Communications Officer (Digital) at University of Birmingham

Contract Type: Fixed Term contract up to June 2025 

Could your communications skills help graduates feel close to their university? Do you believe in helping young people from disadvantaged backgrounds get to university, and want to get people interested in life-changing research into healthcare, environmental protection and more?

An excellent communications professional with experience developing social media campaigns and writing for print, web and social media, the Communications Officer (Digital) will work as part of the Development and Alumni Relations (DARO) Communications Team to deliver our overall strategy, and to champion our digital activity.  You will be expected to follow a brief and produce high quality impact-driven copy, video, email newsletters and digital content, appropriate for target audiences, for print and online publication, email newsletters and individual communication and will creatively and effectively use social media platforms and the DARO web presence. In addition to the core alumni audience, you will be responsible for the student and young alumni audiences. Experience in producing content for young people and international audiences, and in fundraising communications would be highly desirable.

Main duties

The Communications Officer (Digital) will excel in the following areas:

• Working as part of the DARO Communications Team to deliver our overall Communications programme for alumni and friends of the University, including annual printed and digital magazines and social media campaigns
• Championing our digital activity by planning, creating, promoting, and evaluating content for social media channels and the website. Acting as an expert within DARO in this area, providing advice and creative input and ensuring we use the opportunities presented by new technologies and communication channels.
• Managing our communications around key dates throughout the year, including religious festivals and awareness days (e.g., International Women’s Day, Black History Month and Christmas)

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience 

• Experience in a communications role, managing social media accounts, writing copy for print and online publication 
• Substantial experience of digital communications, including filming and editing videos, web development and experience of using content management systems
• Understanding of social media, ideally through experience of managing a university or charitable social media presence
• Ability to translate complex messages to be understandable and engaging to a diverse and multicultural audience, considering issues such as widely varying levels of expertise, political sensitivities and language barriers
• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience

Informal enquiries to Becky Thornton at k.r.thornton@bham.ac.uk

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the ‘Apply’ button.

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment

We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working