Vacancy - Communications Assistant

Responsible to the Communications Director

HOPE Together is a Christian ministry that serves local churches, working in partnership with a wide range of denominations and ministries. We are expanding our communications team so that we can find, research and produce great stories which inspire the local church to make Jesus known with words and action together.
 
Reporting to the Communications Director, you will be responsible for generating positive articles, longer features and snappy social media posts for a variety of audiences. This is a great opportunity for someone who wants to use journalistic skills to build the local church and make Jesus known, ensuring that the transformational work of the church gets the coverage it deserves in the media.

Main purpose of the job

• To liaise with members of the HOPE Together team to find examples of best practice in mission
• To gather stories and pictures from local churches through interviews in person and by phone, Skype, Zoom, etc
• To tell the HOPE Together story in print, online and through social media using the written word and simple videos

Key responsibilities 

• To work closely with the HOPE office team to talk to HOPE practitioners, Mission Champions and church leaders to find best practice examples of local church mission.
• To liaise with HOPE’s directors to follow up the stories they hear about when speaking at events around the country 
• To build a good contacts book to find stories
• To develop relationships with news outlets
• To demonstrate the diversity of HOPE’s reach with stories from different denominations, age groups, and ethnicities 
• To identify engaging news stories and to write reports of different lengths for various audiences: HOPE’s regular e-news and website, partners’ publications, denominational publications, Christian media and, occasionally, secular media
• To source high res photos to use with the stories
• To record interviews on a phone to provide simple videos for occasional use on social media
• To write social media posts to encourage local churches to make Jesus known with words and action together

Skills Required

• News sense – awareness of what makes a good story
• Excellent written English – spelling, punctuation and grammar
• Attention to detail and a ruthless commitment to accuracy
• An ability to write for different audiences – Christian and non-Christian
• Sub-editing skills – an ability to rework reports received from others, turning them into attention-grabbing, succinct copy
• Understanding of copyright issues
• Awareness of different Christian denominations and their varied understanding and practice of mission
• Ability to prioritise competing deadlines and to meet them
• Flexibility to work remotely or in an office setting
• Willingness to travel in the UK 

Participation in the spiritual life of HOPE Together

• To attend the monthly team meeting, to hear about HOPE Together’s work and to spend time in prayer together
• To be committed to HOPE Together’s vision to make Jesus known with words and action together
• To be actively involved in the life of a local church
• To be responsible for maintaining your own spiritual disciplines

This is a freelance post for a day’s work a week.

To apply contact Roy Crowne at HOPE Together – roy.crowne@hopetogether.org.uk sending samples of your work for different audiences and a CV.

The deadline for applications is Friday 29 May 2020.