Overview
The Union of Students in Ireland now seeks to recruit a Communication and Research Executive, whose main role will be supporting the officers and staff of the union to resource, evidence-base, project and promote the messages and campaigns of the union to its members, public representatives and varied publics.
The CRE will be a core member of our staff, as comfortable photographing hundreds of students protesting, publishing groundbreaking research and supporting the president in preparations for Morning Ireland. The successful candidate relishes the challenge of taking the messaging functions of USI to the next level and appreciates the thrill of a message well communicated to our hundreds of thousands of members and our othtier diverse publics.
- Application deadline: THIS VACANCY HAS NOW CLOSED
- Role type: Initial 1 year contract after successful completion of 6 months probation
The CRE will:
- co-ordinate USI communications including website, social media and working with officers on campaign language and video content.
- deal with all press queries, including preparing press releases, managing photo calls and the President’s media diary, preparing briefing documents for journalists and the President
- contribute to speechwriting
- support officers with researching an evidence base for campaigns and publications
- conduct research into the higher education sector, the student experience and trends for students
- propose new avenues of research for the organization to enhance its policy standing
- plan, edit and oversee USI publications.
- on a rolling, day-to-day basis, update the website.
- co-ordinate, with other staff, USI’s response to rapidly changing and dynamic situations.
- design, develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to ensure that USI harnesses social media in an effective and relevant manner.
- innovate effective methods of communication with the USI’s members. attend events and meetings as required.
- work towards the achievement of organisational goals and quality standards in accordance with USI’s Strategic Plans and policy.
- support events and event management for USI
The successful candidate will demonstrate the following essential characteristics:
- have an Honours Degree or equivalent in a discipline in which communication through the medium of advanced English was a core competency – or demonstrate how the candidate has that experience without the formal qualification
- experience of research in the academic, social or community sectors
- experience in the development, writing and production of publications in paper and online formats
- excellent competency in use of social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Linkedln
- excellent capacity in online publications
- excellent capacity in the use of online research tools
- demonstrate experience in working with the media for the promotion of policy and messages
- be comfortable working in a dynamic environment, issuing advice to people with limited applied professional experience and mediating the professional demands of best practice in public relations with the political demands of officers
Desirable (but not essential) competencies:
- Experience in lobbying and public affairs
- Some knowledge of the students’ union sector in Ireland
- Some knowledge of the higher education environment