Senior Communications Officer, Middlesbrough

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Senior Communications Officer to come and join our team in Middlesbrough.

Location – This role is both community-based in Middlesbrough, with the ability to work from home as agreed with your manager. There may also be occasional travel to other programme sites (currently Redcar, Cleveland, Stoke-On-Trent and Scotland) or travel to our London office.

Salary – Up to £35,000 DOE

Employment Type – Permanent

Team – Communications team

About you

We are looking for someone who can demonstrate the following:

• Significant experience in a communications role, including experience with copywriting and content creation.
• Experience producing high quality, clear, compelling and audience appropriate content for a range of platforms.
• Empathy, cultural awareness, and sensitivity when communicating with and about communities whose voices and experiences are often underrepresented, including those with English as an additional language or limited literacy in English.
• The ability to clearly demonstrate our impact and inspire collaboration among our partners and stakeholders by sharing compelling and meaningful stories.
• Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of the local community, including its strengths, needs, and challenges.
• Strong knowledge and skills in Adobe Creative Suite such as Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop or Canva.

About the role

The responsibilities of this role include:

• Actively identify opportunities where communications can strengthen programme delivery, support parent outreach and increase engagement with families and communities.
• Develop the local stakeholder engagement approach in line with agreed objectives, proactively identifying opportunities to strengthen relationships and using data and team insight to increase engagement.
• Support effective communications with stakeholders across sectors including community, health, education and local organisations.
• Develop and produce compelling, audience focused content for a range of channels, including newsletters, case studies and promotional materials.
• Work closely with the Head of Communications, Programme Leads and colleagues across the organisation to align communications priorities with programme and organisational objectives.

About us

Thrive at Five is a national charity focused on giving every child the best possible start in life. We know the foundations for life and learning are built in the earliest years, from pregnancy to five. By working alongside families, communities and local partners, we help build stronger, more connected support for parents, so more children get what they need to thrive and reach a good level of development by age five.

Thrive at Five is a relatively young organisation but with an already strong national and political profile, having been called out in Parliament for our ways of working in Stoke-on-Trent and invited to be interviewed at the 2025 Civil Society Summit by the Secretary of State for Education. We have grown rapidly in our first four years, with a growing team of nearly 40 across the country. 2026 will be a year of further growth and milestones for the charity as we celebrate our fifth-year anniversary and expand into our third and fourth regions. This will involve recruiting for new teams, establishing our programmes and beginning to co-design and implement our work in partnership with communities.

About our benefits

• Pension contributions – We will contribute 3% and you can contribute 5% towards your pension through NEST.
• 25 annual leave days per year plus bank holidays.
• In addition to your laptop and phone provided by us, you can also receive a £100 contribution towards your home-working set up.
• £100 contribution towards your professional body membership.

Please note that as this role is subject to a successful Basic Level Disclosure check through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). If you have any unspent convictions, but wish to apply for this role, please advise us in your application. The successful candidate will also need to provide satisfactory references and current right to work in the UK.

To apply for this role, please submit your cover letter and CV by following the Apply Now button. Closing date for applications is midnight on Friday 8th May 2026.