Communications & Marketing Manager

2025 will make a significant milestone for Poetry Ireland with the opening of Poetry Ireland House at No. 11 Parnell Square East, Dublin with our partners Irish Hertiage Trust. This significant conservation-led project marks the beginning of a new chapter for the iconic Georgian building and Poetry Ireland as we create an inclusive cultural centre dedicated to celebrating and sharing Irish poetry, heritage and culture with the public. The key elements of this project will be the establishment of the Seamus Heaney Poetry Library, a dedicated performance and event space and a community engagement/workshop space. The Seamus Heaney library donated by the Heaney family contains Seamus Heaney’s remarkable personal library. Our library will also house the Austin Clarke Library, an American contemporary library and an Irish contemporary collection.

We are looking for a dynamic Communications and Marketing Manager to join our team at this very exciting time for Poetry Ireland. The successful candidate will be an articulate, organised, and creative individual with a minimum of 2 to 3 years' experience to help us promote, project and develop Poetry Ireland to our members and stakeholders while also creatively engaging and developing new audiences for our work. The Communications and Marketing Manager will design and deliver campaigns to successfully communicate all our programmes and events as well as being part of launching our exciting new hub for Poetry at 11 Parnell Square - Poetry Ireland House. Reporting to the Operations Manager, the Communications and Marketing Manager will work closely with the management, publications and education team as well as several other national and international partners.

Job Title; Communications and Marketing Manager.
Contract; Full-time, permanent for three years, subject to renewal, with a six-month probation period.
Salary: Commensurate with skills and experience with a guide of €45,000 euro per annum and pension contribution.

About Poetry Ireland:

Poetry Ireland is a dynamic and progressive not-for-profit organisation that aims to promote poetry as an important cultural means of expression and connection. Supporting poets, we bring poetry to a wider audience and enable adults and children to find their voice, ensuring our organisation plays a vital cultural role. Since our establishment in 1978, we have championed Irish poetry at home and abroad offering support and opportunities for poets and enjoyable experiences for audiences. Poetry Ireland is funded by the Arts Council, and by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

We are committed to our Inclusion and Diversity Strategy, and continuously strive to include and engage people and poets belonging to under-represented or marginalised parts of society. This is central to our relentless pursuit of a more inclusive environment for emerging poets and poetry audiences in part by assisting and nurturing policy and practices in the wider arts community.

In September 2016 Poetry Ireland moved into our beautiful home in Dublin's Parnell Square. We embarked on ambitious and innovative plans with our partners, the Irish Heritage Trust, to redevelop this expansive Georgian townhouse, Poetry Ireland House, as an all-island institution dedicated to poetry in all its forms. The newly refurbished building will reopen in 2025 as Poetry Ireland House which will include the Seamus Heaney Poetry Library alongside elegant performance, and workshop spaces. We are a key literary organisation, always serving and connecting poets and the wider public. The increasing need of all parts of society, young and old, to find and hear their voice has meant our activities have grown significantly over the past ten years. We house these activities in three core programme elements, namely:

We are a key literary organisation, always serving and connecting poets and the wider public. The increasing need of all parts of society, young and old, to find and hear their voice has meant our activities have grown significantly over the past ten years. We house these activities in three core programme elements, namely:

• Engagement & Education Programmes: this includes initiatives such as Writers in Schools and Writers in Residence, Introductions/Céadlínte, Poet in Residence and professional development initiatives and events such as Poetry Aloud and Guth na hÉigse.
• Publications: this includes the renowned Poetry Ireland Review publication and publications such as Trumpet and anthologies.
• Live events and Poetry Promotion: readings, national tours and live presentations at home and abroad. We also manage the Ireland Chair of Poetry project. We value creative and collaborative partnerships and enjoy a wide public and media interest in our extensive programme of activities. Our continued success is achieved through the efforts of our dedicated and motivated staff operating in a creative and positive working environment fostered by an experienced, dynamic, and committed board of directors.

Role Overview:

The Communications and Marketing Manager will lead and shape the strategic and day-to-day communications and marketing of the organisation. This role offers the candidate the opportunity to combine their communication, marketing and creative expertise and skills to connect new and existing audiences with poetry and with the work of Poetry Ireland. The Communications and Marketing Manager will provide strong leadership and management across all communications and marketing activities of Poetry Ireland. They will have an eye for detail and experience in content creation and design. Specifically, they will be responsible for all aspects of media relations, marketing, website (development and updating) and social media. In addition, they will also be involved in general administration and provide support in the delivery of events. Ideally the candidate will have experience in partnership development.

Communications & Marketing:

• Develop and implement strategic communications and marketing plans based on Poetry Irelands work plan and events calendar to engage with and grow audiences.
• Create and deliver imaginative, effective and targeted tactical cross platform marketing and PR campaigns for all Poetry Ireland programmes and events, frequently working with a range of partners.
• Develop key relationships with media outlets and secure coverage for Poetry Ireland across its full range of activities.
• Write and sign off copy for all PR and marketing materials (press releases, flyers, posters, newsletter, web, news etc.)
• Create and initiate a diverse range of innovative, engaging and optimized short and long-form written and visual content for Poetry Ireland digital platforms including Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter), YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn and other platforms where appropriate.
• Experience in developing engaging content using Canva and ideally Adobe Creative Cloud Software packages.
• Lead on the writing and editing of marketing and fundraising emails, programme newsletters, blogs, vlogs, informational toolkits, leaflets, infographics, presentations etc. for the wider organisation as well as on a department level.
• Design and deliver a suite of creative assets for social media, newsletters, presentations and the like.
• Monitor and maintain all Poetry Ireland digital channels, platforms and tools responding appropriately to queries.
• Research and recommend creative communication strategies on engaging Poetry Ireland’s audiences and stakeholders (poetry community, formal and informal education sector, general public and other sectors) to line manager and wider team.
• Protect and ensure Poetry Ireland brand consistency across all in-house and partner materials and content.
• Prepare communication reports and assets for internal and external stakeholders.
• Link in with each department in Poetry Ireland and the wider network of Poetry Ireland stakeholders to identify opportunities and develop plans to promote initiatives and engage with new and existing audiences.
• Work with external third-party suppliers and content creators where appropriate and as directed.
• Manage the communications budget and campaign budgets where appropriate.

Website Management:

• Oversee the development of the new Poetry Ireland website.
• Develop copy and oversee updating the Poetry Ireland website regularly.
• Knowledge and experience of website management.
• Link in with each department in Poetry Ireland and the wider network of Poetry Ireland stakeholders to effectively promote their work on the website by creating content and processes to engage with them.

Events:

• Assist with the planning and delivery of Poetry Ireland events in person and online.
• Liaise with venues and event partners providing support and ensuring event delivery.
• Support delivering campaigns around Poetry Ireland events including coordinating and planning project deliverables.

The package on offer includes the following benefits:

• Annual Leave: 25 Days per annum with additional holidays allocated at the discretion of the company (Good Friday and Christmas etc.)
• Working Hours: Core hours are generally Monday to Friday 9.30am to 5.30pm. This role will require flexibility due to the nature of events so it will require some weekends and evenings so flexible working hours are necessary. Time in lieu will be provided by approval by manager.
• Location: Currently located at Poetry Ireland, 3 Great Denmark Street, Dublin 1, D01 NV63 with a view to moving back to main premises Poetry Ireland House nearby in Dublin 1 in 2025. This role will also require out of office and event work. For out-of-office work outside of Dublin, travel and associated costs will be covered where appropriate. 
• Salary: Commensurate with skills and experience with a guide of €45,000 euro per annum and pension contribution.

Essential;

• Third level Qualification(s) or commensurate experience in a relevant area (e.g. Communications, Public Relations, Information Management, Digital Media, Publishing, Marketing, Public Affairs or similar).
• Minimum of 2 years’ experience in a communication and/or marketing role.
• Minimum of 2 to 3 years' experience working in the arts, culture or creative industries.
• Experience of working in a high-performance environment.
• Have excellent project management skills, be motivated, energetic and results driven.
• Have strong people management skills, a positive attitude and exemplary team skills.

Qualifications and Skills:

• Proven ability to develop and implement successful communications and marketing strategies.
• Strong knowledge of design and digital media with experience using a design tool ideally Canva and / or Adobe Creative suite.
• Excellent digital marketing and communications knowledge and experience across website content management, SEO, Email clients (Mailchimp or similar), social media and other relevant digital systems and platforms.
• Creative flair and an imaginative approach to marketing and digital communications.
• Exceptional written skills, with ability to craft engaging and accurate content.
• Experience with Microsoft Office suite.
• Experience with all social media platforms and writing for social media.
• Experience with working with multi stakeholders and an ability to handle multiple priorities, negotiate priorities and deliver targets within tight timeframes while contributing to long-term
  work.
• Exceptional attention to detail.
• Ability to take ownership, work on their own initiative, and collaborate as part of a team. A love of and commitment to promoting poetry for all.

Desirable:

• Video production and/ or audio production skills or experience.
• Experience in partnership development including supporting fundraising initiatives and campaigns.

Application details:

Suitably qualified applicants are invited to apply for this exciting role by submitting a cover letter and CV outlining their relevant experience to recruitment@poetryireland.ie with the subject matter Communications & Marketing Manager.

The deadline for applications is Friday September 27th, 2024.
Interviews for this position will take place in person on Monday October 7th, 2024.