Job title: Communications Manager

Reporting to: Director of Fundraising and Communications

Days/Hours: Flexible between 30-37.5 hours a week

Salary £30,000 - £33,000

Contract type: Permanent

Terms: 25 days Holiday (exc. Bank Holidays) pro rata, 5% pension contribution

Work with: Fundraising, Volunteering, Food Sourcing, Senior Leadership and Community Membership teams

Responsible for: Fundraising and Communications Officer

As the region’s biggest food charity, FareShare South West fights hunger by tackling food waste. We collaborate with producers, growers, and manufacturers across the food industry to stop thousands of tonnes of good-quality food from being thrown away, and instead redistribute it around the South West, to charities, schools and other community groups who turn it into meals for vulnerable people.

As Communications Manager at FareShare South West, you will join us at an exciting time as we expand the scope of our work to meet the growing needs of individuals and families struggling in the cost-of-living crisis. We are looking for a self-motivated, creative, and passionate communications professional to take the lead in managing our communications activities and inspire positive action.

Purpose:

As Communications Manager you will be responsible for managing FareShare South West’s core communications activities, alongside coordinating comms support to all FareShare South West teams. You will build engagement with our work from across our communities, increasing support, raising awareness of the need for and impact of our work in tackling hunger, food waste and unemployment, and building our reputation as the region’s biggest food charity. This role will provide expert delivery of comms activity, combined with resourcing and equipping every team to communicate optimally.

Job description

At FareShare South West you will…

Develop and implement communications strategies that support FareShare South West’s long-term plans for sustainable growth.
Support the development of FareShare South West’s brand identity and reach, capturing hearts and minds and clearly communicating our mission and impact.
Build a comms culture among staff across our two regions, providing relevant training and materials to enable efficient, confident, and proactive comms across all teams.
Be a trusted leader for the communication needs of different departments - Fundraising, Membership, Volunteering, Food Sourcing and Senior Leadership - identifying and fulfilling their comms needs. This can vary from creating strategies and comms for volunteer recruitment to coordinating inspiring comms using multiple channels for our holiday hunger fundraising appeal.
Build and develop relationships with communications contacts at our network partner, FareShare UK, and other key partners across the food poverty, employability, and climate action networks.
Be responsible for developing our website and coordinating compelling content to reflect new programmes and inspire action.
Lead on all external comms including social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn), PR, and the creation of marketing materials including newsletters, posters and more.
Lead on internal communications across our regions, supporting the team cohesion, high morale, and consistent, relevant messaging that makes FareShare South West a great place to work.
Coordinate the capture and management of a bank of stories, graphics, testimonials, videos, and photos to bring our impact to life.
Maintain a communications schedule to ensure timely publication of news and posts.
Proactively look for new, innovative ways to improve our communications channels, processes, and systems
Responsible for upholding GDPR guidelines and best practice across comms work
Draft monthly comms reports for the Board of Trustees.
Be a passionate representative and advocate of FareShare South West to all our internal and external stakeholders.

Additional duties

Occasional representation of FSSW at events.
Occasional travel to areas of the South West and other regions across the UK to attend media opportunities and build good relationships with colleagues and partners.

Person Specification

Essential

Experience of working in a busy communications role preferably in a fundraising environment/with fundraisers.
Experience of communicating at a high level, both verbally and in writing, with the ability to adapt styles to meet the needs of different partners and audiences.
Experience of devising, delivering, and evaluating communications campaigns and strategies.
Ability to network and form effective and constructive working relationships across the organisation and with key external stakeholders.
Experience of collaboration across departments and motivating colleagues to achieve the teams’ ambitions.
Good working knowledge of digital and print marketing, with a strong eye for design
Strong understanding of GDPR and its application in comms
Strong understanding of brand
Ability to respect and uphold our values of compassion, impact, and innovation.

Desirable