Communications & PR Officer (maternity cover) in Ashford

Glaucoma UK is the charity for people with glaucoma. Our vision is to end preventable glaucoma sight loss. We want everyone with glaucoma to be able to live well with the condition, and to make this a reality.

More than 10,000 people took part in our National Patient Voices Survey, creating the most powerful picture yet of what it is like to live with glaucoma and receive glaucoma care across the UK.

Working closely with our Head of Communications and a specialist public affairs agency, you will help bring those findings to life, secure media attention and make decision-makers listen. Central to this will be finding and sensitively supporting people who are willing to share their experiences, cultivating trusted relationships and helping them tell their stories confidently across print, digital and broadcast media.

Alongside this landmark work, you will create engaging content across our magazine, website, email and social media channels, identify opportunities for national coverage and help strengthen and protect Glaucoma UK’s voice and reputation. This is a varied and influential role for an excellent storyteller with strong media instincts who wants their work to make a genuine difference.

Position: Communications & PR Officer (maternity cover)

Responsible to: Head of Communications

Location: Home-based with occasional travel to our head office in Ashford, Kent

Hours: 35 per week

Contract: 12 months fixed-term (from December 2026)

Salary: £34,077 per annum

Annual leave and benefits:

25 days holiday per annum (rising by one day per year to 28 days after 3 years’ service), plus Statutory Public Holidays, pro-rated for part-time employees.

Up to 5% contributory pension

Benenden Healthcare cover including 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme

Interviews will take place in the week commencing 21 October.

Closing date: Sunday 11 October at 11pm

What you’ll be working on:

• Proactively creating and delivering high quality, inspiring multi-channel content (including, but not limited to, our quarterly members magazine, awareness campaigns, email marketing schedule, social media and website) to engage key stakeholders and attract new followers to our cause.
• Playing a key role in the production of our quarterly member’s magazine; actively contributing to editorial meetings, writing articles, conducting interviews, editing copy, and overseeing timelines through to print and despatch.
• Working with the Head of Communications to develop key messages, briefings, and positioning statements to ensure consistency and maximise the impact of our campaigns and manage approval processes internally.
• Working alongside the Digital Communications Manager to ensure the website and social media is updated regularly with compelling and quality content.
• Providing copywriting and editing support across all internal and external communications for all departments to maintain consistent tone, style and messaging across all outputs and act as a ‘brand guardian’ together with colleagues in the communications team.
• Leading on the delivery of an ongoing programme to recruit and develop relationships with patient case studies, celebrity supporters and influencers who can help raise our public profile through the media and other opportunities.

This job is for you if…

• you have experience of working in a similar role either in-house or in an agency.
• you have excellent copywriting and proofreading skills.
• you have experience of crisis communications.
• you have experience of developing compelling content for print, digital and broadcast communications channels, accurately conveying information and engaging with a wide range of stakeholders.
• you have a track record of generating media coverage to deliver messages to a range of audiences.
• are astrategic thinker who considers the wider context when planning activity and can sense compelling story opportunities.