Media Relations Manager

Job Description

Change your career, change livesThe Open University is the UKs largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence, transforming lives through education.TheroleWe are looking for an experienced media relations professional to be accountable for delivering high impact and high value earned media coverage for the OU, working with a range of key stakeholders - including faculties and business units.Marketing andCommunications operate as one function at the OU and there are PR requirements on campaigns that we run all year round. The role therefore involves contributing to the delivery of integrated campaigns across paid, earned, shared, and owned communications channels.Aswell as managing earned outputs with a range of different tactics, the post holder will be required to produce high-quality written content for the Universitys external facing news website OUnews.co.uk. This post will also see you working on reactive queriesfrom the press and media as part of a 24/7 on-call service. This is a fantastic opportunity offering a broad range of experience in a testing and challenging role. You will need to manage multiple competing demands and be able to work at pace, earning thetrust and respect of both the team and the key stakeholders we work with regularly. Skills and experience You will need experience of a press office or journalistic environment, with a track record of turning around different and varied communications quicklyacross a range of channels. You will have experience of contributing to the delivery of integrated campaigns across paid, earned, shared, and owned communications channels. You have evidence of strong spoken and written interpersonal and communications skillsand the ability to work quickly and accurately to tight deadlines. You have experience of supporting senior leaders and spokespersons with briefings and tactics on handling the media. You can demonstrate an ability to thoroughly monitor the news agenda dailyfor reactive and proactive opportunities. You can use industry recognised media monitoring platforms to demonstrate the measurable impact of coverage, as well as planning tools to find story hooks and journalist databases.What you get in returnWe offer a greatrange of benefits that support our employees and their families for the long term. Benefits include an attractive pension proposition and 33 days holiday per annum pro rata, plus Bank Holidays and Christmas closure days.How to applyWe are piloting an automatedapplication tracking system (ATS), which will be used more widely imminently. All applications will now be completed online and there will be no need for you to complete an additional hard copy of the application for employment form.Access details for disabledapplicants are available from the Resourcing Hub, telephone: , quoting the vacancy reference above.This role is part of an anonymous recruitment trial and all applications are completed online following the instructions below and clicking the "Apply Now" link.This application can only be completed through the OU Jobs Page.To apply for this role please submit the following;Completed Candidate Question Sheet.Please do not change the name of this document or put your name on the document.The above documents will needto be submitted in the CV section of the application in place of a CV.Please attach your CV in the additional documents section of your application. Your CV will only be reviewed if your anonymised application questions sheet is successful by aligning to therequirements in the Skills and Experience section of the Job Description and your application progresses to the next stage. It is important that your CV is attached to this section to keep the initial shortlisting process anonymised.You will need to have yourAnswer Sheet and CV ready ahead of submitting the electronic application.Please submit an electronic application following the above instructions by clicking on "Apply"Please ensure this email address is added to your list of trusted senders. Please also keepan eye on your junk folder to ensure you do not miss any important updates regarding this role.Closing date: 22nd June 2021.Please note: If you have not heard from us within a week of the application closing date, please assume that on this occasion you havenot been selected for interview, however we thank you for your interest in The Open University and encourage you to apply for future positions.**As we practice social distancing at this time, please note that we will be conducting the interviews for this positionvia a suitable online video conferencing system. The Open University will share the online interview arrangements with shortlisted candidates when they are invited to an interview slot.We value diversity and we recognise that different people bring differentperspectives, ideas, knowledge and culture, and that this difference brings great strength.