Communications Assistant – London

REDRESS is recruiting a Communications Assistant to help with the production of our publications relating to human rights and promoting them through our website and social media. The role will also support the co-ordination of some of our projects. We are seeking applications from individuals with a strong interest in the issues that we work on, excellent organisational skills, and strong writing skills.

REDRESS has a diverse team from different backgrounds and with different experiences. Under our Equality Policy, we welcome applications from people of colour, LGBTQI+ people, and disabled people, who are currently under-represented. We will use positive action under the Equality Act 2010 to appoint from these groups if two candidates are equally qualified. We are also trying to recruit globally where UK immigration law permits it.

Who we are

REDRESS is an international human rights organisation based in London and The Hague that pursues legal claims on behalf of survivors of torture in the UK and around the world to obtain justice and reparation for violations against their human rights. We empower survivors to access justice through human rights cases against governments, civil cases against individuals, and cases where we advocate for law enforcement bodies to prosecute perpetrators under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

Our approach is strategic, so that as well as representing an individual we target the policy reasons that enabled the torture to take place, by building a campaign that uses advocacy, community engagement, and communications to influence change.

Our 2025 Strategy identifies torture related to dissent and discriminatory torture as our two thematic priorities. We also support the anti-torture movement through our solidarity programme.

REDRESS has undertaken a process of growth and modernization over the last few years. You can find information about the organisation in the latest Trustees Annual Report. We currently have good reserves of nearly six months running costs, and a diverse funding base. We have grown to about 30 staff, and plan to remain at a similar size while we consolidate. We have upgraded our procedures and policies, and we are developing new commitments to improve staff development, further enhance our diversity, build our survivor-centred approach, and ensure people with lived experience are part of REDRESS.

The Team

The Communications Assistant will work with the Communications Team to support the production of our publications relating to human rights, many of which you will see on our website. This will involve co-ordinating with colleagues and external consultants, including graphic designers, managing timelines and budgets. The role will also support one or more of our more complex projects through administrative assistance to ensure the effective delivery of the project.

Position Profile

The main responsibilities of the role are:

Assist with the management of the pipeline of REDRESS publications.
Liaise with REDRESS colleagues to ensure the effective and on-time delivery of our publications.
Work with external consultants and companies, including graphic designers, printing companies and photo agencies, to produce our publications.
Use a template to design some reports in-house using InDesign and Word.
Source images for reports and social media and ensure their compliance with REDRESS guidelines and licensing rights.
Assist with the promotion of our publications, including on social media and the website by drafting content and designing social media assets.
Support project administration for key projects at REDRESS, including through helping organise events, managing budgets, and supporting project planning.

General Responsibilities

The position will contribute to the work of REDRESS more broadly as follows:

Writing, editing and proof-reading content for REDRESS publications and communications materials, including reports, press releases, newsletters and marketing materials.
Helping manage our social media platforms by planning, creating and scheduling engaging content, including graphics and videos, and managing paid ads.
Updating and creating SEO content for our website (Word Press).
Maintaining, and growing our GDPR compliant stakeholder list (e.g. media lists).
Supporting the planning and delivery of in-person and online events such as webinars, including supporting digital facilitation.
Monitoring all communications and gathering data on our publications to prepare reports on performance.
Supporting our digital photography and video content.

The position is also expected to carry out such further duties as may reasonably be required from time to time by REDRESS.

Person Specification

This is an entry level position, and so we will consider candidates at the beginning of their career, with some relevant experience.

Essential Competencies

The successful candidate will need to have the following essential competencies:

A relevant university degree or diploma or equivalent experience.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
Graphic design or video editing skills in Adobe Creative Suite.
Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office suite of software, particularly Excel.

Desirable Competencies

A strong candidate will also have other desirable competencies:

Relevant experience such as internships, volunteer roles, educational work placements, or work experience, preferably within a charity.
Experience of working with a web Content Management System, e.g. WordPress.
Experience of using analytics tools such as Google analytics to monitor, interpret and improve digital performance.
IT proficiency of Office 365 suite of software, cloud-based.
Knowledge of SEO techniques and best practice.
Fluency in a language other than English, in particular French, Arabic or Spanish.

Personal Attributes

To work for Redress, the candidate should have the following personal attributes:

Happy to work collaboratively as part of a small and energetic team with a wide range of personalities.
Highly efficient and organised, with an ability to multi-task, show initiative, solve problems, and take a hands-on role when necessary.
Able to think and work strategically, creatively, and under pressure.
Able to understand and support the aims, objectives and values of REDRESS and reflect them in all aspects of work.
Able to work with victims of human rights abuse with a range of specific needs.

Terms

Reporting. The position is part of the Communications team, and will report to the Head of Communications.

Hours. This is a full-time position at 35 hours a week. Evening and weekend work may be required from time to time. REDRESS will consider a part-time role for this position.

Location. The position is based at the REDRESS office in London.

Flexible Working. REDRESS is an “in-person” organisation and we value team work, but we have a flexible working policy which allows for working from home. Staff are currently required to be in the office at least two days a week.

Salary. REDRESS has fixed salary scales, with annual cost of living increases, and the possibility of step increases with strong performance. This is an entry level ‘assistant’ position, and the salary is £30,172, which is level A1 on the REDRESS Salary Scale.

Duration. The contract is for a fixed-term of 12 months, but is expected to be extended, subject to funding.

Start date. The position would start in July 2023.

Probation. There is a six-month probationary period.

Pension. REDRESS offers a pension contribution of 10% of salary.

Holiday. There are 25 days of holiday per year, in addition to UK public holidays. The office is also closed between Christmas and New Year.

Status. The candidate must have the right to live and work in the UK. Unfortunately we cannot sponsor a UK immigration process for this role.

Interview process. We expect to do two rounds of interviews. We may ask candidates to make a short presentation as part of the process, but will provide information on that nearer the time.

First round Interviews will take place on Wednesday 7 June 2023 and will be on-line.
Final round interview will take place on Wednesday 14 June 2023 and may be in-person at our office in London.

How to Apply

Please upload to our recruitment portal a single PDF file with:

A cover letter of no more than one page explaining (a) why you would like to work for REDRESS, (b) how you fulfil the personal specification for the role, and (c) how you will contribute to the diversity of REDRESS.
Your CV or resume.

Please also complete the anonymous Diversity Monitoring Form. We use the information from the form to tell us about the diversity of the applicant pool for each of the positions that we advertise. We keep the conclusions of the analysis for our records, and the underlying data is destroyed three months after the recruitment closes.

Deadline: Wednesday 24 May 2023