23 Oct
Samaritans
Epsom
Are you looking to make a real impact and contribute to saving lives through media work? Do you have the skills to react to the news agenda, develop compelling media campaigns and work sensitively with storytellers? If so, you could be just who Samaritans is looking for to join our friendly team as a Media Officer.
- £20,400 - £21,120 per annum for 21 hours/week (£34,000 - £35,200 FTE).
- Additional on-call allowance.
- 12 months fixed term contract covering maternity leave.
- Part-time role - 3 days per week with flexible working.
- We are flexible on work pattern (what days and hours per week the role is carried out).
- Hybrid working: Linked to our Ewell (Surrey)
office with home working and the option to work from our London office in EC3R.
- In-person working: Meeting in person and working collaboratively are things we value. From Jan 2025, staff are expected to work in person around 2 days per month.
- We are passionate about flexible working, talk to us about your preferences.
Key Responsibilities
As a Media Officer, you’ll be a key member of our Media team:
• You will respond to journalist enquiries and ensure Samaritans has a voice in the issues that matter to us.
• You’ll help plan and deliver our proactive media campaigns, which will help us reach new communities and existing audiences to raise awareness of the emotional support we provide.
• You’ll also work on campaigns and key moments that highlight our important policy and influencing work.
• Working with lived experience is a cornerstone of our media work, and you’ll regularly be in touch with storytellers, including callers, volunteers, fundraisers and high-profile supporters.
Full job description is here
About You
• Experience in pitching to different types of media and reporting on coverage.
• Experience in drafting media materials e.g. briefing notes, press releases and reactive comments.
• Experience of working sensitively with case studies and placing their stories in the media
• Experience of working in: newspapers, a charity press office, a commercial PR agency or in-house media / public relations.
• A clear understanding of UK media, its interests and needs.
• An understanding of how different audiences engage with media/news content differently across digital platforms (or online/offline channels).
• Experience of dealing with high level editorial teams within the UK media.
• Good computer skills in word-processing, databases and spreadsheets.
Our Benefits
So, you want to work for us? Good choice. We like it here too. We offer competitive salaries, flexible and hybrid working to suit your needs, family-friendly policies, 28 days annual leave inclusive of wellbeing days and a matched pension contribution up to 5%. You’ll have a structured induction and ongoing projects, secondments & learning opportunities. We also have colleague-led affinity groups made up of people with shared identities.
Your health and wellbeing is our priority. We have a staff community of Mental Health First Aiders, a Health Cash Plan and an Employee Assistance Programme. You’ll have free subscriptions to Headspace (your personal guide to mindfulness, sleep, focus, movement, and more)
& Perkbox (an employee benefits platform with online exercise classes). That’s not all. We listen to your ideas and have staff forum and social committee networks.
Being Inclusive
We recognise the enormous benefits and the social justice imperatives of ensuring diversity at every level of our organisation. Samaritans is wholly committed to inclusion and diversity and to building a culture and environment where everyone is appreciated for the unique person they are. To ensure Samaritans is representative of those we support and who support us, we particularly welcome applications from Disabled, BAME and LGBTQ+ candidates, as these people are under-represented at Samaritans.
Application
If this sounds like the opportunity for you,
please upload your CV and answer a couple of application questions about your transferable skills and experience, including the following:
1. What makes you want to apply for this role at Samaritans? (300 words max)
2. How much experience have you had working in a press office or in a PR agency before? (300 words max)
3. Have you got experience working sensitively with case studies to secure media coverage? (300 words max)
Applications close at 9 am on 4 November, with video interviews likely w/c 11 November
▶️ Media Officer
🖊️ Samaritans
📍 Epsom