PR Specialist

The Transforming Autism Project is seeking a volunteer to join our team as a PR Specialist.

Our Organisation

The Transforming Autism Project is a brand-new charity focusing on very early intervention for children with autism with a view to making transformative life-long changes that would not be possible later. We challenge the traditional understanding of autism and propose an inspiring, hopeful and truly empowering perspective. For more details, see our TED talk, below.

We are planning a revolutionary new early intervention autism clinic based on Israel’s pioneering Mifne Centre (find out more and see one family’s story here), and also a comprehensive online Hub of resources and inspiration for parents and carers of autistic children.

To find out more about our goals, values and activities, please view our brochure.

Although we are currently new and very small, we will need to grow quickly in order to make progress towards our large-scale goals. We are therefore – through our wonderful volunteers - building a strong professional team so that we can put the infrastructure in place to have the scope to generate and cope with rapid growth.

We have a strong set of values that define our culture, and which we strive to adhere to at all times. They are based around the themes of Unconditional Respect, Courage and Purpose. There are more details on these here.

Role Profile

As a brand new charity, we are looking to develop a PR capability to bring our plans and our messaging to a much wider audience and to shape a great perception of us right from the start.  We are especially interested at this time in cultivating relationships with well-known and high-net-worth individuals who are parents of autistic children (or have a similar connection), initially to be interviewed by us for our website, but potentially to evolve into ambassadors for the charity and possibly even into major donors.

As we are brand new, there will be plenty of opportunity to shape the role as it evolves, but below are some of the key elements we envisage:

  • Build relationship with the media, drafting and issuing press releases, proactively pitching stories and campaigns
  • Identify and interview donors, supporters and those affected by autism to share their stories with the media
  • Develop and implement a plan for celebrity, HNW and influencer engagement (including prominent healthcare professionals)
  • Establish, develop and maintain effective relationships with new or existing celebrities/HNW and their agents from start to finish.
  • Manage proactive and reactive press opportunities: Identify potential stories to ‘piggyback’ by drafting press releases to gain maximum reach

 

The Person

You will have a very strong background in the Communications/PR sector, with a network of journalists and influencers, ideally with knowledge and experience of working with celebrities.

Any experience within the charity sector is highly advantageous.  You will have excellent copy writing skills to create persuasive press releases in line with our campaigns.

You will be a natural at making things happen and possess the confidence, positivity and determination to ensure the success of the charity.

We are a strongly values-driven organisation, and are committed to manifesting our values in how we relate to each other, in what we are trying to achieve and in how we do it.  You will be in complete resonance with these and dedicated to bringing them into all of your work and interactions.

To find out more about our values, please see our brochure or visit https://transformingautism.org/purpose/

 

How Many Hours?

This is flexible and can be discussed based on your availability.  Many of our volunteers work with us between 5-15 hours per week depending on their own situation and the role itself.

The Transforming Autism Project is dedicated to helping create a world where all people are valued and treated according to their inner essential humanity rather than according to the many labels that each of us could wear (or that could be attached to us). We are thus naturally an equal opportunities organisation.

To apply, please e-mail your CV and a short covering letter to:

jobs@transformingautism.org