• Part time 0.8 EFT – 30.4 hours per week.
• Hybrid working arrangement with 50% of days on site (Wednesday mandatory)
• Fixed term 12-month contract

AWARD DETAILS: Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (SCHADS). Level 3 (dependent on experience), generous salary packaging available

REPORTS TO: Communications and Advocacy Manager

LIAISES WITH: EDV managers and staff, external stakeholders, media

ABOUT US

Eating disorders are complex and debilitating mental illnesses that affect up to 1 in 10 people. Like any mental illness, they are not the fault of the individual and can affect anyone no matter their age, gender or background. While serious, eating disorders are treatable. With the right support, full recovery is possible for everyone.

Eating Disorders Victoria (EDV) is the state’s leading community health service for Victorians affected by eating disorders and their loved ones. We provide free support to people at every stage of their recovery journey.

How we work

We are a committed, engaged and progressive community health service who value innovation. We are known for developing and delivering eating disorder services that can’t be found anywhere else in Australia, or even the world. We are a strong voice for people affected by eating disorders and actively advocate for our eating disorder affected community at state and national level.

We pride ourselves on being a vibrant place to work, where creativity, collaboration and lived experience are highly valued and supported.

Our work is guided by our values of Courage, Lived Experience, Authenticity, and Optimism.

Where we are going

We are moving through an exciting time of reform in Victoria’s Mental Health System and have every intention of ensuring eating disorders are fully supported in this new system. We want eating disorders to be considered core business when it comes to mental health, so that more Victorians are identified, diagnosed and put on the path to recovery, sooner.

We are focused on delivering high quality, data-driven community services that demonstrate the impact of our work, while underscoring the growing community demand for specialised eating disorder services. Underpinning this is an evolving culture of strong clinical governance, which supports the wellbeing of staff, volunteers and our service users.

We consider the lived experience workforce to be pivotal to the future of eating disorder treatment and are positioned to be leaders in this emerging field.

ROLE STATEMENT

The EDV Communications Officer is an entry level role that supports the delivery of targeted external communications.

Under the direction of the Communications and Advocacy Manager, you will work closely with our stakeholders and partners to develop compelling, inclusive content aligned with our strategic goals.

You will cover a range of exciting areas with a particular focus on social media content creation - on topics that may range across lived experience storytelling, psychoeducation, service promotion and more. You will ensure EDV messaging is not only informative, but supportive and empowering for those affected by eating disorders in Victoria.

To be successful in this role, you will bring strong technical proficiency across communication tools and platforms. You will possess excellent multitasking abilities and be able to connect the dots between EDV's strategy, community and the broader sector. As a storyteller, you will collaborate with others to craft narratives that resonate authentically across various communication channels, ensuring they align with EDV's voice and values.

This role will support broader functions of the communications team as needed including EDMs, website, podcast, fundraising campaigns, community engagement, media stories and events.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Brand Awareness

• Support the Manager Communications and Advocacy to develop and implement a range of external communications
• Contribute to improving the accessibility of EDV communications and collateral for a diverse range of audiences and needs
• Provide clear, compelling and engaging content for various owned channels, with strong command of EDV’s organisational voice

EDV Owned Channels

• Support the growth and engagement of EDVs social media presence with platform specific content creation (including but not limited to writing, design or video, and scheduling) in line with the EDV brand
• Interpret analytics and trends in EDV’s performance to optimise content creation
• Produce videos for EDV social media and website
• Create content for EDV service and event promotion
• Work with EDV’s clinical, lived experience and education teams to develop high quality psychoeducation content
• Collaborate with people who have lived experience of eating disorders to share their stories and perspectives, with a person-centred approach
• Basic day to day social media engagement/moderation with our community (shared with Program Support Officer)
• Contribute to EDV newsletters for a variety of targeted audiences
• Contribute to the maintenance of EDV’s website, and support development of new website content
• Explore new content trends, topics and platforms

Content Development

• Create, proofread and publish high quality content for a range of EDV communication channels

• Support updates and development of EDV’s print collateral

• In collaboration with internal stakeholders, develop content aligned with EDVs strategy and the EDV voice

• Provide graphic design support as needed

Fundraising Support

• Assist fundraising initiatives by developing and implementing targeted material across all communication channels

Stakeholder Engagement

• Support implementation support for communications plans and initiatives

• Develop collaborative internal and external stakeholder relationships that foster information- sharing in a positive and proactive way.
• Engage with the lived experience community as needed to support the Communications Teams activities
• Engage with external partners to support initiatives and events

Other Duties

• Attend staff meetings, and other internal meetings; keep up to date with EDV news and mental health sector developments
• Other duties consistent with position as directed by the Communications and Advocacy Manager

KEY SELECTION CRITERIA

Essential:

• Tertiary qualifications in communications, marketing, PR, social sciences or similar field OR relevant work/volunteer experience
• Strong writing skills, in particular: communicating complex information in a simple format; writing concise and compelling short form content
• Strong research skills, with ability to research, analyse and accurately communicate health information
• Comfortable to appear on camera
• Video editing experience
• Intermediate proficiency in design tools, e.g. Canva, Adobe, InDesign
• Knowledge of at least one of social, EDM, website or earned media analytics with ability to interpret performance results and apply to future content development
• Experience of data and content analytics, with strong attention to detail
• Ability to communicate to different audiences about mental illness with a compassionate and humanising tone
• Ability to work across multiple projects, including collaborating with others and incorporating different perspectives

Desirable:

• Experience working in health, community service or non-profit media or communications
• Experience in website content development
• An understanding of the complexities of eating disorders, including social issues such as diet culture and weight stigma
• Skilled in accessible communications – e.g., Plain English, WCAG

LIVED EXPERIENCE AT EDV

At EDV we have a commitment to supporting employees with lived experience through a range of supports, and our Wellbeing Framework.

• Please note that candidates who have lived experience of an eating disorder must align with the ‘recovered’ definition below.
• Candidates who have lived experience of caring for a person with an eating disorder must align with the definition of ‘non-active carer’ below.

Recovered: a person who identifies as having engaged in a recovery journey from an eating disorder and can manage their own wellbeing in alignment with the below indicators:

• Can reflect and learn from their experience and has achieved emotional distance from their experience.
• Is open to, and able to consider a wide range of different eating disorder experiences.
• Can manage their own mental health and can recognise and seek help when at risk.

Recovering: a person is recovering from an eating disorder when they are actively engaged in eating disorder treatment and are currently experiencing physical, psychological or behavioural symptoms of an eating disorder.

Non-active carer: a person who has provided active care for an individual experiencing an eating disorder who now fits the ‘Recovered’ or ‘Recovering’ definitions, as above. They may still be involved in providing support and care, but not in the same active capacity for a period of two years.

CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT

Location: This position will be based on site at the EDV office on Level 4 of the Magpies Community Centre (corner Lulie and Abbot Streets, Abbotsford).

Employment conditions:

• Normal working hours will be during Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm. There may at times be some out of hours work and this will be negotiated with your manager.
• Other conditions as mandated by the Fair Work Act.
• Subject to satisfactory Working with Children Check, National Police Check and completion of Conflict-of-Interest Declaration.
• Probationary period will apply (5 months).

Wellness Plan:

EDV acknowledges that the work in this sector can be challenging and stressful, which can impact on all employees, volunteers and students' personal wellbeing and mental health. Therefore, it is mandatory for all staff to complete a ‘Wellness Plan. This important document acknowledges that in times of stress, a commitment to positive mental health practices and support can improve resilience and wellbeing.

Ethical requirements: All EDV staff are required to adhere to the EDV Code of Ethics, Code of Conduct, Core Values and guiding principles and relevant organisational policies, practices and guidelines.

We strongly encourage applications from applicants with diverse experience and backgrounds.

For more information about the role and working at EDV please contact Katia at [email protected], using the subject line: Communication Officer enquiry via EthicalJobs.

A position description is attached.