Communications Officer

Communications Officer

Location: Oldham
Hours: 37 hours per week
Reporting to: Communications Manager
Contract: Permanent
Salary: £38,000

Improving lives in Oldham

First Choice Homes Oldham has an exciting opportunity for a Communications Officer to join our team and help tell the stories that matter to our customers, colleagues and communities.

This is a varied and creative role where you’ll support the delivery of engaging communications activity across digital, print, media and internal channels. From campaigns and events to social media and storytelling, you’ll help shape how we communicate, connect and build trust with our audiences.

Please see a full job description at the bottom of this page 

The impact you’ll make

You’ll play an important role in helping colleagues, customers and partners understand who we are, what we do and the difference we make across Oldham.

By creating engaging content, supporting campaigns and identifying opportunities to tell positive stories, you’ll help strengthen our brand, improve customer engagement and support organisational priorities.

Your work will directly support FCHO’s commitment to delivering excellent services, strong communities and clear, accessible communications.

What you’ll be doing

As Communications Officer, you’ll support the planning, delivery and evaluation of communications activity across a wide range of channels and audiences.

You will:

• Create engaging written and multimedia content for digital, social media, print and internal communications channels.
• Identify and develop positive stories that support organisational priorities and bring our work to life.
• Support the delivery of creative communications campaigns and projects aligned to business objectives.
• Write news releases, articles, case studies and social media content in plain English for a range of audiences.
•  Capture and create photography, video and design content using tools such as Canva, Adobe Express, Premier Pro or CapCut.
• Manage and schedule content across social media platforms and support community engagement activity.
• Work closely with colleagues across the organisation to provide communications advice and identify opportunities to promote services, initiatives and achievements.
• Support media relations activity and respond to enquiries where appropriate.
• Assist with internal communications, colleague engagement activity and corporate events.
• Monitor, evaluate and report on communications activity using analytics and performance insights.
• Ensure all communications reflect FCHO’s brand, tone of voice and commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

What we’re looking for

You’ll be a creative and organised communications professional with strong storytelling skills and a passion for engaging audiences through compelling content.

You’ll have:

• A degree in PR, journalism or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Experience in communications, PR, marketing or journalism roles, with the ability to deliver effective communications activity across multiple channels and audiences.
• Excellent written communication, proofreading and storytelling skills.
• Experience creating engaging multimedia content including photography, video, design and social media content.
• Experience using digital content creation and editing tools such as Canva, Adobe Express, Premier Pro or CapCut.
• Experience planning and delivering communications activity, campaigns or projects.
• Good understanding of social media, media relations, internal communications and digital engagement.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to build positive relationships with a range of stakeholders.
• A proactive, collaborative and creative approach, with strong attention to detail.

Experience within housing, the public sector or community-focused organisations, along with knowledge of analytics tools, content management systems or crisis communications, would be an advantage.

Why join FCHO?

At FCHO, communications plays an important role in helping us connect with customers, support colleagues and strengthen communities.

First Choice Homes Oldham is a housing association providing safe, affordable and high-quality homes across Oldham and the surrounding areas. We own and manage over 11,500 properties and have the highest regulatory G1/V1 governance rating.

Every day, we’re proud to make a real difference in our communities. Our work is guided by our Corporate Plan, focused on quality homes, excellent services and strong communities. We care deeply about our customers, colleagues and communities and are committed to improving lives across Oldham.

What’s in it for you?

We offer a fantastic range of benefits designed to support your wellbeing, work-life balance and career development, including:

• A salary of £38,000 per annum
• A 37-hour working week with hybrid working options.
• 30 days’ annual leave plus 8 bank holidays.
• Option to purchase additional annual leave.
• Defined contribution pension scheme with up to 10% employer contribution and salary exchange option.
• Death in service benefit.
• Healthcare cash plan covering dental, optical and physiotherapy treatments.
• Private health insurance.
• Employee Assistance Programme offering 24-hour confidential support.
• Doctorline, giving you and your family 24/7 GP access.
• Access to our colleague benefits platform, including retail discounts and wellbeing tools.
• Discounted gym membership.
• Professional subscriptions paid where essential for the role.
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and sick pay.
• Access to our on-site wellbeing room and on-site café.
• Long service awards.

Interested?

If you have the skills, creativity and passion to help us deliver engaging communications that make a difference to our customers and communities, we’d love to hear from you.

Please send your application before 5pm Sunday 14th June 2026.

Please note that we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications, so we encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible.

We are committed to building an organisation that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives and skills, and we are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. As an equal opportunities employer, FCHO is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective colleagues and does not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.

We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join us.

We care that you have a great experience with us at FCHO. If you need us to make any reasonable adjustments to make your experience smoother, please let us know and we’ll do all we can.