PR Manager

Comic Relief is looking for a PR Manager to join their fundraising and PR team. This is a full-time position based in London, UK.

Overview:

• Full-time position
• Language: English
• Location: London, UK (Hybrid)
• Salary: £44,649 – £47,721
• Applications closing: 16th October, 2024

Job Description

The Public Relations Manager will provide senior level support to the PR Lead. You will play an active role in managing the PR Team to plan and deliver strategic campaigns and communications throughout the year. These wide ranging, creative and exciting campaigns and initiatives will drive awareness, brand consideration and income.

You will report to the PR Lead and work with colleagues from across the organisation to ensure PR and communication plans are strategic, effective and in line with organisational objectives.

As a PR Manager at Comic Relief, you play a leading role in supporting on crisis communications, reputational risk, strategic communications and wider public engagement initiatives.

You will already have strong relationships across a wide spectrum of the UK media landscape and be able to build relationships quickly.

In addition, you will have outstanding people skills. You will be able to influence effectively both internally and externally with important partners such as the BBC as well as other corporate partner and media stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Running Comic Relief’s busy Press Office is a responsibility shared by all team members. You will be required to take a leading role in managing media enquiries in a timely and accurate manner, media monitoring and associated escalation and opportunity spotting, evaluating PR campaigns, reputational risk, and join the on-call rota for out-of-hours and weekend support.

This role will involve line management responsibilities as well as occasional UK wide travel to manage media opportunities.

Operating at the heart of Comic Relief’s mission to create a just world, free from poverty this role offers an exciting opportunity to play a leading role in the reputation and brand perception of a  high-profile charity brand. As the PR Manager, you will be at the forefront of our efforts to engage the public, manage Comic Relief reputation, and support the broader mission of our organisation.

Key responsibilities:

• Develop and deliver creative, national and regional PR and strategic communication strategies
• Monitor and evaluate the success of PR and communication activities, identifying learning and opportunities to help improve approaches and ROI of projects
• Take a proactive approach to gaining media coverage outside of campaign periods using creativity to showcase Comic Relief’s impact story
• Establish, develop and maintain excellent relationships with key internal and external stakeholders. This could include partners, agencies, media and cross organisational working groups
• Work with stakeholders from across the organisation to ensure that Comic Relief’s corporate partners are given a consistent, gold standard experience by offering creative input to key partnership milestones and PR activities
• Work with the PR Lead, and other Heads of Teams including senior stakeholders to manage and mitigate potential reputational risk working proactively on crisis and strategic communications to enhance Comic Relief’s profile, reputation and brand
• Monitor the press to identify appropriate opportunities and potential threats to the promotion of the work of Comic Relief.
• Work to protect and enhance Comic Relief’s reputation collaborating with internal and external stakeholders if issues arise.
• Ensure editorial excellence in all press releases, proofing and ensuring quality of output alongside developing and implementing strategic media outreach
• Deputise for the PR Lead where appropriate
• Contribute to the annual planning process, collaborating with colleagues to identify needs and opportunities to enhance Comic Relief’s profile and reputation
• Play a key role in upskilling Senior PR Officers and PR Officers
• Ensure the smooth and effective running of the Press Office
• Keep abreast of sector and trade (PR / Communications) marketplace to identify opportunities to enhance Comic Relief’s profile, reputation and brand
• Play an active role in the FR&PR Team, working collaboratively to enable inclusivity and diversity in order to drive high performance and an action-oriented culture.

People Management 

• Line management will fluctuate throughout the year and increase during campaign periods. This includes leading recruitment and induction of new starters
• Provide balanced, constructive feedback, undertake effective performance management to embed accountability and proactively support the professional development and growth of staff.
• Proactively undertake performance management, prioritising activities and setting clear and realistic objectives for individuals based on capacity, expertise, and aspirations.
• Maintain regular two-way communication and dialogue with staff, ensuring information is cascaded and escalated as needed.

Role Requirements

• Proven experience of planning, leading and evaluating national and regional PR and communication strategies and campaigns
• Strong, collaborative, relationship building and stakeholder management skills
• Crisis communications and reputational risk experience
• An ability to develop and deliver fresh creative ideas that generate media coverage
• Excellent writer and negotiator with strong influencing skills
• Line management experience, including continuous professional development and performance management
• Wide experience managing and prioritising multiple projects to strict deadlines even when faced with challenges
• A commitment to Comic Relief and its core values and a strong team player

Desirable Criteria

• In depth knowledge of the charity and fundraising sector and of relevant consumer facing PR campaigns
• Experience operating cross functionally with a variety of stakeholders, In particular senior stakeholders for example at board and executive level
• Experience of using a CRM system to maintain and manage relationships

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Comic Relief we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace. So if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

How to apply?

To apply for this role, please fill in the application form.

You can read more about our employee benefits, such as our commitment to flexible and hybrid working. We ask staff to come to the office twice a week, normally on agreed team days. That way we can do all those things that are difficult to do online.

As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we take positive action by providing first-round interviews to candidates who have a registered disability, provided they meet the minimum criteria for the role, as demonstrated on their CV or application scores. We ask that candidates that wish to be considered for this scheme email

Recruitment@comicrelief.com to discuss further. Please do not email CV’s/cover letters.