Zoological Society of London (ZSL)
Communications Officer
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Purpose of the role:
We have two exciting Communications Officer opportunities within ZSL’s Communications team, each playing a key role in planning and delivering communications activity that builds awareness, strengthens reputation and brings ZSL’s conservation mission to life for external audiences.
One role focuses on London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo, helping to showcase the work of our Zoos, visitor experiences, animal stories and conservation impact. The other focuses on Commercial, Fundraising and Partnership communications, raising the profile of the activities, campaigns and relationships that generate support and income for ZSL’s mission.
Working closely with the Communications Manager and colleagues across Zoo, Commercial, Fundraising, Marketing, Digital and Partnership teams, both roles identify and develop compelling stories that engage audiences and demonstrate the impact of ZSL’s work. The successful candidates will support earned media activity, draft comms materials, coordinate media opportunities and create audience-focused communications content across a wide range of channels and initiatives.
Both roles contribute to proactive storytelling, campaign delivery and day-to-day communications support, ensuring activity is communicated clearly, consistently and in line with organisational priorities, while helping to strengthen engagement with ZSL’s conservation mission and organisational goals.
Both roles require a regular onsite presence of 3-4 days per week to support relationship building, storytelling opportunities and communications activity across ZSL. As part of your application, please indicate in your covering letter if you have a preference for either the Zoo-focused Communications Officer role or the Commercial & Partnerships-focused Communications Officer role.
Key responsibilities:
- Support the planning and delivery of communications activity across assigned areas of the organisation, helping to ensure campaigns, projects, events and initiatives are coordinated, aligned to organisational priorities and delivered effectively.
- Identify and develop engaging stories and communications opportunities by working closely with colleagues across ZSL, gathering information, developing clear and accurate messaging, and translating complex or specialist activity into content that resonates with target audiences.
- Deliver proactive media and content activity, including drafting press releases, media pitches, briefing materials, web content and other communications assets; supporting earned media opportunities; and helping to amplify stories across owned, shared and partner channels.
- Coordinate media relations and stakeholder engagement opportunities, including media visits, interviews, filming, photography, launches, events and spokesperson briefings, while supporting the identification of opportunities to raise awareness of ZSL, its work and its impact.
- Protect and strengthen ZSL’s reputation by monitoring media coverage and external developments, supporting reactive communications activity, maintaining planning and reporting tools, and evaluating communications performance to inform future activity and continuous improvement.
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About You:
- Experience of supporting communications, PR, media relations, journalism, marketing communications or external affairs activity.
- Experience of drafting clear and engaging written content for external audiences, such as press releases, articles, web copy, briefings or campaign materials.
- Strong organisational skills, with the ability to coordinate activity, manage deadlines and keep others informed.
- Ability to understand complex or specialist information and turn it into accessible content for public audiences.
- Confidence in full breadth and depth of content production: from press briefings to social media reels and campaigns on full range of channels
This role is subject to standard pre-employment checks, including confirmation of your right to work in the UK. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.
ZSL recognises that conservation is one of the least diverse sectors, and we actively encourage applications from candidates who identify as part of underrepresented communities. We are committed to building a supportive and inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive and celebrate the value of having a team of employees with diverse skills, experiences, and heritage.
About ZSL:
We’re ZSL, an international conservation charity. Through our unrivalled animal experts in our two zoos (London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo), the work of our pioneering scientists, our dedicated conservationists, our purpose is to inspire, inform and empower people to stop wild animals going extinct. Our vision is a world where wildlife thrives and we’re working every day to achieve this. From investigating the health threats facing animals, to helping people and wildlife live alongside each other, we are committed to bringing wildlife back from the brink of extinction.
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What do we offer?
At ZSL, we are proud of our approach to employee benefits. Our benefits include:
- Our vision and purpose - you’ll work alongside colleagues who are passionate about science-led conservation, knowing that you will help us to inspire, inform and empower people to stop wildlife going extinct
- Pension scheme - we offer a generous pension scheme with up to 12% contributory pension
- Flexible working - talk to us about your flexible working requirements and we will do everything we can to make sure you work in a way that suits you
- Holidays - 25 days annual leave allowance, plus UK bank holidays
- Wellbeing - access to a blended programme of wellbeing initiatives, including confidential access to our 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme
- Life assurance - eligible employees will be enrolled in ZSL’s life assurance scheme from their first day
- Complimentary tickets - annual allocation of Whipsnade Zoo and London Zoo tickets, with a 30% discount in online and retail shops
- Cycle2Work - our cycle to work scheme enables you to lease a bicycle
- Season ticket loan - we offer an interest free loan for eligibly London-based employees to buy a season ticket for travel between home and work
- Family friendly policies - we offer enhanced maternity, paternity, and adoption packages
We may close this role early or extend the closing date due to the number of applications we receive, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. We anonymise applications until interview stage to ensure a fair hiring process. It’s important to highlight your unique skills, experience, and knowledge. Over reliance on AI-generated content may miss key criteria outlined in the job description and reduce the effectiveness of your application.
If you have any questions about this role, we’d love to hear from you! Please get in touch with our recruitment team at - recruitment@zsl.org
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