Communications Support Assistant in Ambleside

Reporting to: Comms & Policy Lead

Responsible for: Supporting the Comms Team

Location: Flexible, this is a WFH role

Hours: 12 hours per month

Available Fee: £18 per hour

Contract Type: Fixed Term until Jan 27, likely to be extended depending on funding.

You will be working in a Black-led organisation and we want to see more Black* people, Brown* people and people from under-represented groups in our growing and positive team. Anyone who joins ARC will be supported in an anti-racist environment with a fantastic network of ARCtivist volunteers and a Board of Trustees from a wide range of backgrounds; age, economic, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, heritage and cultures.

This role is designed for someone at the beginning of their communications or marketing career. You will be fully mentored by the Comms & Policy Lead with support from our comms team. At first, following introductory training and mentorship, you will be supporting the admin side of the comms work picking up experience in using scheduling apps and Canva, as well as Google Workspace. As you progress in the role you will begin to gain more experience in other aspects of communications including creating content, editing, social media analytics, and you will get opportunities to contribute to our strategy meetings. This is an ideal position for someone looking to supplement their income alongside other work or study with the aim of pursuing work in the marketing, social media and/or the charity and social justice sectors.

We have an office in Ambleside, Cumbria which you would be welcome to use along with the team. However, our Comms & Policy Lead works remotely from Glasgow so an almost fully remote position (you would be expected in the office from time to time) is also an option and we welcome applications from across the UK.

What does the role involve?

Communications and Marketing are key pillars of our work and one of the main ways we give our audience and the wider public access to the tools to make anti-racist change is through anti-racist learning, unlearning and calls to action.

“Communications” simply describes all the ways we communicate with people online and offline, but the ‘everyday’ communications we do on a regular basis is mostly on our socials (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube), website, and newsletters. Put simply: it’s about connecting with different people, finding ways to encourage them to think critically about anti-racism, and motivating them to act.

Initially you will be supporting the admin side of communications. This involves scheduling social media posts on Hootsuite, tagging creators, uploading articles and images to the website and posting on stories. As you progress in the role you will get the opportunity to gain experience in other elements of communications such as creating content, building graphics on Canva and copy editing. You will also be invited to our monthly analytics meetings to learn about how we use analytics to shape our strategy and you will get an opportunity to contribute to our planning discussions.

Your main contact will be our Comms & Policy Lead but you will be mentored by all members of our comms team. This means you will get an opportunity to learn about several different aspects of comms and marketing as our Comms & Policy Lead, Marketing & Admin Co-ordinator and Operations Director all contribute to communications in different ways.

You do not need experience in communications or using any of the platforms and apps mentioned above to apply for this role. Instead we are looking for core qualities and skills.

Qualities

• Knowledge about anti-racism and a passion for and commitment to continue learning (training will also be provided)
• Reliable, organised, resilient and driven
• Interested in a career linked to communications, marketing and/or the charity and social justice sector

Skills

• Interested in writing and content creation (please note that we proudly do not use AI for creating any of our content)
• Interested in people and able to tailor how you communicate to different audiences
• Ability to stick to a to-do list and complete tasks to a deadline
• Ability to listen and contribute to discussions
• Foundational IT skills (Google Drive, WhatsApp, Emails, Digital Calendars etc)

Useful experience but not essential

• Writing social media posts
• Keen social media user across platforms
• Using scheduling apps like Hootsuite
• Using creative apps like Canva
• Able to demonstrate a creative eye – in writing, graphics or both!

We pride ourselves on our flexible working environment, and many in our staff team and ARCtivists are neurodivergent (diagnosed or undiagnosed). If you are successful in your application we can discuss the best ways to enable you to shine in this role.

The above duties are not intended to be an exhaustive list, but a good and honest indication of the requirements of this post. Naturally duties may be varied from time to time to reflect the changing needs of an organisation that is in service of making its county an anti-racist one.

Benefits and Entitlements

• This is a freelance role and we’re beginning with 12 hours a month, but subject to funding there’s the chance for growth and further hours.
• Hybrid office/home working/ flexible working environment
• Access to free anti-racism training and other intersectional training and workshop opportunities
• Regular well-being and wellness support
• References, support and mentorship