Senior Communications Officer

King’s College London is one of the world’s top universities. With an ambitious vision, effective communications with key audiences, including with our staff and students, is crucial. As a Senior Communications Officer for the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, you will work across six Schools, the Centre for Education and Faculty Office, in managing communications to staff and students, including on the Faculty’s webpages, ensuring consistency and engagement in messaging. As part of the Faculty Communications team, you will work with colleagues to identify, research and develop great stories on King’s research, teaching and student success and tell these stories through digital and social media, compelling internal campaigns, launches and activities to inspire, engage and build King’s reputation for excellence.

What you’ll need to succeed  You’ll be a dynamic, driven person with an ability to engage with a range of colleagues, a good awareness of higher education and excellent communications skills. To be successful in this role you will have experience in a similar role within a communication team and will be able to demonstrate success of working on websites, implementing campaigns and engaging internal audiences. We need a confident self-starter, who works well under pressure and who uses strategic thinking, initiative and common sense to construct and implement communications plans and tackle any problems. The ability to build effective relationships is essential.

This post will be offered on an a fixed-term contract for 12 months as a secondment opportunity.

This is a full-time post

•         To ensure effective cascade and dissemination of university-wide messaging on areas of strategic importance.

•         To develop a clear and integrated staff and student engagement strategy working with key colleagues from across the Faculty and university. 

•         To promote the Faculty and the range of its activities primarily to internal audiences through effective reputation management and promotion of Faculty using a range of media, including web, social media and e-newsletters 

•         To provide communications expertise to support change projects  

•         To lead significant internal and external engagement events, such as Executive Dean’s forums and Inaugural Lectures 

•         To lead on cross-Faculty communications projects, such as the website and the intranet  

•         To support communications for significant Faculty initiatives and announcements, including those from the Executive Dean and senior leadership, Development, Diversity & Inclusion and the Centre for Education. 

•         To embed the Faculty’s visual identity and ensure coherence of communications and messaging across its Schools and departments, in line with the Faculty’s business plan and King’s Strategic Vision 2029. 

The post holder will have joint management responsibilities for the Communications Assistant who will support the team in all aspects of the Faculty’s communications activities.

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.  

Essential criteria  

1.       Educated to degree level or equivalent experience 

2.       Excellent standard of English (e.g. A Level standard) 

3.       Thorough knowledge of a broad range of communications activities (media, websites, events, marketing, social media, publications). 

4.       Proven track record of devising successful communication strategies. Excellent communication skills, both written and oral with a proven ability to adapt style for a variety of channels and audiences. 

5.       Excellent IT skills (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, databases and social media). 

6.       Proven ability to research and identify communications opportunities with effective project management skills 

7.       Experience of developing and implementing communications strategies using digital and traditional media. 

8.       Experience of designing and developing webpages, writing and publishing content to online digital platforms including podcasts and videos – providing training and support where necessary. Experience of working with e-communications, including the preparation and distribution of e-newsletters/bulletins. 

9.       Ability to comprehend complex situations quickly, providing creative solutions to ensure results are achieved and objectives are met. Ability to manage time effectively, work flexibly and prioritise workload. 

10.     Collaborative attitude to work, supporting others, demonstrating tact and diplomacy. Ability to build effective links and relationships with a range of stakeholders. 

11.     Take a proactive approach to work, knowing when to work independently and flexibly but also when best to work as part of a team. Enthusiastic self-starter with a positive and determined approach 

Desirable criteria 

1.       Knowledge and experience of working in the higher education sector 

2.       Experience of line management 

3.       A professional qualification in communications, public relations or marketing 

4.       Budget management