Communications Officer (Editorial) – English Native

Communications Officer (Editorial) – English Native

Finance Watch

Brussels, Belgium

This is an exciting new position with a Brussels-based NGO that works to make finance serve society and the planet. It would suit a native English speaker with strong editing skills who is highly motivated by the Finance Watch mission. The primary role of the Communications Officer (Editorial) is polishing our publications to make them more compelling in a fast-changing world.

The Communications Officer (Editorial) will be part of the Communications & Networks department The successful candidate will work in collaboration with colleagues across the organisation specialising in research and advocacy, digital communication, press, graphic design, policy communication, campaigning, grant management and more. The Communications Officer (Editorial) will report to the Head of Communications & Networks.

Job description

Core responsibilities:

• Carefully proofread documents produced in English by colleagues, including reports, notes, blogs, guest blogs, cartoons, social media, video scripts, agendas, event programmes, open letters, newsletters, emails, internal notes;
• Work in partnership with colleagues to help them tell a clear story through light-touch edits, for example checking for language consistency (British english – global English), tone, grammar, tenses, dates, names and style;
• Produce engaging emails for our members (newsletters and targeted emails);
• Assist with brainstorming, writing and publishing blog posts for the website in collaboration with internal and external experts on the topic;
• Protect and strengthen the Finance Watch brand by enhancing editorial best practices and conducting consistency checks across outputs;
• Support the organisation’s social media strategy (write and edit posts, monitor engagement, assist with social media campaigns and more);
• Monitor relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), for example email open rates and webpage visits, and propose ways to enhance the impact of our communications;
• Assist Finance Watch’s efforts to better meet the needs of its target audiences, especially civil society;
• Contribute to the reporting of the team’s activities to funders.

Additional responsibilities: Policy Communication:

At Finance Watch, members of the Communication department have a unique opportunity to collaborate with a member of the Research & Advocacy department to learn more about a specific policy area. This “Tandem” structure will enable the Communications Officer (Editorial) to learn more about Finance Watch’s core workstreams (in this case, stability & supervision), and advise their Research & Advocacy counterpart on how best to communicate this work externally.

This involves:

• Organising weekly knowledge-sharing meetings with the Research & Advocacy Officer responsible for the stability & supervision workstream;
• Keeping up-to-date on the latest developments in the workstream (for example, a new legislative proposal or participation at an important event);
• Helping with planning of Finance Watch outputs for this workstream, for example a new report or an open letter.

Possible Career evolution – Content Editing:

• Lead on Finance Watch’s editorial quality and processes;
• Re-write, re-organize and monitor the overall structure of proposed documents for logical flow, powerful argumentation and balance, when needed;
• Review the written material, taking into account the comments of reviewers and additional material supplied by the author;
• Ensure that the text is concise/clear;
• Advise on the selection and effective use of tables, illustrations, text boxes, footnotes and annexes.

Profile/Qualifications

Essential:

• Motivated by Finance Watch’s mission;
• Outstanding proofreading, editing and writing skills in English (native proficiency);
• A team player with a positive outlook who can listen and collaborate with colleagues in an international work environment;
• A passion for social media and a strong track record of leveraging it effectively;
• The ability to shape a good story and inspire others with your ideas;
• Ability to manage a substantial and varied workload effectively, including managing competing demands, while maintaining accuracy;
• Strong project management skills;
• An eagerness to learn and the capability of working autonomously under defined objectives and organising work;
• University degree in copywriting, communication, journalism or equivalent;
• Experience in marketing, communication, copywriting, editing, journalism or PR, preferably in the field of economic policy or the financial sector.

Desirable:

• Experience in shaping/contributing to communication strategies;
• High level of digital literacy (Hubspot, WordPress, Adobe Creative Suite, Google Workplace);
• Knowledge of a second language (French would be considered an asset);
• Awareness of European politics and knowledge of the European economic and financial landscape.
• Experience or interest in climate economics.

Equal employment opportunity

Finance Watch is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees, regardless of sex, marital status, nationality, religion, age, sexual orientation and any other characteristics unrelated to the performance of the job.
Know that we are particularly eager to increase the representation of women, “non-Caucasian” and disabled people within the Finance Watch staff.
Selection will be in accordance with objective, job-related criteria, and the appointment will be on the basis of applicants’ merits and abilities.

Application guidelines

Interested candidates are invited to send a letter of motivation + CV via email by the closing date to: [email protected].
Please quote “Communications Officer (Editorial) Vacancy” in the title of your email.
Deadline for applications: 18 February 2024
Starting date: Q2 2024