Media Manager - London or York, minimum 2 days per week in the office

Media Manager - London or York, minimum 2 days per week in the officeSalary: £48,211.80 per annum, plus £6000 London weighting if applicable (Effective 1st January 2026)

Permanent, Full Time (35 hours per week)

London or York, minimum 2 days per week in the office

Do you want to make change happen?

Join our small, dedicated media team at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and help create a world free from poverty.

We’re looking for a Media Manager who can identify compelling news stories that resonate with the mainstream media and political debates. You’ll thrive in shaping strategy, working with colleagues to turn great policy ideas into media successes. You should be forward-thinking, eager to navigate the evolving media landscape, and explore new ways to engage the public.

Purpose of the Role

As a Media Manager, you’ll craft and execute media strategies that influence public and political opinion, foster relationships with key journalists, and elevate JRF’s mission. Your work will directly impact the national conversation on poverty, driving change and social justice.

What we’re looking for

We need someone with media experience, whether from a newsroom or a press office, and the flexibility to quickly adapt to various topics. Specialism is a plus, but versatility is key. You’ll work across JRF’s complex projects, collaborating with both internal teams and external partners.

Your unique perspective, whether from experience with low income or insights on how we can better support those facing poverty, will be valuable. We’re keen to hear how you can improve our media efforts.

We support flexible working arrangements, but as a busy media team we prefer to work together in our York and London offices at least two days per week. We also offer part-time options and are open to appointing two part-time staff to fill the full-time role.

About Us

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is dedicated to ending poverty in the UK by developing innovative policy solutions, supporting communities to identify and address their needs, and campaigning for systemic change. Through research, advocacy, and partnerships, JRF seeks to accelerate the transition to a fairer, more equitable society where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, with a focus on improving the lives of those most affected by poverty.

To do this we want to offer innovative policy ideas which will make a difference for those families struggling to get by; support communities to decide what would make their lives better and campaign for change; fund those experimenting with ideas that could lead to a future free from poverty.

JRF is deeply committed to the principles of equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism and sees these as critical in helping with the achievement of our mission. We welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds who share that commitment, can bring plurality of thought and who if appointed, will use their professional sphere of influence to help us advance these principles in our work. As a disability confident employer let us know you require adjustments in the application and interview process.

As mentioned above we are committed to being an anti-racist organisation and operate an anonymised recruitment process so that bias is eliminated from the shortlisting process.

How to apply

If you share our passion and this role sounds like you, then we're looking forward to hearing from you.

Please submit your CV and supporting information via our website.

The closing date and time for applications is 23:59 on Monday 12th January 2026.

Interviews will take place week commencing 2nd February 2026.

About Us

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is dedicated to ending poverty in the UK by developing innovative policy solutions, supporting communities to identify and address their needs, and campaigning for systemic change. Through research, advocacy, and partnerships, JRF seeks to accelerate the transition to a fairer, more equitable society where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, with a focus on improving the lives of those most affected by poverty.

To do this we want to offer innovative policy ideas which will make a difference for those families struggling to get by; support communities to decide what would make their lives better and campaign for change; fund those experimenting with ideas that could lead to a future free from poverty.

We are committed to being an anti-racist organisation and operate an anonymised recruitment process so that bias is eliminated from the shortlisting process.

We welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds who share that commitment, can bring plurality of thought and who if appointed, will use their professional sphere of influence to help us advance these principles in our work. As a disability confident employer let us know you require adjustments in the application and interview process.

We encourage you to read our EVP, which is located here:

If you have any additional needs and need reasonable adjustments to be made to the interview process, please let us know.