Department/Team: Marketing and Commercial
Responsible to: Deputy Head of Communications
Contract: 18 months Fixed Term Contract with the possibility of extension based on business needs
Location: Mix of home working and from The Old Vic, 103 The Cut, London, SE1 8NB (min 3 office days)
Hours: Full-Time - 40 hours per week, Monday-Friday
The Old Vic offers the ability to work these flexibly under the guidelines in our Hybrid Working policy. Additional hours may be necessary in order to fulfil the requirements of the post.
Salary: £30,000 - £31,500
Benefits
* Hybrid working for eligible teams and a company culture that promotes good work/life balance
* Enhanced annual leave, starting at 25 days per year, increasing by one day per year up to 30 days (plus bank holidays). Opportunity to switch statutory bank holidays to mark a religious event or festival
* Complimentary tickets for you and a guest to Old Vic preview productions
* Discretionary invite to Press Night performances and parties
* Free therapy from our therapy partner SelfSpace
* Mental health support via our in-house Mental Health Champions
* Enhanced employer pension contributions with The People’s Pension
* Festive day – one discretionary additional paid day off around the festive period for a collective pause
* Time to volunteer – one day per year to support a charity or project of your choosing
* Commitment to learning, education and development
* Enhanced sick pay
* Access to interest-free travel schemes including Cycle 2 work and Season Ticket loans after your probation period
* Family friendly policies and enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption/shared parental pay
* All staff social events
* Staff discount in Penny and The Old Vic bars as well as discounts in local bars and restaurants
* Opportunities to get involved with staff clubs and working groups such as the Inclusion Working Group
* Buddy schemes including New Starter and Parental buddies to support your induction and return to work after parental leave.
Role Summary
The Communications Officer will report to the Deputy Head of Communications and work closely with the Marketing & Commercial team to maximise press opportunities and coverage in relation to productions, audience development initiatives, brand awareness, corporate affairs and fundraising campaigns.
Purpose of the job
* To support the Deputy Head of Communications in leading the organisation’s press output
* To support the Deputy Head of Communications in ensuring that The Old Vic has a vibrant, creative and engaging PR presence that acts as a gateway to the theatre and clearly communicates all aspects of the theatre’s work
* To lead on agreed press campaigns
* To protect The Old Vic brand at all times.
Areas of responsibility
Strategy
* To support the Deputy Head of Communications in ensuring that all outward facing communications remain of the highest standard and tonally on brand
* To support the Deputy Head of Communications in ensuring that all communications and PR outputs support wider organisational strategic aims for brand awareness, audience development and sales targets
* To support the Deputy Head of Communications in ensuring that all press coverage is monitored and reported to key stakeholders
* To support the Deputy Head of Communications in long-term campaign planning that is sensitive to key organisation and industry milestones
* To work with the Marketing & Commercial team to develop a fully integrated approach to delivering, reporting and evaluating press campaigns.
Tactical
* To own the press and social calendars, ensuring these are regularly updated and communicated with the Marketing & Commercial team to inform campaign planning
* To lead on agreed press campaigns, and to support the Deputy Head of Communications in devising and implementing all PR and comms strategy, working collaboratively with all teams within the organisation to achieve this
* To work with the Marketing & Commercial team to devise, schedule and implement creative PR campaigns to complement marketing campaigns
* To create and proofread press releases and support the internal, and external where necessary, sign-off process
* To support the Deputy Head of Communications in managing the logistics of media interviews ensuring that all parties have comprehensive and timely itineraries
* To chaperone members of the cast and creative teams during media opportunities with discretion and respect
* To work collaboratively with the Production and Box Office teams in the management of press nights
* To prepare briefings ahead of all media interviews and key meetings with stakeholders for senior members of staff, company and creative teams
* To support in the quick and efficient responding to enquiries from the media.
This is not an exhaustive list of duties and the Theatre's management may, at any time, allocate other tasks which are of a similar nature or level.
Person Specification
Essential
* Experience of working in a busy press or communications team, including supporting on press campaigns and interacting with journalists
* Excellent verbal and written communication skills
* Good news sense and experience of creating press releases
* An understanding of managing professional relationships with people of high public profile
* An understanding of the contemporary challenges and opportunities for arts and cultural institutions.
* An understanding of delivering sales and audience development objectives
* Excellent copywriting, attention to detail and proofing skills.
* Good understanding of the media landscape
* The ability to deal confidently, positively and discreetly with all levels of staff and external contacts both face to face and over the phone
* The ability to work well in an environment with competing demands.
How to Apply
We understand that everyone is different and we want you to apply in whichever way you feel best shows your skills and experience. There are a range of ways that you can apply with us:
* 1. Sending a short video file of yourself (no longer than two minutes in length), detailing your experience, why you are applying for the role and what about working at The Old Vic interests you (have a look at the person specification in the job description).
* 2. Sending a short audio file of yourself (no longer than two minutes in length), detailing your experience, why you are applying for the role and what about working at The Old Vic interests you.
* 3. Completing our application form.
* 4. Uploading your CV and covering letter, explaining why you are interested in the role and working at the Old Vic.
As a Disability Confident employer, The Old Vic has made a commitment that all applicants with disabilities who meet the essential criteria for this job will be invited to interview. However, in the event that we have a high volume of applications all of whom meet the criteria and identify as disabled, meaning it is not practicable to interview everyone, we may apply a weighting to the shortlisting criteria, or add an additional shortlisting stage before any interviews take place. In all cases we will take care to ensure that any criteria or weightings do not disadvantage disabled applicants.
All appointments are made subject to satisfactory references and proof of eligibility to work in the UK.
The Process
The recruitment process for this role will be twostages:
* 1st stage virtual conversation
* 2nd stage in person conversation
* You may be asked to complete a work based skills assessment or challenge
The closing date for this role is 21 March 2025. First Conversations are likely to take place w/c 31 March 2025.
Equal Opportunities
We actively support and encourage people from a variety of backgrounds, experiences and skill sets to join us and help shape what we do. We are particularly keen to receive applications from people of the global majority, LGBTQ+, neurodiverse and disabled candidates.
We may take positive action, in cases where candidates are equally qualified, to increase the employment of under-represented groups at The Old Vic.
In the event that we ask you to attend the theatre for a conversation and you are struggling financially, we may be able to reimburse you for any reasonable travel costs.
We partner with a range of inclusive organisations, to find out more please read our FAQs.
FAQs
Read our recruitment and selection and equal opportunities FAQs here.
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