Project Communications Officer (Rothbury Estate)

Project Communications Officer (Rothbury Estate)

Salary: up to £29,000 per annum
Location: Rothbury / Newcastle area - Home working with frequent travel to Rothbury and Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2 to 3 times a week)
Full time (35 hours per week)
Temporary contract - Fixed term contract 1 November 2025 to 31 May 2026
Closing date for applications: 19 October 2025  
First interview: 27 October 2025  Second interview: 3 November 2025

About Us

The Wildlife Trusts are a grassroots movement of people from a wide range of backgrounds and all walks of life, who believe that we need nature and nature needs us. We have more than 944,000 members, over 38,000 volunteers, 3,600 staff and 600 trustees. There are 46 individual Wildlife Trusts, each of which is a place-based independent charity with its own legal identity, formed by groups of people getting together and working with others to make a positive difference to wildlife and future generations, starting where they live and work. 

Project background

The Wildlife Trusts have an opportunity to secure the historic and vast Rothbury Estate for nature, local people and the nation and are currently seeking funding to achieve this and develop a vision for the Estate by: 

• Carrying out surveys, appointing specialist contractors and listening to local people, farmers, visitors and other stakeholders to better understand the needs and opportunities of the site for nature, people and communities
• Engaging local, regional and national audiences to enhance understanding of this heritage landscape
• Working with local and national stakeholders to co-create a new integrated approach to land management where nature recovery will underpin sustainable farming, climate resilience, public access and resilient/connected communities 

This project will lay the foundations for the future of the Rothbury Estate, a future which will see it become the heart of a 40-mile nature recovery corridor across northern England. This project is led by the Royal Society for Wildlife Trusts (RSWT) working in partnership with Northumberland Wildlife Trust. If you have a knack for creating compelling editorial content for a range of audiences across different platforms, confident in spotting and elevating stories that will engage the regional and national media, and would like to work for one of the UK’s best-loved nature charities, then we have an exciting opportunity for you. 

About You

We are looking for a talented communications professional to work with The Wildlife Trusts on a transformative partnership project focused on the historic Rothbury Estate in Northumberland. 

You will be a motivated, resilient self-starter who also thrives as part of a team. You will be experienced in working in a Communications and Media team, developing, analysing and evaluating impactful stories and content across different print, digital and broadcast channels to drive action. 

You will be adept at communicating with mass audiences from a diverse mix of backgrounds, with a creative flair and ability to create clear and simple messaging that educates and inspires people to act. 

You will be adept at finding and writing stories that are likely to generate media interest, with a good understanding of the news agenda and ability to keep abreast of current affairs. Your ability to make great connections with people on the ground will be a crucial part of this. 

You will be a strategic thinker with excellent attention to detail, used to balancing multiple priorities and using your initiative, whilst working against tight deadlines. 

A talented and creative team-player, you will need to work with a number of teams across the central charity, RSWT, including communications, press and media and community organising, as well as colleagues from Northumberland Wildlife Trust and across the 46 Wildlife Trusts and individuals within the community as we build a mass movement of people taking action for nature.

The Wildlife Trusts value passion, respect, trust, integrity, pragmatic activism and strength in diversity. Whilst we are passionate in promoting our aims, we are not judgmental and are inclusive. We particularly encourage applications from people who are underrepresented within our sector, including people from minority backgrounds and people with disabilities. 

We are committed to creating a movement that recognises and truly values individual differences and identities. RSWT take our Safeguarding responsibilities extremely seriously. Please click here to read our commitment statement. The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk. For applicable roles, applicants must be willing to undergo
checks with past employers and Disclosure and Barring Service checks at the eligible level.

As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to offering an interview to anyone with a disability that meets all the essential criteria for the post. Please let us know if you require any adjustments to make our recruitment process more accessible.RSWT are committed to increasing the diversity of its staff through its Levelling the Field recruitment pledge and will put any ethnic minority applicants that meet all the essential criteria for the post through to the next stage of recruitment.

Please be aware we may not accept applications if we have reason to believe they have been wholly produced using generative AI tools.