Communications Officer

The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) is a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC), established by the Mayor of London to bring forward the regeneration of the Old Oak Opportunity area, spanning land in three London boroughs – Ealing, Brent and Hammersmith & Fulham. The Old Oak and Park Royal Opportunity Area is one of the most exciting and important regeneration opportunities in the UK – aiming to create an accessible, welcoming and well-connected urban district, centred around the new High Speed 2 station at Old Oak Common, with tens of thousands of new high-quality and affordable homes; good quality, well-paid jobs and shops; facilities, sustainable travel connections and public green space.

The Communications and Engagement Directorate manages OPDC’s communications, marketing, external relations, community engagement and media relations functions. Communications and Engagement sits at the centre of the organisation, bringing together several teams with organisation-wide remits and mutual collaboration opportunities. The work of the directorate’s teams includes delivering events and launches, designing and leading public affairs and marketing campaigns, providing data, evidence and analysis to inform the OPDC’s work, leading cross-organisational programmes, and making sure we plan for and can respond to emerging events.

The Communications Officer will work as part of the Communications and Engagement team within OPDC, providing support in all matters relating to communications, including copywriting, digital, internal communications, public liaison, marketing, event organisation and media/stakeholder monitoring, as well as supporting the day-to-day function of the team through undertaking administrative tasks.

Principal accountabilities

• Assist with the coordination and delivery of communications and marketing activity, using a range of channels and methods both traditional and online, including leaflet, poster and flyer creation and distribution, press releases, internal and external email campaigns and website maintenance.
• Work with the Digital Communications Manager to manage the corporation’s social media and online presence, promoting OPDC by creating and uploading engaging content, including working with designers, videographers, community members and internal teams to prepare posts, podcasts and videos.
• Work with the Communications & External Relations Manager to support and maintain the internal communications function, liaising with team members to compile internal newsletters, and helping to organise internal events, including lunch and learns, staff briefings and team socials.
• Carry out the work required to coordinate and complete the corporation’s FOI and Write On processes, as well as the Mayor’s correspondence that is allocated to OPDC, including allocating correspondence to the appropriate team members and providing responses to straightforward letters and emails, measuring OPDC’s response deadlines and monitoring these against the corporation’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
• Monitor OPDC’s online and media presence, tracking engagement, followers and comments to help inform future Communications and Engagement campaigns and consultations.
• Act as a first point of contact for enquiries to the Communications and Engagement Team.
• Realise the benefits of London’s diversity by promoting and enabling equality of opportunities and promoting the diverse needs and aspirations of London’s communities.
• Realise the benefits of a flexible approach to work in undertaking the duties and responsibilities of this job, and participating in multi-disciplinary, cross-department and cross-organisational groups and project teams.

Skills, knowledge and experience

To be considered for the role you must meet the following essential criteria:

• Knowledge of and experience in using a variety of media (including social media tools) to produce attractive and engaging communications.
• Experience of writing and editing articles, internal publications, newsletters and press releases.
• Experience of writing for digital communications and providing advice and support to staff who are writing their own content.
• A proven track record of organising staff events and presentations and engaging and coordinating volunteers.
• Experience of providing training/skills sharing to users.
• Evidence of using innovation and creativity and understanding of current communications best practice to disseminate information and engage people.
• Ability to use a range of standard and specific ICT systems, including Mailchimp or similar CMS/email system(s).
• Competence in photography, filming and video editing would be desirable.
• Aware of working in a political context.

Application closing date: 2 May 25 at 23:59

Interview date: W/C 26 May