Water Witness is seeking a Senior Communications Lead

We are seeking an energetic and enthusiastic individual to lead our communications function in our small but mighty team.

We need an experienced, innovative and proactive comms all-rounder with a passion for our mission, and the ability to reach audiences with the right information, in the right way, in the right place and at the right time to activate public demand and political action- for a fair water future for all.

This senior role will lead our press, social media, content and digital approaches to grow awareness in key audiences, build our brand, land our policy asks, collaborate with our partners and networks, and deliver measurable public and political engagement.

You’ll bring your talent for identifying and landing press stories, your experience of creating great content that cuts through, and your expertise in purposeful storytelling that informs, inspires and engages target audiences. We’ll support you with development opportunities, trust in your authority, and a brilliant working culture with a bundle of staff benefits. We live our core values: Justice, Tenacity, Truth and play to our strengths: Strategic, Resilient, Influential &Trusted.

If you’re an experienced NGO comms professional or journalist who can demonstrate a track record of comms that influence real world change, we want to hear from you. Even if you don’t match every single one of the items on the person spec, please tell us about your relevant experience and transferrable skills.

Positive Help is a well-established, third sector service provider – a registered charity – based in central Edinburgh. We have almost 40 years’ experience of supporting adults, children and families living with /affected by HIV and or Hepatitis C.

With the support of a cohort of trained and supervised volunteers, we provide a range of services to help people who have complex needs live fulfilling, healthy lives in the community.

We are now looking for a Temporary Children’s Services Manager with proven experience of working in a leadership role to join our dedicated team to provide maternity cover for the existing postholder as we further develop the organisation. We work from our centrally situated office in Edinburgh, although there is the option to work from home depending on business need.

The ideal candidate will have the skills and experience we need to help us deliver our children’s services – specifically Befriending, and Study Buddies Services - and the wider organisation effectively and efficiently and have a genuine interest in this very rewarding work.

As a member of our leadership team, you will play a key role in ensuring that children and their parents receive the right support from us and others timeously, and that volunteers are appropriately matched and well supported / supervised to maintain a high standard of practice and satisfaction.

You will be outcome focussed and have a keen interest in demonstrating the impact of services as well as working across boundaries and developing and sustaining positive relationships with internal colleagues, volunteers, partner agencies, referrers and a wide range of stakeholders.

You will have experience of managing or coordinating projects inspiring people to work together towards shared goals. You will be a problem-solver with an empathic approach, and excellent communication skills.

Our work can be challenging though highly rewarding. Therefore, you will need to be motivated, ambitious and self-organised, and be prepared to play a part in our on-going organisational development.

In return, we offer you a supportive working environment, 25 days annual leave and 10 public holidays (both pro rata if you work less than full time), plus an employer contributory pension scheme.

Our operational hours are 9am to 5pm. However, occasional work on Monday to Thursday (up to 6:30 pm) and Saturday (up to 3:00 pm) is required on a rotational basis as part of our telephone on-call rota to support volunteers. There are also occasional volunteer training sessions in the evenings and on Saturdays. All such out-of-hours working is planned and shared across the team.

It’s a great time to join Positive Help and be part of our journey toward an even brighter future. If you are excited by what you have read so far and think you have what it takes to be an outstanding member of our team, albeit on a temporary basis, then please read our job specification for more information, and look at our website.

We look forward to receiving your application.

Finding strength through support.

The Stroke Association is the only charity in the UK providing lifelong support for all stroke survivors and their families. We provide tailored support to tens of thousands of stroke survivors each year. This support includes one-to-one and group support, funding vital scientific research into stroke prevention, acute treatment, recovery and long-term care, and campaigning to secure the best care for everyone affected by stroke.

We’re here for stroke survivors and their loved ones, from the moment they enter the new and frightening post-stroke world, supporting them every step of the way as they find their strength and their way back to life.

It’s only thanks to the generosity of our supporters and donors that we can provide vital support.

Stroke Association is driven by our ambition to improve the lives of everyone affected by stroke. This means we’re determined to create an equitable and inclusive workplace that benefits from the difference, and thrives on the diversity, of our people. Guided by Our approach to solving inequity in stroke, we are prioritising listening to, and learning from, lived experience across our charity.

We are working to improve the representation of this lived experience at all levels within the Stroke Association and we are eager to recruit applicants from a variety of communities and backgrounds. We are keen to receive applications from people affected by stroke, people of colour, members of LGBT+ communities, and disabled people because these identities and experiences are underrepresented and would add enormous value to how we work.

We are a Disability Confident employer, and we are making great progress focusing on flexible working, reasonable adjustments and access to work. Our charity has a variety of staff network groups, and we're committed to continuously improving our diversity and inclusion efforts. If you have questions, or access needs, we’re happy to discuss any support and adjustments we can make throughout the recruitment process so that you’re able to contribute your best in a way that meets your needs.

We’re looking for an enthusiastic and motivated individual to join the Engagement Team in Scotland. As this post will cover the Highlands of Scotland, ideally you will be based in that region.

Reporting to the Engagement Lead for Scotland the (Engagement Officer) will raise awareness of stroke and our support offers, engage with key stakeholders to gain a better understanding of the needs of stroke survivors in rural communities across the Highlands to develop a model of approach that can be utilised to reach more stroke survivors and their families across rural Scotland.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Raising awareness of our universal services and resources with stroke survivors and carers.
• Working with both primary and secondary care healthcare professionals, ensuring they know what resources and services are available to signpost patients to, including our Helpline, telephone befriending, online community and activities.
• Listening to a wide network of stakeholders, including charities, healthcare professionals and community networks, to raise the profile of stroke and create a report on identified local needs.
• Gaining a better understanding of the best way to reach and support people affected by stroke in remote and rural communities, informing our work nationally.
• Identifying and recruiting stroke survivors/carers who are willing to share their lived experience and act as Connectors.
• Helping Connectors set up and run novel support services (e.g café groups, cooking classes) in their local community.

You will have experience of:

• Working with and supporting a wide range of stakeholders
• Managing and developing volunteers
• Working with support groups
• Supporting networks
• Working in partnerships with other organisations including those in the voluntary sector, health and social care
• Working in advocacy, campaigning, community engagement and development
• Developing support using co-production with service users
• Collecting data and producing reports
• Being adaptive to best meet the needs of the people we support
• Knowledge of key policies including General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), safeguarding and health and safety
• Addressing health inequalities and championing diversity internally and externally
• Excellent IT skills
• Excellent communication skills, including confident public speaking skills
• Behaviours and Competencies

This role requires extensive travel across the Highlands. Candidates must be able to demonstrate how they can meet this requirement of the role.

To fulfil the role, applicants must be based in the Scottish Highlands and have the right to work in the Scotland.

Use your skills and experience to save endangered species from extinction and improve people's lives through closer connection with nature. Join our small but highly successful fundraising team based in the heart of Edinburgh Zoo and you'll have an amazing opportunity to make an impact on conservation in Scotland and around the world.

The role:

Building on a successful individual giving programme at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), this role focuses on developing a new legacy and in-memory giving programme, encompassing marketing campaigns, stewardship, legacy administration and events.

This is permanent, part time role (22.5 hours per week) based at Edinburgh Zoo, but working across both sites which also covers Highland Wildlife Park.

Some of the things you’ll do:

• Work with the Fundraising Manager to develop and deliver compelling new legacy and in-memory giving campaigns for RZSS.
• Liaise with relevant colleagues, including fundraising, marketing and communications teams, to gain insights into our audiences and help to prepare legacy and in-memory giving copy and messaging.
• Lead on activities to promote legacies and in memory giving across all relevant RZSS platforms, including our websites, digital channels, events and direct mail.
• Lead on the planning and promotion of legacies and in-memory giving through on-site collateral and signage at Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park
• Develop and manage fundraising data on the CRM system relating to legacy and in memorial giving, supervising other staff when necessary to ensure all data is entered correctly and kept up to date, producing reports upon request and ensuring that financial information is handled with sensitivity.
• Use supporter data to inform and improve the legacy and in memorial programme.
• Identify trends in fundraising and recommend opportunities to senior colleagues.

What we’re looking for:

• Educated to Degree level in relevant subject or equivalent level of experience in a similar role.
• CIOF Certificate of Fundraising or equivalent experience
• Extensive knowledge of donor cultivation and stewardship principles
• NEBOSH general certificate or equivalent qualification.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, e.g. producing creative materials for fundraising, with the ability to tailor complex information to a wide range of audiences/donors including those a senior level or requiring a sensitive approach
• Demonstrable experience of working in a similar role, meeting deadlines in a busy environment.

What you’ll get in return:

• Starting salary between £19,938 - £20,436 (offer based on experience / salary pro-rated based on 22.5hrs per week) with future salary progression up to £22,223 per annum (FTE £33,230 - £34,060 with future progression up to £37,038 per annum)
• 22.5hr working week (may require some occasional evening/weekend working)
  • Hybrid working option available
• 34 days annual leave (pro rata)
• Discount in both retail/catering
• Access to a healthcare plan
• Access to Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), that provide 24-hour counselling and support, including health, legal, finance, wellbeing and family advice.
• Employer contributory pension scheme
• You will receive a staff membership which will give you (and family/friends) free (and discounted) entry to both the Highland Wildlife Park and Edinburgh Zoo as well as a number of other Zoo’s across the UK.