The Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) is a young, dynamic and ambitious charity established in 2013 to champion and support the use of effective early intervention to improve the lives of children and young people at risk of experiencing negative outcomes.
As a member of the UK government’s What Works Network, EIF has a pivotal role as the go-to source for evidence and advice on early intervention for children and young people. We have a responsibility to communicate ‘what works’ in a way that is robust and transparent in its use of evidence, and also relevant and accessible for national and local audiences, including policymakers, public service commissioners and managers, and frontline practitioners and service providers. Our work extends across a range of social policy and service areas, including health, education, families and policing.
The position
EIF is seeking a positive, proactive and experienced media and communications executive to bring new skills and expertise to a vital area of our work.
Working with the Head of Communications and colleagues across the organisation, the successful candidate will take a lead role in ensuring EIF is able to tell positive, compelling and influential stories through appropriate external channels, about the need for and impact of early intervention, and about EIF’s own role, activities and impact.
The role requires creativity, persistence, an open and outward-facing perspective, and a keen understanding of the demands and opportunities of traditional and online media outlets, external blogs and social media channels.
Key roles and responsibilities
Media management
- Manage EIF’s media function, including receiving and triaging inward requests, writing high-quality press releases and having those reviewed and approved by colleagues, pitching and placing EIF-generated content, and developing and maintaining warm working relationships with key outlets/editors/journalists.
- With senior management and the Head of Communications, make recommendations for and decisions regarding scheduling and format of all EIF media activities.
- Promote and manage the attendance of media at EIF events.
- Identify, initiate and manage news stories based on EIF’s ongoing work and research outputs, and suitable channels for creating and placing content, including national print, online and broadcast media, sector press, external blogs, and EIF web and social channels.
- Develop and maintain a coherent narrative across EIF’s media activities, to reinforce key messages and establish EIF as a recognised source of expert comment.
- Train and brief EIF colleagues (including senior management) for media and other external appearances, and assist in preparing for specific bids.
- Increase the profile of and demand for comment and appearances by the chief executive and other senior colleagues.
- Oversee the technology and services required to maintain a high-quality press function, including relationships with suppliers and commissioning of new technology or services as required.
- Manage a media grid, to monitor external, political/policy and sector events and the news cycle to identify opportunities for proactive or reactive press activity, and to inform EIF scheduling decisions.
- Monitor EIF press coverage and report to colleagues, including senior management.
Blogging
- Oversee and grow the readership of the EIF blog, ensuring a regular output of content from colleagues, and ghost-writing blog content on behalf of senior colleagues as required.
- Develop EIF’s capacity to write and pitch or place comment-style articles and blogposts with external politics/policy and sector outlets.
Social media and digital content
- Share overall responsibility for EIF social media channels (currently, primarily Twitter), and support the development of new social media and related platforms for EIF content.
- Ensure social media activity is aligned with and supports other EIF activity, including press activity and events.
- Train and support EIF colleagues to develop social media skills.
- Identify, target and reach key influencers across press, policy and sector audiences via social media.
- Write high-quality copy and produce creative/visual content for social media.
- Develop EIF’s capacity to create (in-house and/or with external support) digital content and resources, including static infographics and text-based animations.
- Oversee the technology and services required to maintain a high-quality social media function, including relationships with suppliers and commissioning of new technology or services as required
Experience and skills
Essential
- Demonstrable experience in a dedicated media or press role, or in a more general communications role with substantial media or press responsibilities, with a track record of delivering high-quality media activities and output.
- Good understanding of how to develop stories and content in order to influence policy and promote the organisation through the news media.
- Detailed knowledge of national, major local and key sector media outlets, and excellent contacts among relevant editors and journalists.
- The ability to identify ‘top lines’ in content and outputs from EIF’s research programme, and to translate research content to produce accurate, accessible and influential content for press, policy, sector and general audiences.
- Demonstrable experience of developing a new or expanded press function, and of increasing the media profile of an organisation.
- Substantial hands-on experience in start-to-finish media operations, including placing stories with individual outlets and chasing up (including by phone) on press releases and approaches to ensure pitches are converted into coverage.
- Excellent written communication skills, including the ability to write press releases and similar public notices, and to write and edit short-form content on behalf of EIF and colleagues, including blogposts, quotes and social media content.
- Experience and the interpersonal skills required to work with colleagues across an organisation, including directly with senior management, to plan, create and manage approvals for content.
- Excellent professional judgment, appropriate decision-making and risk-awareness.
- Educated to degree level and/or with equivalent professional qualifications or experience.
- Ability to work effectively as part of a team, with a collaborative approach.
- Demonstrable experience of developing and maintaining valuable working relationships with a wide range of people.
- Excellent organisational, administrative and time-management skills, with the ability to work to tight deadlines and assess competing priorities.
Desirable
- Good awareness of the national political and policy landscape, and key individuals, organisations and events relevant to EIF’s work.
- Knowledge of early intervention or issues related to children and families’ wellbeing.
- Experience in one or more of the policy or delivery sectors involved in EIF’s work (national government, local government, health, schools, policing, VCS).
- Experience in a research-focused organisation, or other workplace producing technical, scientific or other complex content.
- Social media skills, including experience in holding direct responsibility for corporate social media accounts and producing copy and visual content for social media.
- Creative content skills, including use of the Adobe Creative Suite.
- Experience in editing content for and uploading content to an organisational website, via common CMS systems (EIF currently uses WordPress and Bolt).
- Experience and/or skills in evaluating communications activities to gauge impact and effectiveness.