This role requires that you are resident and have the right to work in the UK

The Head of Media is responsible for the Spokesperson Network and helping people in NEON’s networks make the most of media opportunities. They lead on strategy, developing high-level media contacts and managing staff associated with the programme. You will be someone who knows how to land stories and spokespeople in the media, capitalising on media and movement moments to push the conversation in a progressive direction. You’ll have a track record of jumping on opportunities, training spokespeople to deal with hostile interviews and staying calm under pressure. You will be a reflective manager, able to establish a strategically aligned, motivated and committed team. You will have a strong understanding of the media landscape - including how it interacts with social media. On a day to day basis you will manage a team which books spokespeople into broadcast media every day of the week. You’ll pitch and draft comment pieces, build new contacts across progressive spaces and have high level meetings with producers and journalists.

What you will be doing

Here are the key responsibilities of this role:

1. Lead the strategy development and delivery of the national spokesperson network to achieve high impact media booking success
2. Booking people into the media, managing the weekly grid, directing other press officers on bookings, networking and daily pitches
3. Work with spokespeople and allies to turn our messaging into key lines used on broadcast
4. Manage and support sta within the media team, including the regional spokesperson network(s)
5. Project manage our yearly series of spokesperson network trainings & socials
6. Deliver media training for our spokespeople and allied organisations, campaigns and communities including coaching organisers in comms strategy
7. Develop our print and comment piece output - helping those in the NEON network land stories across the written media.
8. Give regular insight to our partners ahead of broadcast interviews - including last minute training and advice on shows.
9. Play an active role in the wider Comms Hub, attending and feeding into key messaging and narrative development and supporting the Co-Directors with overall strategy
10. Monthly oversight and control over the Spokesperson Network finances
11. Fundraising and evaluation for the Hub’s ongoing needs
12. Play an active part in the wider NEON team

Who you are

• Five years experience of landing major news stories and spokespeople in the media - with a provable record of pushing the conversation in the media in a more progressive direction.
• Experience managing a diverse team with competing deadlines and working at a fast pace.
• Demonstrable understanding of the media landscape and a genuine passion for working with broadcast and print media as a strategy for social change.
• The ability to work across political dierence within the progressive side of politics - and demonstrable experience of working across social movements or political parties.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills - including the ability to write well under pressure.
• The proven ability to give media training of an extremely high standard to a range of people, and the ability to adapt the training to people's ability and background.
• Fundraising experience - specifically a track record of raising funds from trusts and foundations.
• Willing to continuously learn and grow - with good emotional intelligence and self awareness including around your own power, and an ability to give and receive feedback well, and sit in (and encourage) healthy conflict and disagreement
• Committed to NEON’s purpose of building the strength of movements for social, economic and environmental justice, and to learning how to align your actions with the values of NEON: solidarity; generosity and respect

Benefits

A 28-hour week, 7.5% employer matched pension, genuinely flexible working, 20 days holiday per year (25 days pro rated for a 4 day week), plus bank holidays and Christmas break, a progressive Parenting Policy, Sabbatical Policy, and a generous staff development budget

Reporting to

Director of Communications

Location

Hybrid working. Our flexible working policy requires everyone to be in our east London office for 25% of the time as a minimum because building in-person relationships is important to us (that could be one week a month, or a day or two a week), but you’re welcome to be there more as many staff are.

Hours

Full-time, which for NEON is 28 hours a week - the equivalent of a 4 day standard work week. This can be done over 4 or 5 days, that’s totally up to you. Hours are generally flexible, with some core meetings everyone has to be at.

We know that people from certain backgrounds and identities are often excluded in progressive movements and we're committed to doing what we can to correct this. So:

We particularly welcome applications from marginalised groups, especially people of colour and other ethnic minorities, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Disabled people and those who identify as working class or have done so in the past.

We know the work goes way beyond "diversity", it's about making the space inclusive too. So we are continuously working on that at NEON. So far this includes tangible things like:

• A flexible work policy so people have genuine flexibility around where and when they work
• A 28 hour week as standard
• A gender-neutral parenting/leave policy
• An anti-oppression strategy which is held at senior level given how important it is to the organisation

It also includes the day-to-day work of creating psychological safety for everyone at NEON and celebrating the wisdom of black, indigenous, queer, Disabled and other cultures in the way we work and behave.

There are no formal education requirements for this role. As long as you can show us you have the skills we don't mind where you got them from! Also important to us is your potential to learn and grow in the role so even if you don't have 100% of the skills listed we want to hear from you.