Position:Communications & Engagement Officer

JOB DESCRIPTION

Position:Communications & Engagement Officer

Location:Disability Sport NI, Airport Road West, Belfast

Reports To:Chief Executive Officer

Salary:Salary Scale NJC Point 29 - 31

(£25,695 – £27,394)

Hours:37.5 hours per week. Hours of work will be those necessary to carry out the full responsibilities of the post, some of which may be in the evening and/or weekends. Time-off-in-lieu will be allowed in respect of working evenings and weekends.

Duration:Fixed Term Contract until March 2020 (subject to funding)

Background Information:

Disability Sport NI is the main disability sports charity in Northern Ireland working to improve the health and wellbeing of children and adults with disabilities through sport and active recreation.

We work with people with physical, sensory and learning disabilities of all ages and with schools, disability groups, sporting organisations and clubs to ensure that everyone can benefit from sport and active recreation.

We believe that every person with a disability has the right to participate in all aspects of life and are committed to building a more inclusive society where people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to lead a full, active and healthy lifestyle through sport and active recreation.

We also work closely with Sport Northern Ireland and Governing Bodies of Sport to ensure that talented disabled sports people have the same opportunity as their non-disabled peers to train, compete and excel in their chosen sport on the world stage.

At the heart of who we are is the belief that participation in sport and active recreation at any level is a positive and transformational experience.

We understand the positive impact of sport and active recreation because every day we see how our work changes the lives of people with disabilities for the better.

Last year our programmes benefitted over 10,000 children, young people and adults across Northern Ireland, but looking to the future we know we can do more.

Job Purpose:

Disability Sport NI has recently secured funding from Sport NI to implement a new more ambitious Strategic Plan for the 2016-2020 period which has a much greater focus on increasing public awareness of Disability Sport NI’s work and better engaging with the public, key stakeholders and people with disabilities across Northern Ireland.

The post holder will be responsible for implementing the organisation’s communications and engagement functions, as well as coordinating the organisation’s community fundraising activities in liaison with other staff.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Communications

Media Relations: To increase public awareness of Disability Sport NI’s work by planning and coordinating the organisation’s public relation’s activities and by developing and maintaining good working relations with the media.

Website: To manage and coordinate Disability Sport NI’s website and contribute to broader plans to develop a new website/portal for the disability sports sector in Northern Ireland.

Social Media:To manage and coordinate the organisation’s presence on social media platforms including ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ and contribute to broader plans to develop a social media strategy for the disability sports sector in Northern Ireland.

Ezine:To develop and manage a monthly Ezine.

Collateral: To manage the compilation,editing, design and printing of all promotional literature, merchandise, materials and publications.

Brand Guidelines:To coordinate and manage the use of the organisation’s brand guidelines.

Training & Events Promotion: To support the Community Sport Manager with the marketing of training courses and community events.

Project Promotion: To support development staff with the marketing and promotion of Disability Sport NI community sport and performance sport projects.

Engagement

Public Affairs:To plan and deliver effective public affairs campaigns and events targeting MLAs and key decision makers within government departments and local authorities.

Public Engagement: In liaison with development staff to plan and organise public engagement events and activities which increase awareness of the work of Disability Sport NI and its member groups and encourage more people with disabilities to lead active lives.

Member Services: In liaison with development staff to plan and deliver support services for Disability Sport NI member groups.

Ambassador Programme: To develop and deliver an ambassadors programme, designed to promote the benefits of disability sport and active recreation.

Community Fundraising

Planning & Coordination:In liaison with other staff to plan, coordinate and manage the organisation’s community fundraising activities and events.

Committee Facilitation: To establish and facilitate regular meetings of a ‘Community Fundraising Committee’.

Relationships: To develop and maintain good relationships with individuals, schools, companies and organisations who raise funds for Disability Sport NI.

Other Responsibilities

Monitoring & Evaluation:To ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of the programmeagainst pre-determined key performance indicators.

Budgetary Control:To effectively manage the programme budget.

Other Duties: To carry out any other duties commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility of the post.