 24/7 duty press office rota (inc. out of hours).

Experience

Essential

• Supporting on the design and development of communications campaigns
• Writing and editing press release, articles, social content and other written material to a high standard of style and accuracy
• Managing projects independently
• Writing briefs and supporting spokespeople and talent during interviews or shoots
• Influencer campaigns – including selecting and briefing influencers, reviewing content and working alongside digital and media teams on boosting and whitelisting campaigns
• Cross communications campaigns - Experience of working on integrated, multi-channel campaigns and a good understanding of how influencer, social and paid media campaigns work with PR to create cohesive campaigns

Desirable

• Experience of briefing and working directly with digital or media teams to deliver targeted paid social campaigns - including reviewing results and implementing learnings to optimise future campaigns
• Experience of developing sponsored content with a media partner – such as advertorials, sponsored posts or podcasts

Skills and Competencies

• Creativity and curiosity – you should be keen to learn about the latest trends and news in our industry and sector, and enjoy coming up with great ideas for campaigns and content
• Collaboration – you should be able to work with and learn from a diverse range of colleagues and partners
• Proactive approach - you should be able to use your initiative and take full ownership of your projects, including thinking through campaign requirements and anticipating pinch points ahead of time
• Industry knowledge – you should have good understanding of the news and media environment and, in particular, how traditional media, social media and advertising work together to create holistic and impactful campaigns.
• Editorial skills – you should take pride in producing engaging, effective and accurate copy and content for a range of channels. You should be able to write and edit press releases, social content, scripts and articles to a high standard, have a great eye for detail and be able adapt your style an approach for a diverse range of audiences.
• Verbal communication skills – you should be a confident and effective communicator who enjoys engaging with people in a wide range of settings. You will be comfortable contributing ideas in meetings, representing the communications team and our work to internal and external stakeholders, briefing agencies, and working with case studies and talent.
• Appreciation of the objectives and activities of Smart Energy GB – tell us why you want to work here.
• Appreciation for the diversity of the people and communities of Great Britain – you should be able to demonstrate your commitment to embracing this diversity in your approach to work

To apply for the role

Please click 'apply' to be redirected to our careers page to submit your application. You will also see more information on who Smart Energy GB are and the benefits we offer to our employees.

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email iwanttojoin@smartenergygb.org. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use. An audio/visual version is also available upon request.

Diversity

Smart Energy GB is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity. We use data to measure the effectiveness of our attraction and selection methods to ensure that they are fair and equitable and that opportunities at Smart Energy GB are accessible to people from all backgrounds.

We actively encourage applications from currently under-represented groups. We have identified ethnic minority, lower socioeconomic backgrounds, disability and gender as the key areas we would like to focus our recruitment efforts.

What do we do to promote diversity and inclusion at Smart Energy GB?

Every person who applies for a role at Smart Energy GB is asked to complete a diversity questionnaire and they are asked whether or not they consent to their diversity data being taken into consideration at the shortlisting stage.

1. Rooney Rule

We are building a team that is able to understand the needs of and effectively communicate with the whole of our diverse nation. We want our team to reflect the diversity of the wider population, in terms of the representation of people from ethnic minority and lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

If consent is given, of the candidates who meet the essential selection criteria for the role and who are from ethnic minority or lower socio-economic backgrounds, at least one will be shortlisted for the next stage in the recruitment process, which is usually an interview.

2. Disability

All disabled applicants who meet the minimum requirements of the job as set out in the job description will be guaranteed an interview if consent is given for this data to be considered at the shortlisting stage.

Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to make our interview process or working environment more inclusive and to meet your particular needs. Our offices have full wheelchair access.