We’re Hiring

Public Relations Executive

REFERENCE: PR1

Status: Full Time, Fixed Term Contract (pursuant successful completion of probation period)

Salary: €35,000 Gross Per Annum

Work context

The national student movement in Ireland requires a communications and event planning operator to work within a strategically vital and ever-changing role.  A great opportunity for a self-starter, planner and communicator in tune with youth and education affairs, and a perfect fit for someone at the start of their communications career. Working closely with the President and General Manager, the individual will lead on driving multiple communication strategies through various touchpoints with a focus on Press, Public Relations, with a distinct focus on Social Media. Proven experience in Public Relations / Press / Communications / Copywriting essential.

• Press – Put in place a yearly plan for ongoing press communications to support the political strategy and drive engagement. Planning large scale nationwide engagement campaigns down to local campaigns to support our 30+ member campuses. Develop an in-house press contact and reporting toolkit and manage rollout.  Manage the President’s media diary, pitch and prepare senior officers for media engagements.
• Public Relations – Planning high impact PR activity for key political campaigns in line with Press and Social media campaigns. Maximising sponsorship projects with major sponsors and increasing exposure of the brand. Building a bank of media contacts to enable management of public relations in-house.
• Social Media – Manage brand strategy for Social Media platforms and roll out across ROI, and liaison with our office in NI.  Leading and engaging with political leadership on content. Developing engaging campaigns aligned with political and brand priorities using interactive and creative content. Moderation and in depth reporting on a Senior Management level required. Includes low level content management for website.
• Event management – Lead on key organisation events and functions. Planning, project and budget management of USI events, functions and sponsorships. Ability to lead discussions and be key liaison between USI and partners on behalf of the organisation. Responsible for proposal of all communication activities to political leadership.
• Sponsorship – Lead on sponsorship partnerships and fostering strong ties with our partners and develop future opportunities for Sponsorship deals. Lead on execution of local site sponsorship and drive engagement for sites.
• Events – Awards plans for wider business. Responsibility for high quality submissions and content. Strong senior stakeholder management experience necessary.

Tasks

• Handle all press queries, including preparing press releases, managing photo calls and the President’s media diary
• Prepare briefing documents for media interviews for the President and prepare documents for journalists on USI’s position on various issues
• Co-ordinate USI communications including website, social media and working with officers on campaign language and video content
• Support officers with researching an evidence-base for campaigns and publications
• 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 and attend events and meetings as required
• Contribute to speechwriting
• 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

Criteria

• 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;
• Excellent competency in use of social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Linkedln, Snapchat, MailChimp,
• Be able to demonstrate a high level of political awareness and knowledge of the political system and current affairs
• Excellent capacity in online publications
• Demonstrate experience in working with the media for the promotion of policy and messages
• Highly professional phone manner
• 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 competencies:

• Experience in lobbying and public affairs;
• Experience of research in the academic, social or community sectors
• Knowledge of the students’ union sector in Ireland
• Knowledge of the higher education environment.
• An interest in or willingness to learn the Irish language

Starting Soon

The candidate will be expected to start as close to 1st July as possible.

About USI

USI is the national representative body for the 354,000 students in third level education on the Island of Ireland.  We are a membership organisation – our members are our affiliated Students’ Unions around Ireland, North and South.

Applying

Candidates should apply by forwarding a CV and a letter stating the title of the role applied for and outlining your suitability for the role (with adherence to the tasks and criteria) to the address noted at the top of the page.

USI Student Switch Off Dormitory Co-ordinator

REFERENCE: SAVES1

Status: Full Time, Fixed Term Contract

Salary: €34,500 Gross Per Annum

The Union of Students in Ireland now wishes to recruit a Dormitory Co-Ordinator for USI’s national engagement in the SAVES2 Energy Saving project. The programme is a follow-on and development of the successful Student Switch Off campaign, more information on which is available at http://studentswitchoff.org.  Candidates should familiarise themselves with this programme.

The Project

Students Achieving Valuable Energy Savings 2 (SAVES2) will catalyse sustainable energy behaviours among over 219,000 university students in seven countries to help them reduce their exposure to fuel poverty. It incorporates two strands that engage with students living in university accommodation (Student Switch Off) and in the private-rented sector (SAVES).  Student Switch Off is an energy-saving competition that will reach 38,000 students living in 144 dormitories in 14 universities of the partner countries in each academic year from 2017/18 to 2019/20.

By identifying and training student ambassadors in each dormitory, and by motivating the ambassadors to encourage their peers to save energy, we will create a race between students in dormitories, each competing to save the most energy and win prizes. It will tap into online student communities through social media, using engaging digital communications (quizzes, photo competitions) to raise awareness of how students can save energy in a fun way. The centrepiece of each competition will be an energy dashboard that updates students in near-real time on the performance and position of their dormitory in the competition – providing feedback and encouraging further action.

The private-rented sector engagement work (SAVES) will reach over 100,000 students when they are looking for, moving into and living in the private-rented sector. It will enable students to make better informed decisions at the point at which they are selecting a rental property – thereby routing purchase decisions towards higher efficiency properties. SAVES2 will incorporate national-level partnerships with smart meter delivery agencies to develop student-focused communication materials highlighting the benefits of smart meters. It will provide ongoing advice and support to students via energy-efficiency and bill management training, peer-to-peer advice sharing via video blogs and regular e-mail and social media communications.

The Role

The Dormitory Co-ordinator will promote, co-ordinate and report upon all aspects of USI’s work on energy use reduction and efficiency in campus halls of residence accommodation at selected Irish universities.

The Dormitory co-ordinator will liaise between the country manager at USI and the accommodation / energy staff at the above named universities with a view to securing a coherent programme for a measurable and significant reduction in the use of energy by students and others in the halls of residence.

They will be responsible for building and maintaining a relationship with accommodation and energy staff at the university to promote the cost savings and goodwill associated with the programme.

The Dormitory co-ordinator will assist in the promotion of the programme at the campuses listed and will support USI and local students’ unions in the promotion of the energy conservation and sustainability message of the programme.

Tasks

The Dormitory Co-ordinator will

• Refer to and comply with the SAVES2 project plan when planning and prioritising activities.
• Initiate project relationships with students’ union officers and staff in specified institutions, in particular supporting them in successful delivery of energy reduction.
• Initiate project relationships with specified institutions, acting as the first point of contact and providing guidance and support to key contacts within those institutions, in order to guide and facilitate the successful implementation of projects and campaigns.
• With a focus on tried and proven methods used by our partners in NUS, input into original design of new project processes, tools and materials, including online workbooks, recruitment and training processes and support, creation of confidential feedback reports.
• Ensure that any expenditure incurred in carrying out the responsibilities of this role is approved according to the programme’s policies, following all finance procedures relating to invoice and expense payments.
• Travel regularly to selected campuses and elsewhere to meet the needs of the role.
• Ensure project communications are appropriate, accurate, up to date, well linked and well presented.
• Represent USI at sector events, developing partnerships that will support the programme
• On a regular schedule and at other convenient times visit with participating dormitories to ensure that promotional collateral is prominently displayed
• Organise meetings at practical and appropriate times with residents at dormitories to promote the programme, explain the benefits of energy saving and encourage students to participate
• Engage with energy and accommodation staff to promote the value of the programme and foster goodwill towards initiatives to reduce energy usage in halls of residence
• Liaise with energy and accommodation staff to ensure that reliable data on actual energy use on campuses is collected and supplied to the programme’s partners
• Originate, prepare and deploy information and advice through the programme’s website and social media sphere
• Work with staff and officers to co-ordinate the messaging of the programme to ensure the best possible cut-through to encourage students

Specification

The Dormitory Co-ordinator will be based at USI Headquarters in Dublin and at locations across Ireland and will:

• Possess a third-level qualification in a relevant field and/or relevant experience in a comparable role / environment
• Possess good knowledge of the environmental objectives promoted through the delivery of an energy reduction programme
• Have an understanding of and commitment to evidence based policy development
• Possess a good knowledge of the sorts of energy uses of students in their dormitories
• Be enthusiastic about the promotion of energy waste reduction and able to readily articulate this and other environmental initiatives to groups and individuals
• Be able to present effectively to university staff and students, and able to advise student officers on the progress of the programme and its objectives
• Have good relevant experience in social media and excellent communication skills

Travel

Candidates will be required to travel to training briefings from time to time, beginning in August 2017.

Applying

Candidates should apply by forwarding a CV and a letter stating the title of the role applied for and outlining your suitability for the role (with adherence to the tasks and criteria) to the address noted at the top of the page

Funding and Term

This is a 36 month project, funded under the Horizon 2020 Programme.  The successful candidate will be employed for the period of the project, pursuant the successful completion of a probation period.

About USI

USI is the national representative body for the 354,000 students in third level education on the Island of Ireland.  We are a membership organisation – our members are our affiliated Students’ Unions around Ireland, North and South.