Communications Officer (wildlife)

What will you be doing?

The Communications Officer will help shape and deliver Sussex Birds/Sussex Ornithological Society's (SOS) communications at a time when we are actively improving our processes and approaches. Working across the organisation, the postholder will ensure that our scientific work, conservation messages, events and membership activities are communicated clearly, consistently, and effectively to a wide range of audiences including young people and those who are new to birding.

Key Responsibilities

Internal Communications

• Work closely with the Social Media Team to support timely, accurate and engaging content across SOS platforms (Twitter, Bluesky, Insta and Facebook).
• Liaise with the Editor of the quarterly Sussex Birds newsletter, which reaches around 2,000 members, to ensure alignment of messaging and contribute copy where needed.
• Support the Membership Secretary by providing or shaping content for the quarterly bulletin sent to new members during their first year.
• Collaborate with the Scientific Committee Chair to identify and communicate outputs from surveys, research projects and data analysis.
• Attend and contribute to the Membership and Publicity Committee, which meets five times a year (mostly online).
• Work with the Conference Committee to support communications around the annual SOS Conference, attended by approximately 200 members.

External Communications

• Build and maintain positive relationships with media outlets across Sussex, including:
  • Regional newspaper publishers in the county and their online platforms
  • County‑wide magazines such as Sussex Life and hyper‑local publications serving towns and villages
• Draft clear, accurate and engaging copy suitable for both long‑form and short‑form media.
• Support the promotion of SOS activities, events, surveys and conservation messages to the wider public, especially those who are new to birdwatching, in particular young adults.

What are we looking for?

We are seeking an individual with at least three years' experience in a communications role for an organisation. In terms of essential and desirable skills and experience:

Essential

• Ability to write clearly and accurately for a range of audiences and formats.
• Experience in media relations, journalism, PR or digital communications.
• Understanding of communications principles and experience producing written content.
• Confidence using standard digital tools, including:
  • Email applications (e.g. Outlook)
  • Digital filing systems (e.g. SharePoint)
  • Word processing software (e.g. Word)
  • Online meeting platforms (e.g. Teams)
• Confidence working collaboratively with volunteers across different teams.

Desirable

• General knowledge of Sussex birds, habitats and key sites. SOS has plenty of 'experts' willing to check copy if this is required.
• Familiarity with conservation organisations or wildlife NGOs.

What difference will you make?

This role will make a big difference to Sussex Birds as we hope that it will help join up and co-ordinate the various strands of ongoing communications that are being delivered as part of our operations.

Bird watching is experiencing a surge among young people, with Gen Z and teenagers increasingly embracing it for mental health, social connection, and environmental engagement. It is an activity that can be enjoyed by a broad church of participants, not just experts. That is part of the reason why we are evolving our brand from Sussex Ornithological Society to Sussex Birds as we realise that the original name is somewhat from the 1960s. We want our brand to become more relevant to these new participants.

Sussex is part of South East England's economic engine room. It is subject to significant development pressures. Part of the role of Sussex Ornithological Society is to be the local voice to inform planning authorities on the appropriateness or otherwise of proposed developments. Our bird sightings database has been developed over 65 years of activity and provides hard evidence to back up our reasoning. When there is a case to object to a development we act ! And we have had several significant wins in recent years, including Center Parcs withdrawing plans to develop a holiday village near Crawley that would have been adjacent to a Scheduled Ancient Woodland. Had that development proceeded, it would have had a devastating impact on the species that use that site as home. Effective communications to our members and the wider public are essential in getting these results.

Many communities in the county act positively for wildlife. We provide grants to help support initiatives such as financing the purchase and erection of Swift and House Martin boxes in many places.  Our grants also help finance the purchase of equipment and travel for young people (typically aged 16-24) who are demonstrating a passion for birding. We need to publicise these grant schemes more to inspire and help others to act.

We have recently introduced a significant change to our annual conference, opening it up for non members to attend and making it more engaging for young people (typical target age18-24)  to attend by locating it at the University of Brighton with young people presenting as a priority of the event. This had 200 attendees, but with better external communications we could expand.  

Additional information

You can download the following documents:

Before you apply

We would like to see clear evidence of any previous experience the applicant can bring to the role, where and when this happened, how they went about this work and the difference they made.

We will use a simple application form.

The interviews will be completed via a Teams call  and we are aiming to do these late in July, pending availability of interview panel members.