Communications Officer

Who Are We?

Founded in 1962 by a small group of passionate young birders, Sussex Ornithological Society (SOS) has grown into one of the largest county bird clubs in Great Britain, with around 2,000 members today.

We are run entirely by volunteers and registered as a charity and are dedicated to celebrating, studying, and protecting the birds of Sussex.

The Role

The Sussex Ornithological Society is seeking a experienced, committed and capable Communications Officer to help strengthen and coordinate the Society’s messaging across traditional media, digital platforms, and internal channels. This is an important volunteer role for someone who understands communications, enjoys working collaboratively, and ideally (although not essentially) has a good general knowledge of Sussex’s birds, habitats, and key wildlife sites. Working across the organisation, the post holder 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.
• 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 our Scientific Committee 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 people.

External Communications

• Build and maintain positive relationships with media outlets across Sussex, including: o Regional newspaper publishers in the county and their online platforms o 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.

What skills do I need?

The following skills and experience are required from this role:

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: o Email applications (e.g. Outlook) o Digital filing systems (e.g. SharePoint) o Word processing software (e.g. Word) o Online meeting platforms (e.g. Teams) 
• Confidence working collaboratively with volunteers across different teams. Desirable 
• General knowledge of Sussex bird life, habitats and key sites. (We have plenty of experts to offer support and check copy if this is not your area of expertise)
• Familiarity with conservation organisations or wildlife NGOs.