Job Description
Senior Writer and Digital Content Editor
RCN UK HQ (London), 17.5 hours, permanent
Salary range per annum: £47,745 to £53,934* pro rata plus London weighting of £5,094 per annum pro rata
There is more to the RCN than you might think. We’re a trade union with a membership of over half a million nurses, midwives, nursing support workers and students. We support their practice, represent them, lobby on their behalf, and develop them. We exist to make a positive difference – to the working lives of our members and ultimately to standards in patient care. Our employees are drawn from many walks of life – we are nurses, marketers and communicators, administrators, IT professionals, policy and finance experts, lawyers… together we are so much more. We couldn’t do what we do without our people.
We're accredited with Investors in People Silver Standard. Our people are our greatest asset, and we want people who can contribute to our purpose in line with our values.
It’s an exciting time to join the RCN Magazine team. Following our move to become digital only, we’ve expanded what we do to include audio and video content production.
As a Senior Writer and Digital Content Editor you’ll use your positive attitude, knowledge of digital content creation, and your ability to tell a compelling story to deliver a diverse range of online written and multimedia content for RCN members.
You'll provide strategic leadership for the continual improvement of RCN Magazine online, overseeing the quality of digital content, driving developments in website functionality, analysing performance and increasing engagement.
Every day will be filled with possibilities as you find new ways to bring the work of the RCN and its members to life, helping us continually improve and grow our online audience.
We're looking for a journalist or writer with experience of overseeing the production of online materials, and commissioning writers, designers and photographers. You'll have excellent written communication skills and be able to assimilate complex information from research, statistical data and interviews to produce concise, accurate and engaging copy – whether it’s for a news story, a magazine feature, a video script or an email newsletter.
You’ll understand how online publications work – from the display and functionality of a website, to uploading stories in a content management system. You’ll have experience of grabbing the attention of readers – from writing eye-catching headlines and finding images that bring stories to life, to pitching compelling feature and multimedia ideas. And you’ll have experience producing video content, creating email newsletters, gathering analytics, and disseminating content across multiple platforms.
With excellent interpersonal skills, you'll be able to develop and maintain strong relationships with key colleagues and member groups. You’ll have strong organisational skills to forward plan and schedule activity, and always have an eye on strategy and continual improvement.
You need to be comfortable in taking personal ownership of projects, with the ability to think outside the box and employ creativity to suggest new and improved ways of working.
To succeed at the Royal College of Nursing all you need to do is think bigger, better and brighter. And with an attitude like that, anything’s possible.
What we offer you
We expect you to look after our members. And we expect you to be rewarded for it. We offer an impressive range of benefits, a broad range of learning development opportunities and an award-winning health and wellbeing programme. We offer annual leave up to 32 days plus bank holidays and three additional days for the Christmas break plus generous maternity, adoption, paternity, and shared parental leave packages.
*We offer a competitive pay structure with annual pay progression until you reach the top of the salary scale. We normally offer new employees the first point of the salary range, although you may be able to negotiate a higher starting salary depending on your skills, experience and current salary.
We are a diverse organisation and understand everyone has different needs and many of our employees enjoy flexible working enabling them to deliver results whilst having a good work life balance. Our hybrid working model allows for up to 60% of your working time to be carried out from home. At least 40% of your working time will be spent working in person.
Our selection process
Please click the ‘apply now’ button to submit a CV and answer the supporting questions online demonstrating how you meet the criteria for this role. You may not be shortlisted if you don’t. Please ensure your CV is in a simple format with minimal tables and sections. Any identifying information in your application will automatically be anonymised for shortlisting purposes.
We want your experience applying for a job with us to be the best it can be. We may hold our interviews and assessments in person or by video call. If you foresee any problems, please let us know.
As a proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme we actively encourage applications from people with disabilities.
Contact details
For more information or for an informal discussion about the role please contact Rachael Healy via email in the first instance: rachael.healy@rcn.org.uk
For more information about the recruitment and selection process please contact recruit@rcn.org.uk
Opening date: 30 May 2024
Closing date: 11.59pm on Sunday 16 June 2024.
If we receive many applications after a week of advertising, we may close this vacancy earlier.
Selection dates: TBC