JOB DESCRIPTION
TITLE:
EDITOR – THE TEACHER (SC13)
GRADE:
BAND 3
DEPARTMENT:
STRATEGY & COMMUNICATIONS
LOCATION:
HAMILTON HOUSE
RESPONSIBLE TO:
HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS
ROLE OF DEPARTMENT:
Strategy and Communications Department
The Department is headed by the General Secretary.
The Strategy and Communications Department includes the offices of the
General Secretary, the Deputy General Secretary and the President. Within its
responsibility for strategy, the Department takes the lead on: national campaigns
and national action; the Union’s relations with national and local government,
including Parliament; the Union’s relations with the TUC, including organising the
Union’s presence at TUC Congress; and to Union’s external relations, within
Europe and at international level. It is responsible for the strategic direction of
the Union, including the establishment of annual priorities and the Union’s
budget. The Department is responsible for overall co-ordination across
committees and departments.
It is the lead department for communications, including The Teacher, press and
media matters, the Union’s website, Hearth and NUT Community.
The aim of the Communications section is to ensure that the strategy of the
Union is communicated effectively across all media.
STAFFING – Communications Section
The section is managed by the Head of Communications.
The press and media function is headed by the Principal Officer – Press and
Media (Band 3) supported by a Professional/Administrative Assistant, Press
(Band 5).
The Teacher is headed by the Editor (Band 3) supported by a Journalist (Band 5)
and an administrative support assistant (Band 6).
Marketing, Promotions, Web Communications, and Print & Design is headed by
a Principal Officer (Band 3) supported by a Hearth Web Editor (Band 5) and a
Marketing/Communications Assistant (Band 6).
GENERAL DUTIES
The General Secretary has overall responsibility for the management and
administration of the Union and all Assistant Secretaries and staff work under her
or his general direction. The Senior Solicitor has overall responsibility for legal
aspects of the Union's work. The departments of the Union are headed by the
Assistant Secretaries and senior managers who have supervision of the staff of
their departments and are responsible for the management of staff and their
effective deployment to allow the Union to respond to and initiate activities in the
most dynamic way.
Principal Officers are responsible to an Assistant Secretary or other senior
employee as their head of department for assisting in providing advice on Union
policy development, implementation and promotion of policies and activities.
Under the direct of their head of department, Principal Officers have day-to-day
managerial and administration responsibilities for areas of work within their
departments. Principal Officers may be called upon by their head of department
from time-to-time to deputise in his or her absence.
Broad responsibilities are allocated to particular Principal Officers in their
departments. Principal Officers are also expected to co-operate and liaise with
other departments. Assistant Secretaries other than the head of department to
whom a Principal Officer is directly responsible, may have policy responsibilities
in areas of a Principal Officer's work. Principal Officers will have a functional
relationship with those Assistant Secretaries.
PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES
1.
To be responsible, under the direction of the Head of Communications, for
all activities relating to the planning, management, editing, writing,
production and distribution of the Union’s journal, The Teacher, and its
supplements.
2.
To supervise any journalists, designers and clerical staff who may be
variously employed by the Union in support of the journal.
3.
To commission articles, features, photographs, illustrations and other
materials for inclusion in The Teacher, as well as the services of freelance
specialists as necessary for the production of the magazine.
4.
To report on, or secure the reporting of, news relating to NUT
conferences, events, campaigns and activities, the education service,
relevant national and international trade union developments and other
suitable items of information for members.
5.
To liaise and co-operate with the Assistant/Regional Secretaries and the
Wales Secretary, and other appropriate staff, on the content of The
Teacher and its relationship with other Union communications and to coordinate the preparation of material from such sources for inclusion in The
Teacher.
6.
To be responsible, under the direction of the Head of Communications, for
reporting to the Communications Sub-Committee and for responding to
the priorities identified by the Sub-Committee.
7.
To administer and monitor the use of resources designated for the
purpose of publishing The Teacher and its supplements.
8.
To liaise with printers and distribution agencies.
9.
To secure the effective and profitable deployment and sale of advertising
space.
10.
To ensure The Teacher has an effective online presence (within
teachers.org.uk).
11.
To operate such equipment and use technological facilities as is
necessary for the performance of the post.
12.
To undertake other duties appropriate to grade as may be allocated by the
Head of Communications from time to time.
13.
To attend conferences and meetings, including annual and special
conferences, as necessary for the effective delivery of the duties of the
post.
Further background information is attached.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
1.
SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES
Essential Criteria
(a)
Interest in and knowledge of education and current affairs.
(b)
Ability to commission, select and write news, features and
information of interest to teachers, to produce a well designed and
professional magazine for all members of the National Union of
Teachers.
(c)
Ability to plan and supervise all aspects of production of the
magazine including news and feature writing, use of photographs,
design and page make up, proof correction and pre-press
production.
(d)
Administrative and organisational abilities, including supervising
staff, managing The Teacher’s production budget and servicing the
Communications Sub-Committee.
(e)
Excellent oral and written communication skills, including a clear
writing style with accurate use of grammar, spelling and
punctuation.
(f)
Ability to read, interpret and abstract relevant information from
complex policy statements and to present issues in plain English,
avoiding technical jargon.
(g)
Ability to sub-edit and if necessary re-write other people’s copy.
(h)
Ability to prioritise work, think independently and make decisions.
(i)
Good inter-personal skills when communicating with fellow
members of staff, the Union’s members, outside agencies and the
general public.
(j)
Ability to use relevant specific software and Microsoft Office
packages necessary for the performance of the role.
Desirable Criteria
(a)
2.
Knowledge/understanding of software such as Adobe InDesign or
QuarkXPress and Adobe Photoshop.
QUALIFICATIONS/EDUCATION
Essential Criteria
(a)
3.
Good standard of general education.
EXPERIENCE
Essential Criteria
(a)
Experience of working as a professional journalist or editor at an
appropriate level, including: experience of news and feature writing;
researching, commissioning and selecting photographs and
illustrations for publication; sub-editing; proof reading; and clearing
pages for press.
Desirable criteria
(a)
4.
Experience of working in or for the trade union movement.
SPECIAL CONDITIONS
Essential criteria
(a)
A firm commitment to or sympathy with the aims of the trade union
movement.
(b)
Willingness to attend Annual Conference, special conferences and
other NUT events as required, involving stays away from home.
(c)
An understanding of and commitment to the Union’s Equal
Opportunities Employment Policy Statement.
The National Union of Teachers
The National Union of Teachers is the largest teachers’ organisation in Europe. It
represents over 246,000 qualified teachers, deputy head teachers and head
teachers working in pre-school education, primary and secondary schools,
academies, sixth-form colleges and other educational establishments in the
public and private sectors in England and Wales, the Channel Islands and the
Isle of Man. The Union also represents members working in Service Children’s
Education, mainly in Germany. In addition, the Union has many retired and leftprofession members and student teacher members. The NUT is the seventh
largest union affiliated to the Trades Union Congress and is affiliated to
Education International, the worldwide organisation for teachers. The Union
employs over 200 staff at its head office in London and its nine regional offices
and Wales Office.
The National Union of Teachers works to improve members’ pay, working
conditions and terms of employment and represents them individually and
collectively as appropriate with employers and national and local government.
The Union promotes the advancement of comprehensive education that meets
the needs of both teachers and children. The Union supports the Millennium Goal
of primary education for all the world’s children by 2015 and works for the
peaceful resolution of conflict to enable teaching and learning to take place.
The Teacher
The Teacher is the official journal of the National Union of Teachers. It is
published six times during the school year (two issues each term) as an A4
magazine normally of 52 pages. With a print run of around 320,000, it is the
largest circulation dedicated educational publication in the UK (excluding
education supplements of national newspapers). It is posted directly to all
members, including serving teachers, retired members and student teachers, as
well as to MPs, national and local government, national and local media, and
university and college libraries.
In the autumn term The Teacher publishes special supplements for teachers in
primary, secondary and special education. A bilingual supplement Teachers in
Wales/Athrawon Cymru is published once each term.
The Editor
The Editor is responsible directly to the Head of Communications. The Teacher
office is part of the Strategy and Communications Department (S&C). Further
details of S&C and the principal responsibilities of the Editor are given in the job
description.
Production of the magazine and its supplements involves many different skills
and activities that would normally be separate in a commercial operation – e.g.,
editor, news editor, features editor, production editor, art editor, reviews editor,
reporter, feature writer, designer/layout artist, and sub-editor, as well as
advertising sales, print management and distribution.
The Editor is responsible for all aspects of publication of The Teacher, including
supervising a Journalist and a Professional/Administrative Assistant and
administering the publication’s production budget. A part-time freelance journalist
is employed mainly on page make-up and proof reading and correction. Pages
are currently made up in house using Adobe InDesign running on Apple Mac
G5s. In addition there are contributions from writers (both teachers and nonteachers), photographers and illustrators. An agency is responsible for
advertising sales and production while print management companies handle prepress production, printing and distribution. These companies also handle
translation into Welsh of pages for Teachers in Wales/Athrawon Cymru and
liaise, under the supervision of the Editor, with the Union’s Wales office.
Communications Sub-Committee
The Editor, under the direction of the Head of Communications, reports on issues
relating to The Teacher to the Communications Sub-Committee, a committee of
the Union’s lay-member elected National Executive.
The Sub-Committee reviews each issue of The Teacher to ensure that it reflects
the Union’s campaigning priorities and that it is attractive to the broad
membership of the Union. It identifies priorities and recommends topics for
coverage, and enables the Editor and staff of the magazine to benefit from SubCommittee members’ experience as serving teachers. The Sub-Committee is
guided in its work by The Teacher Mission Statement (below) which has been
endorsed by the Union’s National Executive.
The Teacher – Mission Statement
The Teacher, the official journal of the National Union of Teachers, is an
important medium for the Union to communicate with members and for members
to communicate with each other. The editorial team takes into account the
findings of market research commissioned, from time to time, into members’
views of the magazine.
The magazine argues the case for the advancement of state comprehensive
education and the needs of both teachers and children, based on the Union’s
policies.
The overriding aim of the magazine, which is delivered by post to every member,
is to provide all members with a professionally produced publication which will
both interest them, and inform them about the Union’s campaigning priorities.
The Teacher has an important role to play in recruiting teachers to, and retaining
them in, the NUT.
Thus, it aims to:

publish articles that directly reflect the interests and professional concerns
of all teachers in all sectors of education from pre-school to post-16;

provide support and practical advice, and publish reviews and information,
which will assist teachers in their working lives;

publish articles, including contributions from members, and encourage
letters from members to stimulate debate on education issues;

promote Union campaigns and policies and the Union’s services to
members;

report on and discuss national and international developments and issues
in education and the trade union movement from the Union’s perspective;

report on regional/Wales and divisional news – including successful
negotiations with local education authorities, legal settlements, and local
campaigns;

encourage local associations and divisions and regions to provide
information about forthcoming local Union events and items of interest
about individual members.