Senior Media & Public Relations Officer

Location (UK): Office Hybrid - London / Sheffield

Hours: Full-time, 35 hours, Part-time 28 hours (pro-rata) will be considered.

Salary: £43,580.00 per annum (London), £41,504.00 per annum (rest of UK) - pro-rata for part time.

Contract type: Permanent.

Travel: Occasional travel required in line with business requirements.

Join us and use your skills, knowledge, passion and energy to help us achieve a future free from arthritis.

This is an exciting opportunity to join our busy, ambitious and collaborative Media and PR team and help shape the national conversation around arthritis and musculoskeletal health. Working across a fast-paced and varied news agenda across the UK, you'll develop and deliver proactive media campaigns, respond to breaking news, work closely with people with lived experience to amplify their voices in the media, build strong relationships with internal stakeholders and journalists while securing high-profile coverage that raises awareness, influences decision-makers and supports our campaigning and organisational priorities.

About the role

You'll work closely with policy, research, campaigns and fundraising to tell compelling stories, prepare spokespeople for media opportunities and help position Arthritis UK as the go-to voice on arthritis and musculoskeletal health. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced media professional who enjoys spotting opportunities, working collaboratively and wants to use the power of earned media to make a real difference to the lives of more than 10 million people living with arthritis across the UK.

About you:

• If your knowledge, skills and experience include the following then we'd love to hear from you:
• Significant experience of developing and delivering successful media campaigns that secure impactful national, regional and broadcast coverage.
• Strong news judgement and the ability to identify and respond quickly to emerging media opportunities.
• Experience of building and maintaining effective relationships with journalists across print, broadcast and digital media.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with experience of producing high-quality media materials and briefing spokespeople.
• Experience of working in a fast-paced press office or media environment, managing multiple priorities and meeting tight deadlines.
• Confidence in handling reactive media enquiries and supporting reputation and issues management.
• Experience of monitoring and evaluating media activity, using insight to demonstrate impact and inform future work.
• A collaborative approach, with the ability to build strong relationships across teams and work effectively with a range of internal and external stakeholders.
• A commitment to Arthritis UK's values and a passion for using media to improve the lives of people with arthritis.

As a hybrid worker the expectation is that you will spend around 40% of your working time in our office spaces or working in community settings. As an inclusive employer we will consider home-based working for anyone where office-based hybrid working would be a barrier to being able to work for us, for example for someone living with a long-term health condition or disability.

Benefits:

Your excellent benefits include:

• Flexible hours, environments and working practices to promote a healthy work/life balance.
• Health and wellbeing support - including the Employee Assistance Programme (free confidential 24/7 support with mental health, legal and financial queries).
• Simply health cash plan.
• Supportive and inclusive culture, with a wide range of employee networks and support groups available to join.
• Learning and personal development opportunities.
• Employee supported volunteering.
• Competitive annual leave, with the option to buy/sell up to five days per year.
• Generous pension plan, with employer contribution of up to 10%.
• Life Assurance plan (4 x salary).

Interview

First stage interviews will be held remotely on Monday, 14 September 2026. Second stage interviews to be held Thursday, 17 September 2026 in person in London.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee you will be offered an interview if you disclose a disability and demonstrate sufficient evidence within your application that you meet the essential criteria for this role. We will also make any reasonable adjustments you may require for your interview.

About us

We have made a commitment in our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy to increase the diversity of our charity and we welcome candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. We want our employees, volunteers and trustees to represent the broad diversity of the communities of which we are a part.

There are over 10 million people living with arthritis. That's one in six, with over half of those living in pain every single day. The impact is huge as the condition slowly intrudes on everyday life - affecting the ability to work, care for a family, to move free from pain and to live independently. Yet arthritis is often dismissed as an inevitable part of ageing or shrugged off as 'just a bit of arthritis'. We don't think that this is OK. Arthritis UK is here to change that.

Arthritis UK is committed to keeping children, young people and vulnerable adults safe from harm. During the recruitment process we will undertake safer recruitment practices and relevant checks to ensure applicants are suitable to work with children, young people and vulnerable adults.