Vacancy: Communications Manager

The BGS is recruiting a new Communications Manager to work across internal and external communications, PR and media, building on our strong and recognised brand, and strengthening our voice in advocating for older people’s care.

Role specification

Job title: Communications Manager

Reporting to: Chief Executive

Salary: £52,561, rising by annual spine points to £64,241

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full-time (with flexible options available)

Benefits: 11% employer pension contribution; 29 days annual leave (plus bank holidays); generous employee support package

Base: The British Geriatrics Society’s office in Farringdon, London EC1. The BGS has a flexible working policy and most staff combine working from home and the office.

Start date: April 2025

Overall purpose

• To promote the work, policy priorities and services of the BGS in improving healthcare for older people, and to promote the specialty of geriatric medicine, among healthcare professionals, the media, policy makers and other stakeholders including the general public.
• To ensure that BGS members are well-informed about the aims and work of the Society; to identify and meet their communications needs, and to engage them in contributing to the Society’s work.
• To lead BGS’s media and PR activity, ensuring visibility for the BGS and managing its brand and reputation.

Main duties and accountability

This is a key role leading the BGS’s communications strategy and delivery, managing our external voice and brand and ensuring that we maintain good communications with our membership. The Communications Manager will work closely with the Publications and Website Editor, the Marketing Coordinator and the Policy Manager. They will report directly to the Chief Executive.

Responsibilities

1. Develop and deliver BGS’s annual communication strategy and priorities, planning and delivering communications activities, in collaboration with team members.

2. Develop and strengthen the BGS’s key messages and ensure that these are effectively communicated.

3. Produce communications plans for BGS policy and clinical quality publications; write news stories and press releases for reports, announcements and campaigns, and promote these to key audiences.

4. Lead the BGS’s media relations activity, carrying out the following tasks:

• Planning and implementing media campaigns to support strategic and policy objectives
• Drafting and distributing press releases and press statements, for both BGS and our academic journal, Age and Ageing
• Leading the press office function, including seeking proactive media opportunities, responding to press enquiries and being reactive to stories in the press
• Establishing and maintaining relationships with key journalists
• Identifying possible spokespeople for the BGS and ensuring they receive media training
• Briefing and supporting BGS spokespeople so that they are well-prepared for media appearances or public speaking
• Evaluating and reporting on coverage achieved

5. Lead the BGS's social media profile by carrying out the following tasks:

• Being the lead social content creator across all channels
• Ensuring a strategic approach to social media and ensuring the BGS has a presence on relevant social media channels and platforms, including new channels, where conversations about older people's healthcare are taking place
• Increasing presence across all social media platforms
• Engaging with content on older people's healthcare and being proactive in responding to and sharing relevant news
• Monitoring social media for any reputation management issues
• Advising BGS senior officers on social media use in the BGS name

6. Take lead responsibility for the BGS brand, upholding and maintaining brand guidelines, training new staff and officers as needed on house style, social media use, and all issues relating to the BGS’s image and brand identity. Ensure the BGS’s brand remains fresh and current, and that appropriate imagery is available for use in our publications and on our website. Maintain an image library, arranging photoshoots as needed to refresh the database of images available.

7. Manage the BGS’s reputation by advising the CEO, President and senior officers on handling communications on sensitive issues.

8. Coordinate the commissioning and production of BGS blogs with the Communications and Marketing Co-Ordinator, liaising with the volunteer BGS Social and Digital Media Editor for oversight of the clinical content.

9.Lead on preparation, dissemination and evaluation of the monthly e-bulletin, FrontPAGE. Oversee other e-bulletins co-ordinated by colleagues, providing quality control to ensure consistency of style, messages and impact.

10. Promote content from the BGS’s journal, Age and Ageing, which is relevant to clinicians and the BGS membership, working with the Age and Ageing Editorial Manager to identify media opportunities to promote the BGS and its journal. This includes proactive work to identify Age and Ageing content that would be suitable for mainstream media.

11. Provide updates for Committee and Board meetings to brief members on communications activity and to develop future activity in collaboration with BGS officers and members. Help committees to consider how best to promote and communicate their work.

12. Ensure policies relating to approvals and endorsements are maintained, updating these as required for application to publications and website material by the BGS and by external authors.

13. Prepare for and attend BGS regional, one-day and three-day national conferences as needed, covering the events via social media and supporting the BGS events team.

14. Contribute to the strategic direction of the BGS, supporting senior officers as needed.

Person specification

Essential

• Experienced communications professional, with at least five years’ experience in a busy media, PR or communications role.
• Demonstrable ability to lead a communications, PR and media function strategically and with impact.
• Dynamic, proactive and well-organised, with proven efficiency and time management in working to deadlines.
• Ability to quickly develop a clear grasp of policy issues affecting the NHS and healthcare for older people, and of the BGS’s role and ‘voice’.
• Excellent skills in writing for publication and to deadlines, with the ability to understand complex material and produce succinct, effective and accurate copy for senior audiences.
• Demonstrable understanding of social media and more traditional media.
• Proven ability to manage complex and sensitive media issues and to handle reputation management.
• Experience in brand management.
• Excellent communication skills in person and in writing.
• Ability to work harmoniously, collaboratively and creatively within a small team.
• Ability to work autonomously as a one-person PR function, with the judgement to prioritise urgent media enquiries and advise on what opportunities to capitalise upon, with balancing wider deadlines as part of the role.
• Passionate about improving the healthcare of older people.
• Proficiency in Office 365, social media.

Desirable

• Experience of planning communications projects, orchestrating their delivery and measuring their impact.
• Experience of using campaigns, mass marketing and graphics applications, and familiarity with website content management systems (CMS).

How to apply

Please send your CV and a covering statement of no more than 2 sides of A4 showing how you meet the person specification, to Mark Stewart, BGS Office and Business Manager (m [dot] stewart [at] bgs [dot] org [dot] uk) by 9am on 10 February. Interviews will be held online on 13 February.

No recruiters, thank you.

The BGS aims to be an equal opportunities employer and welcomes diverse applications which meet the requirements of the role.