Who are we? 

Located in the heart of Manchester, The Union is part business, part charity, part membership body. Operating independently from Manchester Metropolitan University, our aim is to support and represent each one of our student members. Each year our growing team of around 50 full time and up to 100 part time staff, work alongside elected student leaders to make change, improve lives and help fulfil student potential.

Winner of the 2021 Think Student award for the best campaign supporting diversity, The Union is one of 550 students’ unions across the country. And we’re one of the most exciting - with over 38,000 student members and 100 student groups, a huge range of services and a bold strategy.

What's the job?

Are you a creative communicator who loves digital content, storytelling and building communities?

We’re looking for a Communications Lead to help grow and develop The Union’s digital presence — connecting with our diverse student membership and keeping conversations flowing.

In this role, you’ll take the lead on our social media and digital communications, creating engaging content that builds awareness of The Union and helps our campaigns make an impact. You’ll work closely with students, staff and partners across the University, and you’ll have the chance to mentor and support student Content Creators along the way.

As Communications Lead, you’ll play a key role in growing and developing our digital communications channels—successfully reaching and engaging our diverse membership and facilitating constant conversations.

You’ll plan, produce and distribute engaging digital content that builds affinity for and raises awareness of The Union, including supervising student content creators. And you’ll support The Union’s marketing campaigns and objectives by planning and delivering a range of briefs and projects.

Principle duties:

• Manage day-to-day delivery of The Union’s social media channels, creating engaging visual, written and audio content informed by audience insight and trends
• Implement an annual content calendar and coordinate social-first digital campaigns, distributing content widely across The Union, University and affiliated channels
• Recruit, supervise and support student Content Creators, and coach staff, Officers and students in best-practice communications
• Build collaborative relationships with colleagues, University teams and external stakeholders, as well as monitoring and responding to online conversations to enhance engagement
• Contribute to email marketing by creating content-led newsletters and targeted campaigns
• Support and deliver marketing briefs, projects and campaigns with creative, effective solutions while safeguarding brand consistency across all print and digital communications
• Produce and refine persuasive copy, proof reading and editing content for multiple platforms
• Support and deliver campaign plans for major Union projects (e.g. Welcome, Elections), including supervising student staff and volunteers
• Monitor campaign budgets to ensure effective use of resources
• Measure and evaluate marketing and communications activity, providing reports and contributing to continuous improvement.

The duties described above are not an exhaustive list but are intended as being illustrative of the level and type of work required. The Job Description may be subject to amendment from time to time after discussion with the post holder. This job description does not constitute part of the contract of employment.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for students with a relevant range of experiences and personal characteristics.

Key person specifications include:

Qualifications

• E - We accept candidates from any educational background
• D - A professional qualification in marketing, communications or related area

Experience

• E - Previous experience of working in a similar marketing and/or communications role
• E - Demonstrable portfolio of original, engaging and impactful social-first content for a variety of audiences and platforms
• E - Experience contributing to communications campaigns, including the ability to interpret analytics data

Knowledge and skills

• E - Excellent working knowledge relevant to the role
• E - Strong creative content-creation skills, including photography/videography capture and editing, and proficient use of Adobe Creative Suite to produce high-quality digital assets
• E - Excellent creativity, ideas and storytelling ability
• E - Ability to work effectively with diverse stakeholders
• D - Practical technical capability, including experience using DSLR equipment

Personal attributes

• E - A collaborator who can work as part of a team and with a wide variety of staff, students, and stakeholders
• E - Self-motivated with the ability to work independently, take initiative, and take ownership of achieving personal goals

Values and ethics

• E - Understanding of and commitment to the principles of equity, inclusion and diversity, and The Union’s values