Communications Manager, Media Freedom Coalition Secretariat

Join an exciting initiative that is supporting governments around the world to protect and promote media freedom!

The Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF) is the corporate foundation of Thomson Reuters, the global news and information services company. As an independent charity we work to advance media freedom, foster more inclusive economies, and promote human rights. We combine our unique media development and legal services to drive systemic change through news, capacity strengthening, free legal assistance, and convening initiatives.

TRF provides a Secretariat function to the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC). The MFC is a partnership of 50 countries from six continents working together to advocate for media freedom and the safety of journalists at home and abroad. The MFC works closely with civil society and a panel of legal experts, among others, to promote media freedom through a range of activities – including public and private diplomacy to support journalists at risk, coordinated action through embassies, events and the promotion of legal reforms. The MFC was established in 2019 while the Secretariat was established in 2022. More information about the MFC can be found here.

The MFC Secretariat plays a central role in maximising the impact of the Coalition. It does this in four areas:

• Administration and operations: delivering specific activities including events and briefings; supporting and coordinating responses to cases of concern (in which journalists and news organisations are facing threats to their reporting); supporting embassies to act on media freedom; organizing meetings and maintaining the MFC’s network of contacts;
• Communications: communicating the MFC’s activities and impact externally, via website, social media and mainstream media coverage; supporting public-facing events; keeping the MFC’s network informed about activities and opportunities to take action;
• Policies and strategy: ensuring policies and processes are in place to facilitate an efficient, effective and responsive coalition; supporting strategic decision making; monitoring the latest developments in the media freedom context;
• Monitoring and evaluation: tracking and understanding the MFC’s outcomes and impact, and learning lessons from this.

The Secretariat is supported by grants from Global Affairs Canada and the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office.

We are seeking a creative and resourceful Communications Manager to join our team. You will lead on the Secretariat’s communications function, both internally and externally, and will implement (and potentially improve on) our existing communications strategy. For the MFC, effective communications are not only about demonstrating the Coalition’s impact, they are also a way of encouraging and inspiring MFC member countries and their embassies to take action on media freedom. This means the Coalition’s communications are an essential component of its pathway to impact.

You will be required to engage with government representatives, diplomats, NGO leaders and some of the world’s finest legal practitioners as part of this role. You will look across the Coalition’s work and develop relationships with member countries and their embassies to identify human-centred stories that showcase the MFC’s work. The ideal candidate will be skilled at turning issues into stories and comfortable with taking the initiative and taking ownership of this area of the Secretariat’s work.

The role is based in Canary Wharf in London. The role is full time and you would be expected to attend TRF’s offices two or more days per week.

This is a 21-month fixed-term contract, starting 1 July 2024 or earlier, depending on availability. The contract may be extended beyond March 2026, conditional on further funds being secured for the Secretariat’s continued operation.

Some travel is anticipated as part of this role.

About The Role

As the Communications Manager you will:

• Research, develop, edit and write communications materials including impact stories and case studies for the MFC’s website and potentially other platforms, using multimedia options where appropriate
• Lead on the implementation of the MFC’s communications strategy, potentially making improvements to this, and tracking key performance indicators accordingly
• Manage the MFC’s website and social media channels (currently focused on Twitter/X) and monitor analytics/produce reports; manage upgrades to the MFC website in collaboration with TRF colleagues
• Curate and produce the MFC’s monthly network newsletter, which is sent to all MFC members and stakeholders
• Organise MFC events, online or in-person, and secure engaging speakers to feature in them
• Plan the MFC’s communications activities, taking account of communications opportunities such as anniversaries and international days
• Promote and maximise the impact of joint statements by MFC member countries, and monitor their impact
• Produce resources for member governments and their embassies, helping them to communicate on key media freedom issues
• Build relationships with media freedom organisations and networks to ensure wider communications reach and opportunities to collaborate
• Identify opportunities to feature the MFC within national/regional/international media as appropriate and build relationships to facilitate this
• Organise events (online or in-person) in collaboration with other members of the team, including developing content, finding speakers, and event coordination

About You

To be our Communications Manager, you will likely have:

• Solid experience in a communications role, producing communications outputs as part of a communications strategy
• Ability to write clear, concise and engaging copy with excellent attention to detail
• A diplomatic approach, including the ability to see issues from others’ perspectives and to spot and mitigate potential risks
• Ability to forge trusted relations with a wide range of cross-sector stakeholders
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to prioritise and manage multiple tasks with competing deadlines
• Fluency in English; other languages desirable but not necessary

It would be useful if you also have:

• Understanding of, or interest in, media freedom issues
• Experience of working with government officials (at any level)
• Experience working effectively as part of a remote team on collaborative initiatives

What’s in it For You?
You will join our inclusive culture of world-class talent, where we are committed to your personal and professional growth through:

• Hybrid Work Model: We’ve adopted a flexible hybrid working environment (2-3 days a week in the office depending on the role) for our office-based roles while delivering a seamless experience that is digitally and physically connected
• Wellbeing: Comprehensive benefit plans; flexible and supportive benefits for work-life balance: flexible vacation, two company-wide Mental Health Days Off; work from another location for up to a total of 8 weeks in a year, 4 of those weeks can be out of the country and the remaining in the country, Headspace app subscription; retirement, savings, tuition reimbursement, and employee incentive programs; resources for mental, physical, and financial wellbeing.
• Culture: Globally recognized and award-winning reputation for equality, diversity and inclusion, flexibility, work-life balance, and more.
• Learning & Development: LinkedIn Learning access; internal Talent Marketplace with opportunities to work on projects cross-company; Ten Thousand Coffees Thomson Reuters café networking.
• Social Impact: Ten employee-driven Business Resource Groups; two paid volunteer days annually; Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives for local and global impact.
• Purpose Driven Work: We have a superpower that we’ve never talked about with as much pride as we should – we are one of the only companies on the planet that helps its customers pursue justice, truth and transparency. Together, with the professionals and institutions we serve, we help uphold the rule of law, turn the wheels of commerce, catch bad actors, report the facts, and provide trusted, unbiased information to people all over the world.