Head of Brand & Communications

As the Head of Brand & Communications you will lead a talented team of brand, media and social media specialists as part of a wider Fundraising and Communications team to develop and deliver strategies that raise awareness, bring our mission and impact to life and encourages our target audiences to support us. 

Alongside colleagues and volunteers in the Community Engagement Network and in partnership with organisations outside of St John you will be part of creating and building a community first aid movement that inspires and enables millions more people to feel part of St John, to become first aid confident and to save lives.

You will be responsible for developing our brand and reinforcing it at every touchpoint in order to reach new and existing audiences through our owned and earned media channels and build a community of supporters that are motivated to take action.   

You understand how to lead a step change in public perceptions, engaging with a broad range of stakeholders to ensure that every opportunity counts in creating a consistent and compelling story and that our messaging is audience led and integrated with our charitable purpose.

You will have substantial experience of leading a brand and/or communications team, ideally gained in a large organisation. You will have a movement builder mindset and proven experience of developing communications strategies with tangible results and driving organisational alignment between mission, brand and values. 

Please see the job description for more detail (this can be viewed on our website or once you click apply)

About You

• You will be an experienced leader from a brand and communications background, leading multi-disciplined teams to deliver against organisational objectives
• You will be someone who has proven experience of developing and delivering long term communications strategies which deliver impact. 
• You will have experience of building digital communities and audiences. 
• You will enjoy influencing key stakeholders and driving change 

About the Role

• Build and communicate a strategic vision for St John’s brand that inspires public engagement and contributes to our charitable mission and collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure alignment behind that shared vision. 
• Lead central strategic coordination of all communications activity to the public at St John, working closely with colleagues in Fundraising, Youth & Volunteer Experience, Public Affairs and Enterprise and providing high level leadership regarding messaging and outreach across all platforms.
• Provide oversight and lead where appropriate across the relationship with external agencies, partners and freelancers to ensure a coherent and integrated communications approach.

About Us

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a team of over 1,900 employees and over 20,000 volunteers, united by our goal of saving lives through essential first aid services, training and campaigning.  You will be part of the Community Engagement Network whose purpose is to build a community first aid movement and its support enabling millions more to become first aid confident and to save lives.  As a charity with rich heritage and a long history of serving humanity, we are proud of our past and excited about creating a healthier, safer, more resilient future. 

St John Ambulance works at the heart of communities, supporting and enabling them to access and receive physical and mental health first aid. We do this through developing and providing effective community response and outreach services and using our longstanding expertise to empower people with vital clinical skills and the confidence to use them.

You will receive:

• Competitive salary and pension scheme
• 33 days holiday (inclusive of bank holidays) - increasing to 38 days over 5 years
• Hybrid, Flexible working
• Cycle to work scheme
• Health and Wellbeing portal – access to financial, health and wellbeing support and an Employee Assistance Programme
• Discounts – you will have access to Blue Light and NHS Discounts as well as discounts on mobile phones, gym membership, cinema tickets, restaurants, holidays and shopping

Find out more about us, including our new Ask Me campaign, at www.sja.org.uk 

If you are a current St John Ambulance employee, please apply here: Click here
For all other candidates, or St John Ambulance volunteers wishing to apply: please apply below

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive high volume of applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

St John Ambulance are committed to increasing the diversity of our team and making sure we best reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.   At St John, everyone is valued and supported to thrive, we have several networks including Multi Culture, Disability and Accessibility, Pride, Family and Carers and Women’s groups.  We do not tolerate any form of discrimination and engender a sense of belonging for all, by creating an environment of mutual respect, where we value unique differences and demonstrate authentic allyship. We believe passionately in equality, diversity and inclusion.   

Please note: St John does not accept speculative CVs and will only review CVs sent in application for an advertised vacancy.

Recruitment Agencies: We are not utilising the services of recruitment agencies for this vacancy and will accept direct applications only.