Thangam Debbonaire wants to recruit a full-time Constituency Communications Manager to join her busy constituency team in central Bristol and help them provide an excellent service to Bristol West residents.

The Constituency Communications Manager will be the first port of call for enquiries from local and national media and be a fluent writer with an effortless grasp of the English language.

The successful candidate will be as comfortable dealing with university vice-chancellors and local business leaders as with journalists working to a tight deadline and trade unions. As happy drafting a speech on the arts in Bristol as writing a letter to a constituent about homelessness. They'll have experience of media relations, internal and external communications, and managing complex projects on tiny budgets, with the stamina to see things through.

The successful candidate will have sound political judgement and, ideally, a good knowledge of local and national politics. They’ll be able to spot opportunities and pitfalls, and offer reassurances and alerts with equal confidence. They’ll have experience of managing a small team, with the ability to keep a clear overview of its work; a willingness to learn and work as part of that team; great research and organisational skills; and a good sense of humour.

The Constituency Communications Manager will join a hard-working, skilful, highly flexible team who can readily accommodate a new team member’s strengths and weakness. Candidates are therefore welcome to apply for this role, even if they feel they lack experience in one or two of the areas listed in these details.

Key responsibilities

• Monitor media coverage, liaise with the media, prepare press releases and statements as required.
• Draft blog posts, speeches, newsletters and help to develop social media channels.
• Manage projects and campaigns.
• Develop knowledge in specialist areas.
• Liaise with groups and personnel at Westminster and within the constituency on Thangam’s behalf as necessary.
• Research local, regional and national issues, with others in the team, to support Thangam’s work.
• Help to supervise the office team and its work, ensuring accurate personnel records are kept and keeping an overview of the budget.
• Draft responses to enquiries from constituents, lobbyists, the voluntary sector and others.