JOB TITLE:
Web and Digital Communications Officer
ACCOUNTABLE TO:
Head of Communications & Programmes
LOCATION:
Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, UK
CONTRACT:
Part-time two-year contract, subject to satisfactory completion
of six months probationary period, with possibility of extension.
HOURS:
22.5h/week, flexible working hours
SALARY:
Around £17,000-£18,000 pro rata depending on experience
The Vegan Society, the world’s first, is an educational charity that promotes and supports the
vegan lifestyle – formed in 1944, by a group of vegetarians who recognised the ethical
compromises of eating eggs and dairy products. We are the first point of contact for people
thinking about going vegan, new vegans and those seeking information, including caterers, print
and broadcast media, health professionals, teachers and government.
Our Vision and Mission
The Vegan Society’s vision is a world in which humans do not exploit other animals. Our mission is
to make veganism an easily adopted and widely recognised approach to reducing animal and
human suffering and environmental damage by means of meaningful, peaceful and factual
dialogue with individuals, organisations and companies.
The Web and Digital Communications Officer’s role will be to maintain and develop The Vegan
Society’s current website and to lead our social media programme; contributing to a strategy
extending our reach, delivering activities that build networks, engaging audiences and harnessing
support and donations.
The successful candidate will be passionate about all things digital possessing both technical and
creative skills. While you will have experience of developing impact driven copy, you will seek to
develop strong relationships with members of the team and support them to ensure we maximise
the potential of our digital communications. In addition you will have proven ability to harness the
power of social media marketing through building relationships and networks and possess basic
knowledge of website development and content management systems along with analytical
monitoring and evaluation tools.
This role is initially for 22.5 hours a week and for two years with the possibility of extension. The
application deadline is 1st October at 9AM. Please send completed application forms to
peter.smith@vegansociety.com. Interviews will be held on 10 October 2014.
PERSON SPECIFICATION WEB AND DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
The knowledge, skills, and/or ability required to carry out the role effectively (and which may be
developed) are listed below.
ESSENTIAL
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Knowledge
Basic knowledge of vegan nutrition and
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health
Working knowledge of web technologies
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including basic HTML or CMS systems
Understanding of corporate identity and
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branding issues
Knowledge of website accessibility standards
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DESIRABLE
Understanding of working in/with NGOs
or small charitable organisations
Knowledge of environmental and/or
non-human animal issues within the EU
Understanding of legal issues involved
with the creation and maintenance of
websites
Knowledge of digital marketing or
fundraising databases
Education / qualifications & training
Appropriate experience in a directly related
 Educated to degree level or in
post
possession of a relevant qualification
Skills & abilities
Research skills with the ability to produce a
 Experience of video journalism,
range of engaging content on topics of
including editing
interest to audiences
 Experience of using Drupal, eExcellent writing skills, with the ability to
newsletters such as MailChimp and
adapt copy to different audiences, e.g. high
CRM databases
impact blogging, marketing or copy-writing
 Experience of liaising with external
experience
suppliers
Photo editing skills
 Knowledge of integrated digital
A high degree of accuracy and attention to
marketing techniques, such as search
detail
engine optimisation (SEO), search
engine marketing (SEM) and viral
Effective user of content management
marketing
systems to create website pages and other
content
 Ability to use website analytics (Google
Analytics) and interpret the data into
Experience of variety of content formats
meaningful reports.
including video/audio, podcasting, wikis,
blogs, email, mobile, social networking and
user generated content
Experience of building an online community
Ability to establish strong working
relationships with colleagues and senior
management
Ability to manage multiple priorities and work
to deadlines
Work successfully to targets, delivering
objectives and desired outcomes
Personal qualities
Confident, articulate and proactive
Work well under pressure and able to juggle
several projects at once
Client/customer focused approach to
delivering solutions
Approachable and adaptable, team player
Willingness and ability to undertake
appropriate training and development as
required
Adhere to a vegan diet for the duration of
employment with The Vegan Society
JOB DESCRIPTION WEB AND DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
DUTIES & KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Websites
 Generate and curate content ideas - write, produce and liaise with the rest of the
Communications and Programmes team to agree, maintain and develop content on the
website ensuring that it is engaging, up-to-date, and correctly branded
 Co-ordinate colleagues to ensure that their web content is kept up to date
 Collaborate with designers and web on specific projects
 Utilise digital marketing tools and analytics to increase visitors and data capture from our
website
 Establish new ways to encourage people to visit, interact with and join the Vegan Society
Digital Communications
 Contribute to a digital communications strategy including social media plans
 Support our visual identity by making it appropriate and engaging for digital channels
 Monitor and update social media channels in line with key messages, ensuring effective
content and copy in order to grow our reach and influence
 Co-ordinate our monthly e-newsletter to supporters and using analytics find new ways to
involve them with our work
 Working with the Communications and Programmes team to develop and deliver engaging
digital public campaigns
 Maintain and develop our visual content library (images, video, animation, infographics)
using a range of software tools
 Use basic graphic design software tools (such as Photoshop) to illustrate digital content
 Working with colleagues devise ways to recruit new members and donors, develop and
retain existing supporters and regain previous online and offline supporters.
Monitoring and Evaluation
 Report on the performance of our website and social media channels using appropriate
tools to establish relevant key performance indicators
 Monitor activity and report key findings from Google Analytics, with a view to development
of a data driven approach to developing website content
 Identify patterns, suggest and make improvements to effectiveness of digital
communications, where appropriate
 Keep up to date and inform the team of emerging platforms and trends and the uses of it for
engagement activities
 Provide bi-monthly progress reports to the Head of Communications and Programmes
The job description is not exhaustive and you may be asked to carry out additional tasks which
are appropriate to your job role, as required by your line manager.