Head of Digital at the British Academy

Head of Digital at the British Academy

Job description

The British Academy is a voice that champions humanities and social sciences. As a national body they support the study of people, cultures and societies, past, present and future.

Their purpose is : to be an independent Fellowship of world-leading scholars and researchers; a Funding Body that supports new research (nationally and internationally);

and a Forum for debate and engagement.

The opportunity :

This is a pivotal role in the organisation as the British Academy is currently reviewing and re shaping all aspects of the organisation’s communications activity, with a particular focus on how they use digital channels to communicate with their diverse audience.







This newly created Head of Digital position will be a central role in a communications transformation project placing digital at the heart of the organisation’s strategy.

You will own the entire digital department and develop and implement a new strategy, including formatting existing channels and introducing new ones.

As part of the Communications Management Team, you will manage and develop a digitally forward-facing team of staff, as well as contributing to the Communications Strategy.

This will also include working collaboratively with other managers across the disciplines, and developing a community of editors.

Main responsibilities include :

Digital Communications

- Act as the Digital Communications Champion for the organisation, promoting a digital first approach
- Provide leadership of the Academy’s websites and other digital channels, with particular focus on UX and IA
- Develop a roadmap of digital priorities
- Manage the production of rich media, including the budget for the external commissioning of content






- Develop the Academy’s social media strategy, ensuring channels and content aligns with the brand
- Produce and commission research to ensure the effectiveness of our communications

Channel management

- Provide editorial management of the Academy website
- Advocate for the user, ensuring excellent User Experience across all platforms
- Keep up to date with new developments in digital and feed opportunities into the Academy’s Digital Roadmap
- Develop a range of processes and systems to support the management of our digital channels
- Use analytics to regularly review the performance of the site
- Enhance the Academy’s SEO, through active management of content
- Project manage the development of new channels
- Develop a community of Content Editors,





providing active training and support to ensure high standards
- Support colleagues to modernise their communications

Leadership and management

- Lead and manage a team of two assistants
- Deputise for the Director of Communications in her absence
- Play an active role in the Communications Directorate Management Team, contributing to cross team development
- Play an active role in the wider Team Leaders network, contributing to organisational efficiency and effectiveness
- Oversee a significant budget

Required skills and experience include :

- Demonstrable record of achievement in delivering significant results for an organisation from digital communications
- Demonstrable experience of leading digital transformation for an organisation






- Extensive experience of developing multi channelled digital communications strategies
- Experience of managing digital transformation projects, with associated budgets and staffing
- Educated to degree level or equivalent, ideally in a humanities or social sciences discipline
- Strong leadership skills with the ability to inspire and lead a team experience in people management is beneficial
- Excellent interpersonal skills, able to communicate effectively with people at all levels
- Ability to engage and motivate non specialists to create change






- Ability to gather and interpret research and insight to make user focused decisions
- Political judgement and the ability to make sound business decisions
- Ability to persuade and negotiate with internal and external stakeholders
- Ability to manage completing demands and prioritise and delegate accordingly