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Communications and engagement officer
Communications and engagement officer
12 month temporary contract (ends Feb 2026)
Job Ref: V536
Hours/Days per week: (0.6 FTE) 21 hours per week (Flexible days/hours based on project need)
Salary: £17,400 plus attractive employee benefits package (£29k pro rata)
Start date: ASAP
Location: Blackpool (home-based) with regular in-person activity in community settings
Closing date: 12 midnight Sunday 23rd February
Interview date and Location: w/c 24 Feb 2025 online TBC
'Due to the time limited nature of this role, we may contact and interview strong candidates before the stated deadline. We therefore encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible.'
Volunteering Matters
At Volunteering Matters we use volunteering s unique power to bring people together and build stronger, more resilient communities across the UK.
We bring people together to resolve some of society s most complex issues. From social isolation and loneliness; improving health and wellbeing; building skills, confidence, and opportunity; to ensuring young people can become change makers in their community, the impact that we make is great. And we won t stop until everyone in the UK has the opportunity to thrive.
People-led and impact driven, we are a national charity that is deeply embedded in local areas across the UK. We operate in five regions: London and the South East; Wales and the West of England; East of England; the Midlands and North West England; and Scotland and North East England. We also have an Employee Volunteering Team with over 25 years experience, acting as a broker to provide tailor-made solutions to employers. We turn local knowledge and energy into action and progress, building stronger communities and a better future for all.
This is an exciting time to be joining the team. We re changing the way we work to meet new ambitions and make sure our impact continues to grow alongside out business.
Job Purpose:
Hosted by Volunteering Matters, the Communications and engagement officer will support the Movement s place-based social action efforts, focusing on Blackpool and working closely with local partner United Youth Alliance. This part-time, 12-month role will build relationships with young people and local partners, generate compelling stories, and support communications strategies that amplify youth social action in the region. This role works as part of the wider team from Volunteering Matters and UK Youth, and reports to the Head of Partnerships and Impact.
UYA is dedicated to working with the movement to amplify the authentic voices of young people, champion social action, and facilitate youth agency across the Fylde Coast. We believe that when young people are given the platform and support to lead change, they create meaningful impact in their communities. Through this commitment, we aim to foster a culture of youth-led action, ensuring their voices are heard, valued, and translated into real opportunities for influence and development. This role is central in helping UYA facilitate this.
Deborah Terras, Director, United Youth Alliance
The role requires a hands-on communicator who is passionate about profiling young people s voices and creating opportunities for collaboration. You ll work with local partners, including the United Youth Alliance, to showcase the impact of youth social action, help generate support for the movement in Blackpool, and profile learning, impact and successes back into the wider Movement.
For the role to be truly transformational the Communications and Engagement Officer will need to:
• Believe in the Power of Youth.
• Be a key advocate for the views and experiences of young people, using the role to work with and platform young people.
• Be a natural connector, building relationships and alliances within the local community.
• Always maintain total independence in the spirit of the movement, serving young people and their youth social action first, wherever that may be.
• Be willing to enable and platform young people to tell their own stories, even if abdicating personal power.
• Ensure that young people s views, experiences, and work is communicated clearly to wider stakeholders to inform the evolution of .
Key Duties:
1. Communications
Strategy Development:
• Co-develop and implement a place-based communications strategy for Blackpool, in collaboration with the Digital Communications Manager.
• Ensure local communications align with national messaging and campaign moments.
Content Creation:
• Generate engaging stories, case studies, and digital content featuring young people and local partners.
• Work with young people to create and share their own content, empowering them to tell their stories.
Digital and Media Engagement:
• Profile local activities and partnerships, creating content and stories for social media and other digital platforms.
• Build relationships with local media to amplify the work of young people and partners in Blackpool
2. Engagement
Partner Collaboration:
• Work with the Head of Partnerships and Impact and our local delivery partners to identify opportunities to profile local organisations who demonstrate a commitment to the Power of Youth.
• Attend online and in-person meetings with local partners in Blackpool to profile their work.
• Generate partner commitment to campaigns and initiatives, such as Week.
• Work collaboratively with local lead delivery partner to deliver communications and engagement strategies that showcase their partnerships and impact.
Youth Engagement:
• Build relationships with young people, including attending evening sessions in Blackpool, to create authentic, representative content.
• Support young people in participating in campaigns and initiatives, such as Power of Youth Day.
Event Organisation:
• Work with local partners to plan, administer and deliver events that showcase youth social action and foster collaboration in the community.
3. National Collaboration:
• Work as part of the central coordination hub to align local work with national campaigns, including Week and Power of Youth Day.
• Contribute to national reporting and evaluations, ensuring local impact is recognised.
Experience, skills and attributes:
Essential:
• Experience developing and delivering communications strategies.
• Proven ability to create compelling digital content for a variety of audiences.
• Strong relationship-building skills with young people and partners.
• Proficiency in managing social media platforms and working with traditional media.
• Experience in organising events and stakeholder engagement.
• Strong writing and storytelling skills, with a focus on amplifying marginalised voices.
• Comfortable working flexibly, including occasional evenings and travel within the UK.
Desirable:
• Experience working in the youth, voluntary, or community sectors.
• Knowledge of campaign management and evaluation.
• Familiarity with website CMS (e.g. WordPress) and digital content accessibility standards.
Primarily home-based, the role will require regular in-person activity in Blackpool, and occasional travel to London, and elsewhere in the UK. Flexible working hours will be required to accommodate evening sessions and in-person meetings in Blackpool and the Fylde with partners and young people.
The role requires reliable internet access, and ability to work independently whilst also part of a busy remote team. The role is part of the UK wide team and will report to the Head of Partnerships and Impact, and work closely with the Digital Communications Manager. Duties may vary in line with the needs of the Movement as appropriate.
I.T. equipment and infrastructure will be supplied. This is a 12-month fixed-term role, part time 21 hours per week. Secondments and job shares will be considered. The role will require a DBS check.
Our Values & Way of Working:
In all that we do, we embrace a philosophy of Freedom within a Framework and are guided by our values: Empowering, Inclusive, Compassionate, Positive & Straightforward.
This job description is intended to include the broad range of responsibilities and requirements of the post. It is neither exhaustive nor exclusive but while some variations will be expected, these will be at an appropriate level for the role.
Diversity & Inclusion
Volunteering Matters welcomes all applicants and are keen to ensure our team reflects the diversity of the UK and the communities we serve. We encourage applications from disabled, LGBT and Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnic backgrounds, along with candidates with any protected characteristics and from disadvantaged groups.
Disability Confident & Reasonable Adjustments:
We guarantee to interview anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the role. Please provide evidence in your application, which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required in the Experience/Skills section of this advert. To be considered for a guaranteed interview or to discuss any reasonable adjustments during the process, please state this in your application.
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