Communications Officer

At Accent we believe everyone has the right to a safe, secure and warm place to call home. Are you ready to go above and beyond to ensure our customers receive a best-in-class experience?

We’re looking for a Communications Officer to join our Communications and Public Affairs team.

About the role and person:

• 35 hours
• Permanent

As our Communications Officer, you’ll proactively work with colleagues across #TeamAccent to craft compelling narratives which inform, educate and engage stakeholders. Through collaboration, you’ll bring our customers’ experiences to life and help us shift to an authentic customer-led approach in our communications.

You will seek out stories which promote Accent’s vision, social purpose and strategic priorities. The rich content created will feed the delivery of the communications and public affairs strategy. You’ll also act as an editor for the team for critical publications.

The successful candidate will display excellent interpersonal skills, including diplomacy and the ability to inspire the confidence of colleagues and customers.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone looking for a rewarding role that will make a real difference to our customers and colleagues.  

Salary

The spot salary for this post is £31,228 per annum for applicants who fully meet the requirements of the post. Applicants, who do not meet all the requirements of the post, will start 5% or 10% below the spot salary.

What will you get from us?

In addition to a competitive salary and agile working, we also have a focus on employees’ development. We support both professional and personal development, ensuring everyone has a development plan and provide access to a wide range of internal and external learning resources.

You’ll also receive:

• 28 days paid holiday plus bank holidays per year (pro-rata for part time) rising by 1 day per year up to a maximum of one working week.
• A choice of Pension Schemes including a Defined Benefit Scheme with a 7.5% member contribution or a Defined Contribution Scheme with a 4% member contribution and 4% employer contribution. Both pension schemes provide Life Insurance Cover.
• Option to purchase additional holiday of up to 2 of your working weeks (at managers discretion).
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• "Hapi" Benefits App with multiple discounts. 
• Cycle to work scheme.

What skills/behaviours do you need to be a Communications Officer?

• Experienced copywriter with an eye for detail and the ability to work creatively under pressure in a fast-paced environment
• Proactively seek out success stories to amplify our social purpose and promote our achievements, outcomes and contribution to the communities where we work
• Ability to create high quality content for all stakeholders and across the full channel mix including case studies, storytelling pieces, newsletters and news stories for the website
• Experience of working on large-scale sentiment and behaviour change campaigns to write compelling content
• Demonstrable and faultless copy writing skillset with proof-reading experience
• Strong interpersonal and stakeholder skills with the ability to work effectively with different groups, both internal and external
• Organised self-starter, with the ability to prioritise workloads and work both independently and as part of a dynamic team

Please submit your portfolio demonstrating copywriting across different stakeholder groups to People.Services@AccentGroup.Org.

Location

The successful candidate will be required to live within a commutable distance to our Bradford office with travel to other sites as required.

We’re a keen promoter of agile working and encourage working from home, as long as we meet our customers’ needs.

We’ll provide you with the equipment and software you’ll need for the purpose of your role however it will be your responsibility to have an appropriate space to work from as well as a suitable broadband connection/provider.

Who are Accent?

At Accent, we believe that everyone should have access to an affordable, sustainable, and safe home, and our work across the country aims to do just that.

We’re a national organisation, but with a community focus. We were formed in 1966 and have grown in the time since, and now provide homes and services to over 40,000 customers.

We understand the impact our work can have in creating better places for people to live by providing well-designed housing, which is in short supply, and building sustainable communities where people choose to live. We are proud of our Homes England Strategic Partnership, which allows us to build even more homes in areas of housing need.

But we are not just about building new homes. We invest in our existing homes to make sure they offer our customers the very best in living standards by adapting to meet new ideas, environmental changes, new regulations for safety and security and modern technology to make them a home for life, in every way our customers need them to be.

Caring for our customers also means caring for their environment. With our ambitious energy-efficient development plans, and our retrofitting projects which are modernising our current homes; we are putting sustainability at the fore so that we can drive value for customers now and in the future.

As anchor institutions in the communities where we work, it’s important we leverage partnerships and seek opportunities for customers that provide the foundations for better living. We build relationships which accelerate and advance our work to ensure customers are supported if they need it and can be happy living in their homes.

Our new operating model puts our colleagues in the heart of our communities. We are committed to building strong relationships with our customers and we work alongside them to co-curate the services we deliver.

We never stop evolving – we are ambitious and driven and understand that great performance is a product of an inclusive and supportive environment, where colleagues can thrive and achieve their best. With a new people strategy and corporate strategy which will sets out our commitments from 2024-2027, it’s an exciting time to join Accent.

If you require reasonable adjustments to any part of our recruitment process, please let us know we will ensure requirements are met. 

Please don’t delay in submitting your application. Where roles are urgent or we receive a high volume of applications, we may interview and conclude the process prior to any closing date indicated.

If you have any queries about the role, please email: 

"PeopleServices@accentgroup.org". 

Please note candidates must have current eligibility to live and work in the UK, Accent do not currently hold sponsorship.

We are excited about our future and if you are too, we’d love to hear from you.