Communications Officer

Location: London

Contract: Permanent

Salary: £30,000

Closing Date: 27 April

Are you a Communications Officer looking for a new opportunity?

Marine Society & Sea Cadets (MSSC) is the leading maritime charity for youth development and lifelong learning. We are a vibrant and growing charity inspiring young people to achieve their potential through challenge and nautical adventure and also enabling seafarers and maritime professionals to realise their potential through learning and career development. Working with our employees, cadets, and volunteers, we have built a strong vision and five-year Future Ready strategy to meet the growing demand for what we provide, both for young people, seafarers and maritime professionals – and the thousands who aspire to be the sea cadets and marine professionals of the future. It is also about equipping them to achieve their potential and thrive in a rapidly changing world, while growing our charity to benefit even more people – including those from under-represented or marginalised groups.

We are currently looking for a Communications Officer to join our team.

About the role

The Communications Officer supports the organisation in its national events portfolio and supports with any administrative tasks. The role is pivotal in enhancing our public profile through meticulous event planning, coordination and execution.

The post holder’s responsibilities will primarily entail organising, managing and overseeing event logistics, ensuring a seamless execution that aligns with our brand image and values. This encompasses everything from venue selection, vendor liaison, logistical preparations, to the supervision of event operations. Your role will contribute significantly to enhancing our stakeholder engagement, fostering relations, and showcasing our initiatives to a wider audience.

Responsibilities

• Plan and execute a range of national events that align with the organisation's goals and objectives.
• Oversee all event logistics, including venue selection, contract negotiations, transportation, accommodation, and catering arrangements.
• Liaise effectively with various vendors and service providers, ensuring high-quality service within budgetary constraints.
• Develop and manage event budgets, providing regular financial reports and forecasts to senior management.
• Support with administrative tasks, including managing generic email addresses and ensuring timely responses.
• Provide general administrative support, helping the team stay organised and focused on key priorities.
• Support the communications team in developing and distributing internal and external communications, including newsletters, updates, and bulletins.
• Coordinate with team members on specific communication campaigns, providing logistical and creative input where needed.

• Degree graduate or equivalent and experience in a communications environment.
• Experience in developing and maintaining good working relations with vendors and service providers.
• Excellent written and verbal skills with good attention to detail.
• Experience of working with teams and stakeholders.
• Experience of administrative tasks and general administrative support.

• 25 days annual leave per annum, increasing with length of service.
• Hybrid working for many roles.
• Volunteering Leave.
• Life assurance (4x salary).
• Private medical insurance.
• Generous pension (employer contribution up to 10%).
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Wellbeing portal and EAP with 121 counselling.
• Employee development: We are investing in our employees' development and have an annual calendar of learning and development opportunities, designed to support employees to develop into their roles and stretch them to achieve their full potential.

Additional Information

MSSC positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates from all backgrounds. Equity, diversity, and inclusion really matters to us, so we can best serve our beneficiaries from every community. We work to ensure a fair and consistent recruitment process and aim to be a charity where diversity of experience, identity and skills are valued and welcomed. MSSC is an equal opportunities employer.

We recognise our responsibilities to safeguard and protect the young people and vulnerable adults with whom we work. We do all we can to promote their health, safety and wellbeing, and we expect our staff to share this commitment and work in line with safeguarding policy, the MSSC’s values and ethos of inclusivity. We adhere to safer recruitment practices and therefore employment is subject to detailed pre-employment checks for successful candidates, including references and criminal disclosure checks and the completion of a disclosure questionnaire.

All successful applicants are required to attend safeguarding training and undergo pre-employment checks including a criminal record check.