FLAC Communications Assistant: Fás Work Placement Programme Position Role Description
FLAC is an independent human rights organisation dedicated to the realisation of equal access to justice for all. Established in 1969, FLAC was started by a group of law students who wanted to use their legal knowledge to provide advice and information to those who could not afford the fees involved and to campaign for the introduction of a comprehensive scheme of civil legal aid. While FLAC continues to have a key focus on the provision of legal information and advice directly to the public through its network of centres, today FLAC is increasingly a campaigning organisation concerned with legal reform. In recent years we have concentrated our resources in the areas of improving access to justice and developing the areas of civil legal aid, social welfare law, credit and debt law and public interest law. The aim of the Public Interest Law Alliance is to facilitate and promote the use of the law in the public interest for the advancement and protection of human rights for the benefit of marginalised and disadvantaged people.
Role description In line with the organisational goal of ensuring a broader understanding of FLAC’s work that will improve the visibility of the issues FLAC works on, the Communications Assistant's role is to develop, coordinate, promote and manage the media relations and general communications of the organisation, as agreed with the Director General. The Communications Assistant will report to the Director General and will work closely with the Director and the Campaigns and Policy Officer in his/her role, with the assistance of a Legal Intern for 20 hours a week in carrying out related tasks. He/she will also have the support of the Communications Consultant who will help direct the communications work on a weekly basis. This is a full-time position under the FAS Work Placement Programme from July 2010 to March 2011. Working hours are 9:30am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday. The Communications Assistant will be based at FLAC head office on Dorset Street, Dublin 1. Notice period is six weeks.
Key skills The candidate will have: •
A background and/or qualification in advocacy/campaigns/journalism/PR work as an essential, with experience in the non-profit sector a major advantage.
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Excellent verbal and written skills in English with proficiency in Irish a major advantage.
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Experience with social and web-based media.
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Attention to detail and ability to work both in teams and on own initiative.
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An interest in and understanding of human rights issues.
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Familiarity with IT packages such as QuarkXpress, Photoshop, audio/video editing packages and web editing software desirable.
Core duties The Communications Assistant will have responsibility for the following tasks: •
Ensuring consistency of message across organisational communications in line with the communications strategy , particularly campaigns, events and fundraising sections. This includes preparation of communications angles on all events, including press releases, press packs, media briefs, media alerts and arranging of interviews, and working towards a consistent tone and look for all FLAC communications outputs.
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Preparation of quarterly newsletter FLAC News (possibly to include layout) including commissioning of articles from staff/interns and outside sources as well as liaison with printers, writing some articles, editing of articles, ensuring captions for photos and photos to accompany articles where appropriate, monitoring length and progress of articles written by others and editing where necessary, responsibility for proofing before printing.
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Coordination of all FLAC and PILA publications including liaison with designers and/or printer, organising proofreading pre-production and distribution (electronic or mail) post-production. Maintenance and updating of mailing lists associated with publications distribution.
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Coordination of maintenance, development and updating of FLAC & PILA websites in collaboration with responsible staff members - putting a particular focus on key sections like news/front page, events, campaigns and 'get help' to keep them up to date. Also responsible for maintaining contact with web designer to ensure all potentially useful upgrades and new technologies are utilised on sites. Researching and writing website copy as needed.
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Development of organisational profile on social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter.
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Oversight of media contacts and monitoring - this encompasses a number of areas: o
Ensuing that daily news round-ups are adequate.
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Engaging appropriate resources to ensure all coverage of FLAC is captured and disseminated to relevant people, and identifying opportunities for media comment. Ensuring that clippings of articles mentioning the organisation are collected, logged and scanned. Liaising directly with media on relevant matters and logging such contact.
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Generating client case studies for communications use and assisting clients who comment in the media with relevant training or other supports. Updating and maintaining internal media log with all media contacts and media mentions of FLAC- ensuring all staff members are aware of need to report all contacts with media or interviews/appearances to Communications Intern for logging purposes.
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Preparation for monthly media/communications meeting with Director General - collation of monthly statistics, enumeration of key issues and trends and listing of resulting items to be addressed, etc.
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Preparation of press and media releases - drafting, coordinating and sending as well as follow up, in line with monthly targets. These are sent from the FLAC Media e-mail account which must be checked regularly and also ensuring that-mailing lists for incorrect or updated addresses are updated regularly. Equally, responsible for maintenance and updating of media contact database - to include all updates from media log and regular 'weeding' of bounced e-mails.
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Photographic and video work where necessary for publications/website - including maintenance and security of associated equipment (in conjunction with administrator).
How to Apply Please send your CV and letter of application to Catherine Hickey, FLAC, 13 Lower Dorset St., Dublin 1 or by e-mail to recruitment@flac.ie For further information about this position please contact recruitment@flac.ie