Communications Specialist

At University of Hull, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in University of Hull workplace. These include people from global majority backgrounds; people who have a declared disability; LGBTQI+ people; & women particularly for our Grade 9 and 10 roles.

About Us:

At the University of Hull, we’ve been challenging people to think differently for almost 100 years. At Hull you can expect academic excellence, state of the art facilities and the chance to play your part in tackling the big issues facing humanity. We are research leaders in clean energy, flood resilience, cancer & wound care and the fight against modern slavery. We change the world for the better.

Working in collaboration with colleagues internally & externally our growing Communications team (part of our Marketing and Student Services Recruitment team) strives to tell our story and build our reputation, across a range of audiences and channels and in line with our new identity and brand.

About the role

The Corporate Communications Specialist will lead on allocated campaigns & activities, respond to critical incidents and be one of the first ports of call for media enquiries. In addition, the role holder will be required to write and distribute press releases, organise and manage press calls and produce reports. 

Specific Duties and Responsibilities:

• Manage allocated communications campaigns. This requires close collaboration with colleagues across Communications and others to maximise engagement opportunities for all audiences. Including creating and overseeing relevant and engaging content to support these campaigns and monitoring and feeding back on the effectiveness of activities to stakeholders across the University, including senior leaders.
• Create engaging, relevant content for a range of channels and audiences, including media releases & website content and press statements. These should be produced in accordance with the University’s new identity and brand.
• Implement a system whereby these statements are stored for easy retrieval by others in the team.
• Arrange press interviews, media calls and respond to incoming enquiries from journalists.
• Build and maintain a database of relationships with relevant journalists and keep them engaged & informed about the work of the University of Hull.
• Use organisational tools or task management software for time management and to work in conjunction with the wider Communications Team
• Respond to critical incidents, as directed by the Senior Corporate Communications Manager.
• Lead the effective monitoring, evaluation and reporting on engagement with media and external stakeholders. Use this insight to produce reports to senior leaders and create and deliver continuous improvement.
• Be a trusted communications advisor, providing advice and support on how to share information, initiatives, and activities with the University community. Use initiative to solve problems, build collaborations and highlight potential reputational risks & clashes to colleagues, including senior managers & leaders. 
• Build proactive & collaborative relationships with colleagues across the institution, including, but not limited to, colleagues in Communications and the Marketing and Student Recruitment Services, colleagues in HR and the University Leadership team to understand priorities and deliver objectives.  

Please see attached Job Description for more information about the post.

For an informal conversation regarding the position please contact:

Katie Knass k.knass@hull.ac.uk

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