CHASM Communications and Impact Manager - School of Social Policy and SocietyGrade 7. Job in Bi[...]

Position Details

School of Social Policy and Society

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,130 to £45,413 with potential progression once in post to £48,149

Grade: 7

Part Time (30 hours per week)

Fixed Term contract up to September 2027

Closing date: 18th June 2025

Open House Drop In Session: We will be holding an open house drop in session at the University’s Exchange building in Centenary Square, Birmingham between 10am and 5pm on Friday 6th June 2025. If you’re interested in working at the University of Birmingham and perhaps have a few questions, this is an opportunity to meet colleagues in the Recruitment team.

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do. The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global institution. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success. We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and collaboration. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are and how we work. Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University, and depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working.

In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including:

• 40 days paid holiday a year
• One paid day a year for volunteering
• Occupational sick pay
• Pension scheme
• Three high-quality subsidised day nurseries

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus including main bus routes and a train station on campus. We have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum, and botanical gardens.

Background

CHASM is an interdisciplinary research centre for financial security, wellbeing, and inclusion. It is hard for some people to maintain or achieve financial security and wellbeing, and the number of people struggling has been increasing in recent years. There has been a massive shift in responsibility for financial security, with Governments passing more responsibility to households to cover the costs of precarious work, becoming ill, losing a job, paying for care, and planning for retirement. At CHASM, we carry out rigorous policy-relevant research to understand and address the disadvantages and inequalities created by this shift. We work closely with academic and non-academic partners to create evidence-based changes in policy and practice for a fairer and more financially inclusive society. Our Vision is for a fairer and more financially inclusive society. Our mission is to conduct research that matters, which leads to changes in policy and practice.

The CHASM core team consists of over ten members of professional services and academic staff with varied disciplinary backgrounds from across the School of Social Policy and the Birmingham Business School. CHASM also has honorary professors and research fellows and internal and external associate members from institutions across the UK and overseas.

Role Summary

We are looking for a proactive individual with a track record of successfully developing and delivering impactful communications and stakeholder engagement programmes. Using your skills and experience, you will help us to achieve our mission of translating our research into policy and practice by ensuring our communications are persuasive and impactful and that our messages are heard by our stakeholders. This includes Parliamentarians, regulators, businesses, and civil society. This will require up-to-date knowledge of communications platforms and tools as well as experience in providing a communications function for an organisation. In addition, you will work closely with all CHASM members in the development, organisation, and reporting of impact-related activity. This will include the identification of new opportunities to translate the centre's research into impact, especially changes in policy and practice. As part of this, you will be proactive in establishing and maintaining effective relationships with academic and Professional Services colleagues in the College of Social Sciences and across the University.

Main Duties

• Develop a detailed knowledge of the research impact and engagement landscape in the Centre and the research development needs and plans of individual academics in CHASM.
• Ensure that CHASM builds on its reputation as a centre for research excellence taking an integrated approach across media (social and traditional).
• Generate authoritative and engaging digital content.
• Develop and coordinate the production of key stakeholder communications including reports and briefings.
• Secure media coverage.
• Work closely with the Centre Manager to develop and promote an impactful event programme.
• Develop high-quality partnerships with external stakeholders.
• Undertake project management to ensure digital and communications projects run to time and cost.
• Work with external organisations leveraging partnership working and collaborative approaches to communications campaigns including events and public engagement.
• Provide hands-on support to CHASM members for example in the form of co-producing policy briefs/blogs/media content; responding to calls for evidence and leading the collection and evaluation of impact-related metrics.
• The post holder will work closely with College and University Marketing Communications and Public Affairs colleagues and will have a dotted line into the College based team and will work closely with academic colleagues and University Impact Press teams and the Public Engagement team to promote CHASM's work.
• Keep up to date with key policy and media debates relevant to the project and where necessary explain links to project research.
• Liaise with relevant external partners regarding joint initiatives, events, and exhibitions leading to improved public engagement.
• Work with CHASM members to evidence and communicate their research impact for a variety of purposes including the Research Excellence Framework (REF).
• Develop and maintain databases to monitor and evaluate the centre's impact and be able to articulate the impact of research undertaken in the centre with support from the Centre Manager.
• Promote equality and value diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
• Support the University’s sustainability agenda through resource-efficient working.
• Any other duties commensurate with the grade.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) plus relevant practical experience - where no equivalent qualification is held, significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a series of progressively more demanding roles will be required.
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy with the ability to write clearly and to produce and analyse information and data.
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010 and how to actively ensure in day-to-day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.
• Initiative: you must be a self-starter who can drive a communications campaign with limited guidance.
• Experience and skills in creating digital outputs including podcasts and videos.
• Significant experience of creating and marketing compelling content that articulates clear messages/arguments supported by convincing evidence with impact.
• Demonstrable experience of working with bespoke software for producing digital outputs of engaging high quality including delivering digital marketing communications campaigns.
• Knowledge of website design and maintenance and experience of keeping complex websites up to date.
• Excellent communication skills including the ability to co-produce, edit, and draft/re-draft material effectively.
• Excellent interpersonal skills. The post holder will be expected to interact with a range of stakeholders including senior academic and non-academic managers; external enquirers; colleagues in other universities; and colleagues from across Professional Services.
• Effective negotiation and influencing skills at all levels creating professional relationships with researchers, administrators, and senior staff internally and externally.
• Working to agreed timelines, well-developed prioritising and organisational abilities including the ability to manage projects, keep accurate records, and produce status or progress reports.
• Absolute discretion and the ability to maintain confidentiality.

Desirable

• Experience of working with the press and wider media.
• Demonstrable evidence of leading and/or supporting academic research and related impact activity.
• Ability to create animation style videos to enhance research impact.
• Prior work experience in a research environment such as a Higher Education institution, think tank, or CHASM research-related area.
• Understanding and/or experience of the political and parliamentary process.
• Previous experience of working in a knowledge exchange or research impact environment is desirable. This might be evidenced for example through experience of commercialisation or support for the delivery of policy or cultural or other forms of impact.

Informal enquiries to Davina Weston, CHASM Centre Manager.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter, and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability which is a key part of our strategy.