Recruitment for this role has now closed.
Contract: funded until September 2025
Salary: £24,768 per year (FTE £30,960)
Hours: 4 days per week (28 hours). Enquiries about flexible working are welcome, although there is a preference that the post-holder can work on Monday to Wednesdays
Location: home-based/remote from within the UK (NSUN does not have a physical office). Some occasional travel (usually to London, Sheffield or Manchester) for team meetings (travel costs are reimbursed)
Deadline: 9am on Wednesday 31st January 2024
Interview: 13th February 2024
About Synergi
Synergi is a programme of work which focuses on the intersection of racial justice and mental health. It had a previous iteration as a knowledge hub, bringing together research and network building.
In its new iteration it is hosted by NSUN. In this new phase of Synergi, our focus is on shifting power and resource to grassroots groups and community organisers working on the intersection of racial justice and mental health. We will be working with people doing lived experience work on the ground, who are imagining and building alternatives. We want to connect, amplify, celebrate and resource this work.
Synergi has four main workstreams:
- Grants Programme – Small grants programme redistributing resources to grassroots and user-led groups working on mental health and racial justice.
- Community Responses to Mental Health – This work will include those funded under round 1 of our grants scheme but also round 2, with the aim to support the work that has historically already been done in this space. The activities under this workstream will be guided by the needs of the community in shifting the conversation around mental health and racial justice.
- Supporting Movement Spaces – We are aware that grassroots activism often lacks access to resources so, in addition to the grants scheme we are working to support this work in a variety of ways, both practically but also holistically to ensure that those working on the front line are sustained and replenished.
- Remembrance As Resistance – This workstream will address the historical epistemic imbalance of activism by racialised communities in the UK by documenting this work whilst also creating intergenerational conversations and networks.
Mental ill-health, distress or trauma is often caused by and/or exacerbated by racial injustice and carceral forms of state violence. Our aim is for Synergi to support the work of groups at the frontline of challenging this, and to effectively contribute to building collective memory and power on mental health and abolition.
Funding from Lankelly Chase is secured until September 2025, and it is hoped that additional funding will be secured to allow Synergi to continue to grow beyond this period.
About NSUN (the National Survivor User Network)
NSUN is a charity and a membership organisation. We are a network of grassroots, user-led mental health groups and people with lived experience of mental ill-health, distress and trauma. We connect, support and amplify the voices and work of our membership and work towards the redistribution of power and resource in mental health.
NSUN is a user-led organisation, and all staff and trustees have lived experience of mental ill-health, distress or trauma.
Over the past couple of years, NSUN has scaled and changed. This is an exciting time to join an organisation which is growing and embarking upon an exciting new strategic direction, focussed on doing things differently in mental health and beyond.
About the role
We are looking for someone with relevant skills to be responsible for the day-to-day management and execution of Synergi’s communications strategy and development of our social media presence. Thinking creatively and working proactively will be an essential part of the role to provide an engaging experience for the Synergi community and to grow our reach and support within defined audiences. We would particularly welcome applications from individuals from marginalised or racialised communities.
Specifically, we are looking for someone with the following skills and experience:
- Lived experience of mental ill-health, distress or trauma, a very strong understanding of what it means to come from a racialised background, with a passion for Synergi’s mission and work, and the ability to communicate it effectively to a wide variety of stakeholders
- Experience and passion for developing and managing social media channels and communities
- Excellent written and oral communication skills, including close attention to detail and experience of writing for a range of audiences and/or outlets, including websites and social media
- Proactive, flexible and responsive, with strong interpersonal and relationship management skills and the ability to work independently
The deadline for applications is 9am on Wednesday 31st January 2024. If you would like to discuss this role in more detail please contact Debbie, Synergi Director, at debbie.solomon@nsun.org.uk. If you require this recruitment pack in a different format, please let us know by emailing info@nsun.org.uk.
Interviews will take place for shortlisted candidates on the 13th February 2024.
Job description and person specification
Apply
- Click here to download the application form
- Click here to download the equality and diversity monitoring form
The recruitment process consists of an application form, a first interview and short task for longlisted candidates, and a second interview for candidates shortlisted after the first interview. To apply, please complete and send the following two documents to info@nsun.org.uk. Please include “Synergi Social Media and Communications Officer” in the email subject line.
if you would prefer, you are welcome to send us a short video or audio file (no longer than 6 minutes) to answer the “Synergi ethos and approach”, “Lived experience”, and “Supporting information” sections of this form. The rest of the form must be completed or returned. We do not accept CVs or cover letters.
Please make sure that all the information about your skills and experience is included in the application form: we recommend you use the full two pages allowed in the “supporting information” section in the application form to explain how you meet each of the points in the person specification.