Head of Media

Permanent, Full Time (35 hours per week). Flexible working arrangements are a valued part of the culture at JRF, but the successful candidate(s) will be expected to be present at one of our offices in London or York at least two days each week. Depending on which of those two offices they choose as their official base, they must also be prepared to visit either London or York on a regular basis to maintain contact with members of the media team not based at their primary site.

JRF is an independent social change organisation working across the UK to support and speed up the transition to a more equitable and just future, free from poverty, where people and planet can flourish.

About The Role

Here at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, we are seeking a Head of Media to play a critical role in influencing the public and political narratives around poverty, household economic security and the need for systemic change. Working closely with the organisation's senior leaders, policy experts and movement partners, you’ll be ambitious to challenge entrenched assumptions about the status quo, shift the terms of public debate and elevate stories and ideas which inspire people to believe that a more just society is possible.

You’ll develop and implement a forward-thinking media channel strategy that equips JRF to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving external operating environment, ensuring that our messages and stories continue to reach and resonate with a diverse range of audiences. Leading and empowering a high-performing media team so that they are ready to meet current and future challenges, ensuring they have the space, confidence, and resources to do truly impactful work, you’ll lead the development of a coherent annual media plan for JRF's most important storylines and mobilise colleagues across the organisation to ensure we maximise their salience by communicating in a timely, well-targeted way.

Ensuring that the development of new stories and public engagement initiatives are undertaken with professionalism, drawing on user and audience insight and subject to rigorous impact evaluation, you’ll be an advocate for the team's expertise across JRF, enabling early involvement and deeper integration into strategic planning processes, including alignment with our iterative EDI strategy.

About You

As our Head of Media, we’d like you to have a deep understanding of the evolving media landscape, including the workings of social platforms, patterns of media consumption, and the strategies of different outlets. With significant experience of translating complex material into compelling stories that will interest either lay or specialist audiences across multiple media platforms, you’ll have experience of centring direct lived experience in media strategy, and be able to translate experiences of poverty in ways that resist harmful stereotypes and blame culture.

You’ll have significant experience of working across disciplines (e.g., policy, campaigns, digital) to create impact with experience of working in a politically sensitive environment and an in-depth knowledge of the policy-making and political context in the devolved nations and in England. With experience of monitoring, evaluating and implementing change based on data analysis, you’ll have demonstrable experience of building and leading high-performing media teams in mission-driven organisations, balancing strategic influence, pastoral support, and operational delivery.

With highly developed news judgement and political sensitivity, you’ll have exceptional verbal and written communications skills with experience of building and maintaining a network of influential stakeholders. With a sense of ambition and imagination and a willingness to take risks and explore alternative approaches and audiences, you’ll have high standards of accuracy and attention to detail, particularly in conveying statistical and research material. You’ll have a positive and proactive approach with a focus on collaboration and finding solutions, committed to balancing ambition with care.

How To Apply

If you share our passion and this role sounds like you, then we’re looking forward to hearing from you. Please submit your CV and supporting information via our online application platform. The closing date and time for applications is midday on Thursday 10th July. Longlisted applicants will be notified no later than Wednesday 16th July. Every person on the long list will be invited to an online meeting - lasting no longer than 30 minutes - with the hiring panel at which they can present their ideas for how they would approach the role and field initial questions about their recommended approach. These meetings will be held on Tuesday 22nd July. A final shortlist will then be compiled, with candidates informed on Wednesday 23rd July. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend an in-person interview (with the same panel) at our London office on Friday 25th July. They will also have a chance during their visit to meet (online) the rest of the team that manages the Communications and Public Engagement directorate on that day.

Given the high volume of applications we expect to receive for this role, it will be practically quite difficult to adjust the timeline to suit an individual candidate in the earlier stages of the process, unless they can offer a very compelling reason. We reserve the right to bring the closing date forward should enough quality applications be received prior to the current closing date.

Additional Information

Applications are welcome from all, regardless of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief, race, sex, sexual orientation, trans status or socioeconomic background. We positively encourage applications from people from marginalised backgrounds, including but not limited to those with experience of living in poverty. We are committed to being an anti-racist organisation and operate an anonymised recruitment process so that bias is eliminated from the shortlisting process. In support of our approach to flexible working, we are happy to receive applications from those seeking full-time employment, as well as those who may want to share the role on a part-time basis. When making your application, please state whether you want to be considered for either full or part-time work and, if part-time, the number of hours per week you would be looking for. At JRF we’re at our best when we’re continually building on trust, showing we care and making a difference and hope others will do the same. So, for those roles which allow it, we’re developing a more blended approach to how and where you work. This means you can expect to work flexibly between the office and home (with an expectation of two days a week in your home office).

We encourage you to read our EVP, which is located here: https://jrf-jrht-brand.frontify.com/share/7C1kD2FusMtEVnje2ijA. We are a Disability Confident Employer. This means that we are committed to the recruitment, progression and retention of disabled individuals. We shall also offer interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for the job. If you have a disability, please tell us if you would like to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme. If you have any additional needs and need reasonable adjustments to be made to the interview process, please let us know.