Responsibilities

• Handling the day to day press office queries, arranging interviews and responding appropriately to journalists
• Running a professional press office function that helps to maintain and develop strong relationships with local, national, international and specialist media
• Overseeing and developing a database of media and stakeholder contacts
• Monitoring the national news, social media and policy agenda closely to spot opportunities and risks for the Institute to maximise media coverage and inform policy debate as it happens
• Issuing IFS press releases, following up with media outlets and working with the team to offer guidance on gaining maximum impact
• Contributing to forward planning, using a media diary and own research to identify opportunities to promote research beyond its initial launch
• Regular gathering and reporting of press, social media statistics for internal and external use
• Regular gathering and reporting on parliamentary and policy engagement and impact (citations, mentions in debates etc)
• Preparing content for use across social media platforms and support the team with social media planning
• Having innovative ideas and identifying opportunities to promote our research, including cross-posting and comment pieces on external sites
• Participating in an on-call (out-of-hours) rota
• Supporting internal media training sessions for staff and providing advice and guidance
• Supporting the rest of the communications team as needed.

Requirements

• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Significant interest in public policy and media landscape
• Experience working in a communications or press team
• Very good understanding of political sensitivity and the importance of our independence
• Ability to work well under pressure, good organisational skills and ability to manage time and conflicting demands effectively
• Great interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage and interact with people at all levels in a confident manner
• Excellent attention to detail and consistent accuracy
• Competency in Microsoft Office
• Willingness to get stuck in and an eagerness to learn

Preferred

• Some experience working with a range of digital formats including social media
• Some experience creating and editing video content
• Experience writing for an external audience
• Experience in an academic or policy environment

Benefits

• IFS has an active social calendar with weekly teatimes, sports groups and after-work activities for a variety of interests.
• The successful candidate will be part of a friendly, sociable and collaborative organisation.
• Interviews will be held in person at our London office.
• The role offers internal and external training opportunities within a positive environment to develop skills and career in communications.