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Public Relations and Communications Officer vacancy
We are looking for a confident and enthusiastic PR & Communications Officer to help promote our work to the seafood industry and broader stakeholders.
Location: You’ll be based at our Edinburgh office but can take advantage of a flexible work environment, including the option to work from home.
Salary: The starting salary for this role is £28,568.
What it’s like to work in the communications team at Seafish
About Seafish
Seafish is here to give the UK seafood sector the support it needs to thrive. Our work makes a huge difference.
We collaborate with a wide range of partners – from seafood businesses and trade bodies to government, regulators and environmental organisations – and we engage in everything from research to campaigns, insight and training.
About the Communications Team
It’s the job of the Seafish communications team to promote the work we do to all of our stakeholders which include our staff, our levy payers, the wider seafood industry and policymakers.
The Seafish communications team provides colleagues working across seven industry priority areas with the support they need to amplify their positive work to a wider audience.
The team is made up of two functions: a PR and communications function focused on campaign management, internal communications and content creation.
There is also a channels function focused on the management of digital channels, brand and analytics, CRM and email marketing.
We are a busy department and also regularly manage media requests from mainstream and trade titles and broadcasters.
How we work
At Seafish we operate a Trust and Performance working environment which focuses on performance - both what you do and how you go about achieving it.
We don’t measure time in our Trust and Performance culture, instead we measure delivery. Working in this way means you have autonomy and accountability in equal parts and can work in a way that is most effective for you, as long as your work gets delivered to agreed standards.
You’ll have a personal development plan which clearly outlines the objectives and competencies for your role and your learning and development goals. You’ll also have regular catch ups with your line manager, along with mid-year and end of year reviews to formally discuss your performance, competencies and professional growth.
We have a hybrid working environment at Seafish with opportunities for staff to get together at internal conferences and events.
Job role, responsibilities and relationships
The primary responsibility of this role is to plan and execute external PR and communications campaigns and content, with the goal of enhancing the reputation of the UK seafood industry and effectively promoting our work to key stakeholders.
The main dimensions of the role are:
Planning, delivering and evaluating communications campaigns to promote our work to the seafood industry and wider stakeholders.
Creating engaging and accessible content across owned, earned and paid channels, with a focus on making complex information easier to understand.
Identifying story and content opportunities across the organisation and externally.
Key accountabilities will be:
Working with the PR and Communications function to plan and deliver campaigns and content across a range of seafood related topics that meet organisational and project objectives.
Collaborating with colleagues in the Channels function to ensure that our content generates awareness and engagement based on audience and channel insight and objectives.
Drafting content for use across all channels – including press releases, features, webpages, blogs, emails and social media posts – ensuring it meets accessibility standards, is in line with our tone of voice and includes key messages.
Working with colleagues and using insight to identify information or pages on our website that need to be updated or deleted.
Working with colleagues to help them develop stakeholder engagement plans for projects.
Project management ensuring all activities are completed on time, objectives are met and stakeholder satisfaction rates increase.
Being a strong team player in the Communications team, supporting the wider delivery of communications and marketing work and achievement of priorities as required.
Additional responsibilities will be:
Planning and organising
Planning across multiple timescales and multiple channels.
Providing information on updates and announcements for external comms calendar and social media calendar.
Managing own workload and priorities on a day-to-day basis.
Using Seafish project management and reporting processes.
Organising and delivering work via SharePoint and Microsoft Teams channels.
Decision making and judgement
Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines.
Editorial judgement in creating content for Seafish channels for different audiences.
Ability to make sound judgements when responding to enquiries internally and externally.
Recognise when to escalate an issue or problem.
Essential working relationships will include:
Internal relationships
Reporting to the PR and Communications Manager, while working closely with the Head of Communications and all other members of the wider Communications team (in both Comms and Channels functions).
Regular communication with other Seafish teams and colleagues when developing content and providing PR support.
External relationships
Communication with external stakeholders when developing and sharing campaigns and content, responding to stakeholder enquiries as and when they come in.
Media relations - developing and maintaining positive relationships with key journalists, pitching ideas to win coverage and responding to media enquiries.
Engaging with appointed suppliers, agencies and contractors for projects.
Acting as a representative of Seafish at events or when capturing content – must be a confident communicator with the ability to talk to all sectors of the industry and with people at all levels.
Staff at a previous Seafish conference.
Knowledge, skills and experience required
To be a suitable candidate for this role you should have:
Essential
Demonstrated hands-on experience in a PR and Communications role.
Experience of planning and delivering impactful and measurable PR campaigns and projects.
Experience of creating engaging and effective content based on audience insight.
Experience of media relations.
Excellent copywriting skills with the ability take complex information and write it in plain English, experience of writing for a B2B audience is essential.
Intermediate project management skills to ensure projects are delivered on time and issues escalated as required.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills, fostering collaboration and strong relationships with teams and stakeholders.
Competence in using SharePoint and the Microsoft Office suite of programmes (Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
Desirable
Knowledge of the seafood industry would be an advantage but is not essential.
Special features of the role:
Some travel is required for this role.
Working with team face-to-face and remotely
Opportunities to visit the seafood industry on site
Every role is Seafish is linked to our bespoke competency framework. The competency levels for this role are:
Growing Expertise – Seeks out opportunities to develop and expand knowledge base.
Embracing Change – Shows ability to adapt to change
Building Relationships – Builds links with others to develop and deliver the best solutions
Achieving Results – Overcomes challenges to achieve quality results
Influencing with Impact – Communicates complex messages
Salary and benefits
All roles within Seafish are graded and have defined salary bands. This role is a grade 3 post, and the starting salary is £28,568.
A new member’s appointment on the pay spine is dependent on the experience they bring to the role when they start. New candidates normally start at the lower end of the range unless they can demonstrate considerable experience in the requirements of the role.
Additional benefits include:
25 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays and wellbeing break when the organisation closes between Christmas and New Year (3 additional days).
Optional five days per year paid volunteering leave for an activity of your choice.
Trust and Performance culture – you work in a way that suits you to get your work done to the expected standard.
A generous employer pension scheme – we'll double your contribution up to a maximum employer contribution of 10%.
A range of health and wellbeing benefits including the Cycle to Work scheme, private medical insurance, gym discounts and eye care.
Our unlimited employee assistance scheme is a support service available 24/7 – it offers confidential, impartial advice on anything you need such as work, family, finance support or anything else personal to you.
A professional development culture with plenty of learning opportunities.
Rewards for high performance each year.
Application process
To apply for the post, you should email your application to recruitment@seafish.co.uk. Please include PR and Communications Officer in the subject line of your email.
Your application should include:
A covering letter or a short video explaining why you are a suitable candidate.
A recent copy of your CV so we can find out more about your skills and experience.
The deadline for applications is Sunday 12th January 2025.
Candidates invited to interview will be given at least one weeks’ notice of proposed interview date to allow you to prepare. At this stage you might be asked to complete a short task in advance of interview and then answer some competency-based questions during interview.
If you need any accommodations or adjustments during our recruitment and selection process, please reach out to us.
While we welcome applications from candidates around the world, applicants must have the legal right to work in the UK.
Further information
For any queries about the job description or the salary and benefits on offer, please email recruitment@seafish.co.uk.
