Senior Media Manager

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Senior Media Manager

Reports to: Head of Communications

Location: Currently operating hybrid working in our West London Office

Contract: Permanent

Pattern: Full Time (standard hours 9am - 5.30pm)

Closing date: 01/11/2024 at 10am

Interviews: w/c 04/11/2024

Salary: circa £65,000 (depending on experience)

About the role:

Now more than 20 years old, Ark is keen to do more to share insights and thought leadership across the education sector and beyond. There are some big challenges facing the education sector at the moment and Ark wants to do more to actively share our insights as well as ensure that we are the first-choice employer - especially for teachers.

The Senior Media Manager is a new role in the External Relations team. The Senior Media Manager will lead on proactive and reactive communications for Ark, actively identifying news from within Ark and then pitching and landing agenda-setting stories. With a particular focus on our cross-organisational programmes and ventures, you will be someone who thrives on setting the national agenda.

We are looking for someone with a good understanding of the education sector, great relationships with and understanding of relevant media, as well as an eye for a story. Excellent writing skills are essential. As someone shaping the voice of Ark, you will need to have great media, political and digital awareness, and be experienced at using a range of communication tools and channels.

Key Responsibilities:

• Devise a media strategy and public relations plan to drive the proactive production and promotion of Ark's work across national, regional and sector media
• Write press releases, pitches to journalists, op-eds and news stories to explain our work and position our experts in national, regional and sector media
• Hold relationships with national journalists to help secure in-depth, accurate and positive media coverage
• Prepare spokespeople for media interviews through briefings and practice interviews
• Manage the Ark press office, responding to journalist enquiries and preparing responses on behalf of the organisation
• Monitor key media and social channels to identify emerging issues and opportunities to engage in relevant debates
• Build relationships across the organisation to ensure that you are proactively identifying great stories and experts that can contribute to this work

Key Requirements:

• Right to work in the UK
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to convey messages to a range of audiences using various channels and voices
• Excellent writing skills, including the ability to write in a journalistic style with a simple, brisk and authentic voice
• Good understanding of and previous experience in the education sector
• Previous experience as a journalist, or in a press office or communications team, working with national media
• Someone who works well on a deadline and is willing to respond to issues at short notice, sometimes out of hours
• Confidence to build and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of people from inside and outside the organisation
• Interest in and understanding of the political and education sector landscapes and how government works

View the full job description and person specification here

About Ark

We're an international charity, transforming lives through education. We exist to give every young person, regardless of their background, a great education and real choices in life. In the UK, we're a network of 39 schools, educating around 30,000 pupils in areas where we can make the biggest difference and we're recognised as one of the highest achieving academy groups in the country. We want to change the lives of children everywhere, not just in our own schools. So, we create and incubate Ventures designed not only to help pupils in Ark schools, but also to improve education systems.

You'll be joining a group of like-minded, ambitious individuals who work collaboratively and are all committed to our core mission. Having just celebrated our 20 th anniversary, we are shaping our goals for the next 20 and there has never been a more exciting time to join us.

Benefits

• Our hybrid working model aims to offer the best of both worlds, striking the right balance between in-person collaboration and remote working. You will work a minimum of two days per week in our state-of-the-art office in West London allowing you to connect with colleagues, with the flexibility to work remotely, or in the office over the remaining days
• In addition to our current hybrid working arrangements, employees can request to work fully remotely for up to 10 working days a year, whether this be in the UK or abroad
• Our flexitime policy allows you to work your hours around our core hours of 10.00 - 16.00, helping you prioritise your work-life balance and personal commitments
• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, rising with each year of service up to 30 days after 3-years' service. This entitlement is pro rata for part time employees. This entitlement excludes bank holidays
• Full office closure between Christmas and New Year
• Regular social events, monthly free breakfast, and daily fruit
• As an Ark employee, you will have the opportunity to be part of the TPT (The Pension Trust) scheme, our workplace pension scheme where we make an 11% contribution; you are not required to contribute towards this scheme unless you choose to
• Access to high-quality professional learning throughout your career, offering both face-to-face sessions and a bespoke online learning platform
• Access to Ark Rewards scheme offering savings from over 3,000 major retailers, interest-free loans available for season tickets or a bike, gym discounts offering up to 40% off your local gym and free eye tests

How to Apply:

Apply with a CV and cover letter on our online recruitment portal. Applications to be submitted by Friday 1 st November 2024 at 10am but please note : we will be reviewing applications on an on-going basis and this advert may close earlier than advertised depending on the level of response.

This ATS application form should take no longer 20 minutes to complete. At any time, you can pause, save, and log back in. If you have any difficulty with meeting the deadline for application, please contact recruitment@arkonline.org

Interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised.

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants.

Ark requires all employees to undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non-disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment - this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred. To read more about Ark's safer recruitment process, please click this link .

We aim to build a diverse and inclusive organisation where everyone - staff and students - can do their best work and achieve their full potential. We want to reflect and represent diverse perspectives across our organisation because we know that doing so will make us stronger and more effective. To know more about Ark's diversity and inclusion commitments, please click on this link