School Communications Officer

Are you an experienced and creative communications professional with a keen interest in current affairs, geopolitical issues and global security challenges? Are you looking to work for one of the world’s top universities?  

King’s College London is looking for a Communications Officer to work in one of its most high-profile schools within the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy: the School of Security Studies, which includes the Department of War Studies, Defence Studies Department and King’s Institute for Applied Security Studies.

The role will be based on the Strand Campus, London, with occasional working also at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in Shrivenham.  

The successful candidate will join a friendly and hard-working team and will play a vital role in supporting our world-leading researchers and teachers to communicate their work on international relations, conflict and security to diverse audiences, as well as celebrating our students and alumni community.

The job would suit someone with excellent digital, social media and design skills, possessing great attention to detail and the ability to manage projects effectively. You will play a leading role in copywriting and editing news and features, creating content for social media, including graphics and videos, as well as contributing to our successful podcast series and developing the School’s webpages. 

The role will also involve supporting the organisation of major conferences and high-profile talks. Previous events we have organised have included speakers such as the UK Defence Secretary and other government ministers, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK and the Head of the Royal Air Force.

Given the range of research areas covered by the role, and the need to work with a variety of stakeholders, the successful candidate will need to be flexible, comfortable working in a fast-paced environment, and willing to pitch in with a variety of tasks when needed. 

The School of Security Studies is located within the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy. Together, we support an inclusive culture and diversity for our staff and students. We are committed to encouraging further growth from diverse groups, and we welcome applications from people of all abilities and currently under-represented groups, which we are able to support with our range of flexible and inclusive benefits. 

This post will be offered on a full-time, indefinite post.

• Supporting the Communications Manager to deliver internal and external communications for the School and its constituent departments, and to raise the School’s research profile with staff, students, alumni, other stakeholders and public audiences. 
• Developing and helping to manage the School’s social media channels, including helping to grow our engagement rates and numbers of followers.  
• Collecting regular analytics across our social media channels to highlight key successes and recommendations for development. 
• Copywriting and editing press releases, features and blogs for the media and School channels, to showcase the School’s research excellence and expertise. 
• Working with researchers to come up with innovative ways to communicate their findings. 
• Supporting and managing major events, including developing listings, promoting events via our channels and helping run events both online and in person.    
• Creating eye-catching graphics for social media, digital mailings and event invitations. 
• Managing internal newsletters and supporting with the creation of external and alumni newsletters. 
• Keeping the School webpages updated and making recommendations for how to improve them. 
• Assisting with the production, hosting and editing of the War Studies Podcast. 
• Working closely with the student engagement team and managing a group of student communication ambassadors to develop compelling and accessible student-facing content to engage our vibrant student community.  
• Contributing to work undertaken in collaboration with marketing colleagues to promote the Schools degree programmes to prospective students, including social media content and playing a vital role working with agencies to develop video content.   
• Working with colleagues in the faculty and central communications teams to cross-promote work across external and internal channels. 
• Playing an important part in creating a coherent identity for the School externally and a sense of community internally. 

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Essential criteria 

1.       Educated to degree level or equivalent (OR has relevant work experience within the Higher Education sector) 

2.       Experience of content creation for the web and social media channels in a professional capacity. 

3.       Experience of news and feature writing and copy-editing to a high standard. 

4.       Proven ability in finding newsworthy angles to communicate in news stories, social media and videos.  

5.       Proficiency in the Adobe Creative Suite or the capability to learn and develop skills quickly with training, particularly Photoshop, Premier Pro and Audition. Knowledge of other packages would also be welcomed. 

6.       Experience of developing, managing and running events online and in person. 

7.       A high level of attention to detail. 

8.       Strong organisational skills and ability to manage competing priorities. 

9.       Experience of managing multiple work-streams independently.  

10.   Excellent interpersonal skills with evidence of building good working relationships with stakeholders at all levels. 

Desirable criteria 

1.   A relevant professional qualification in graphic design, communications or related field. 

2.   Knowledge and experience of using Content Management Systems to manage webpages. 

3.   Evidence of developing and delivering an integrated communications campaign 

The School of Security Studies is dedicated to the understanding of security issues in an increasingly complex and uncertain world. Harnessing the depth and breadth of expertise across the War Studies and Defence Studies Departments, and the King’s Institute for Applied Security Studies, we are one of the largest multi-disciplinary communities of scholars in the world engaged in the teaching and research of all aspects of conflict, war, security and defence.