Jobs and careers

Hours: Full-time (34.5 hours per week)

Location: Hybrid

(a minimum of 40% working from the office in Yeadon this is normally on Mondays and Thursdays)

Salary: £30,000- £35,0000

​Contract: Permanent

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About us​

At Epilepsy Action we are inclusive, ambitious, supportive, and committed to creating a world without limits for people with epilepsy. 

​As we achieve the goals in our 2024 – 2030 strategy we are excited to welcome you to our passionate, supportive and committed team.

We understand the importance of a work life balance, and that’s why we have a number of ways to support our people to achieve this. By operating a flexible and supportive approach, we empower people to work in a way that suits them that also meets the need of the charity.

If you are interested in building a career you can be proud of in an inclusive and ambitious organisation we might have the role for you!

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About the role​

Epilepsy Action is looking for someone with a passion for media and storytelling to join the award-winning PR team, to work with us to take epilepsy awareness to the next level.

2025 is an exciting time to join the charity – this year we turn 75 and will be doing two national campaigns to change the narrative around epilepsy as a hidden disability. Our new brand, which launched last year,  is already helping us to open up new conversations around epilepsy but we still have more to do to encourage high-profile people to speak up and change attitudes about the condition, bringing epilepsy understanding into the public sphere.

This is a an excellent and rewarding opportunity for someone with PR experience who is looking to develop their career for an important cause, while helping to build a world without limits for people with epilepsy.

You’ll be developing new skills, working collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team covering PR, digital and brand. Based in the PR & Media team, also helping to mentor and support the PR & Media Officer.

At Epilepsy Action we recognise the power of collaboration and teamwork, so our team members with hybrid contracts can expect to work a minimum of 40% at our office in Leeds. On average this is 2 days a week, normally on Mondays and Thursdays, for full-time employees. The expectation to collaborate face-to-face is driven in part by your role and the activities you need to do which may vary from time to time, so you will need to work in a flexible way to help us create a world without limits for people with epilepsy

​Are you our next Senior PR and Media Lead?​

We are looking for someone who:

• Is a passionate and persuasive people person with proven ability to get impactful and memorable media coverage
• Is skilled at storytelling across a range of media to bring campaigns to life
• Enjoys working collaboratively, both as part of a team and under own initiative to drive forward and deliver great work
• Has excellent communication skills and is a natural at developing positive relationships
• Is able to co-ordinate people and work flexibly to ensure deadlines are hit
• Wants to develop PR experience across a high-performing marcomms team
• ​Is ambitious and driven to create positive and lasting change

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Click here for the job description and person specification

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Interested?​

If you are interested in what you have read so far you can either submit your application via our online portal or alternatively if you still have some questions before applying you can contact us at recruitment@epilepsy.org.uk

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Being an Inclusive Organisation​

We want everyone in our community regardless of their backgrounds, identities, abilities, or circumstances, to feel valued and respected to participate fully. We know that inclusivity isn’t about numbers; it’s about embracing diversity and ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard, needs are met, and contributions are acknowledged.

We recognise that each person’s experiences shape how they think and having diverse representation across the organisation is fundamental to achieving our ambitions.

Despite this we are not as diverse as we would like and we actively encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.

We are also proud to be a Disability Confident Leader, this means we encourage applications from disabled people, and we are committed to interviewing disabled applicants who demonstrate through their application that they meet the essential criteria in the person specification. We want to support you to perform your best so if you require any reasonable adjustments please let us know.     

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Closing Date: Monday 19th May @ 5pm​

Informal Chats: Week commencing 26th May

Interviews: Tuesday 10th June

Recruitment process: We believe that having an informal chat before the formal interview process allows us and you to have an open and honest conversation about the role, our organisation culture and what attracted you to apply. This is why as part of this process we will be inviting people to a 30 minute online chat with a member of our team before inviting shortlisted candidates to formal interview.

The formal process will include an in-person panel interview to discuss your skills, knowledge and experience so that we can assess your suitability for the role. We will also ask you to develop and present to us about of the key aspects of this role. The presentation topic will be shared with you in advance.

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If you have a disability or long term health condition and feel that you would benefit from a reasonable adjustment as part of the process, please contact recruitment@epilepsy.org.uk 

CLICK HERE TO APPLY NOW

To create a world without limits we know that it is important that we are inclusive in who we are and who we support.

As such we are committed to working with people from all backgrounds and communities ensuring everyone feels valued and respected to participate and engage in our work, and by doing this we will ensure that everyone’s voice is heard, needs are met, and contributions acknowledged.

Each person’s experiences shape how they think and having diverse representation at all levels and in all areas of our work is fundamental to achieving our ambitions.

We know our culture is key to ensuring we can achieve our diversity and inclusion goals and our team of Inclusion Champions provide support, guidance, and insight into making this happen.

Epilepsy Action is a Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from disabled people. We will interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria in the person specification.

We are committed to a healthy happy engaged team and according to our 2024 staff survey, 89% of people said the organisation takes a positive approach to health and wellbeing.

We also demonstrate our commitment through subscriptions to the Mindful Employer Network and also pledged our commitment to the Mental Health at Work Campaign.

In addition to a manageable working week we also place emphasis on employee wellbeing through:

• Monthly wellbeing walks
• Wellbeing resources
• Mental Health First-aiders
• Employee Assistance Programme (inc wellbeing and counselling offer)
• Ensuring people feel a sense of belonging
• Relaxed and comfortable dress code
• Culture of recognition and valuing people
• Ongoing employee engagement and feedback

We strive to ensure that people are able to be the best versions of themselves through a culture of ongoing learning, development and reflection.

Not only do we offer a range of internal learning opportunities through online platforms, peer support and development programmes, but we also offer external opportunities through apprenticeships, qualifications and coaching.

We are a member of the Charity Learning Consortium and the Charity Mentoring Network, that all of our team have access to.

All our people will have a personal development plan that will be reviewed regularly.

We are still working on this commitment, and 71% of people said that learning and training opportunities are very good or excellent.

All applications are made online via our applications portal.

For most of our vacancies we will ask you to upload a copy of your CV and you will be required to answer supporting questions.

It is important that you do this thoroughly and answer questions in relation to the job description and person specification as supplied in the advertisement, as this will be a determining factor in the shortlisting process. Your CV and supporting questions should reflect well in terms of experience and skills.

All applications are completed online via our portal. There will always be a link to these in each vacancy advert.

If you have any disabilities which you would require us to make reasonable adjustments in order for you to apply for a role, please let us know.

If you are shortlisted you will be invited to the next stage in the recruitment process via email, so please keep checking your junk mail.

We accept all applications from individuals who have the right to work in the UK without restrictions.

We currently do not hold a sponsor license and therefore cannot accept applications from individuals who do not have the right to work in the UK.

Some of our roles do have a specific location from which they need to be performed so please read the advert carefully before you apply.

If you are unsure or have any questions about a role please contact us at recruitment@epilepsy.org.uk

We want to ensure each candidate has the best opportunity to demonstrate their skills and knowledge and how they will complete the role, so we use a range of interview and assessment techniques.

We will also provide support and an inclusive process to encourage candidates to do their best.

Some of the ways we might assess you include a panel interview, presentations and ability tests, sharing previous work/portfolios, or personality and integrity assessments.

To allow you the chance to prepare and be the best version of you at interview, we may send the interview questions or themes in advance.

Depending on the role location will be the key factor in deciding how the interview will take place.

It is preferable for hybrid working roles to be interviewed face to face as this will give our candidates the opportunity to gain a feel for our office environment. However, if you are invited to an interview in person but would prefer a virtual process, please do let us know and we can assess reasonable adjustments on a case by case basis.

We also offer an inclusive approach to interviewing, so if you have any disabilities which you would require us to make other reasonable adjustments in order for you to attend an interview, please let us know.

If your interview is to take place virtually, please ensure you have access to and are able to use Microsoft TEAMS.

We encourage you to dress smart/casual for the interview, even if it is taking place virtually.

Our office where we complete the majority of interviews is in Yeadon which is a suburb in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

We have free on-site parking available, as well as public transport links from the city centre.

If you have an issue with the system please email recruitment@epilepsy.org.uk

If you have any questions about one of our vacancies please email recruitment@epilepsy.org.uk

We have a number of volunteer vacancies so please check out our volunteering page for more details.

The main updates will be sent to you via email so please ensure you check your junk inbox. We may also contact you by telephone.

Please refer to our privacy statement for more details.

All roles are different. For any role that requires a criminal conviction check (DBS/Access NI) this would be highlighted in the vacancy information.

Please find a copy of our policy statement on recruitment of ex-offenders

Download frequently asked questions on DBS

For a copy of our DBS policy or if you have any other questions please email recruitment@epilepsy.org.uk

We encourage applications from all candidates and will support people to present their skills and knowledge to us in the best way possible.

We are able to make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process for applicants with disabilities so if you have any questions about the application process just let us know so that we can discuss how best to facilitate your application.

When applying for a job with us, if an applicant has a disability covered by the definition outlined within the Equality Act 2010 and can show that they meet the ‘essential criteria’ described in the person specification, they are guaranteed a priority interview for the job for which they are applying, through our Disability Confident scheme (formerly known as the Guaranteed Interview Scheme). This decision is based on our scoring criteria when shortlisting.

Under the Equality Act 2010, a disabled person is someone who has – or has had in the past – a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

As an inclusive and disability confident employer, we actively encourage applications from people who consider themselves to have a disability falling within that broad definition.

The Disability Confident scheme only guarantees progression to to the next stage of selection (e.g interview or other task) in line with the criteria set – it does not automatically mean that applicants interviewed will gain employment as this will be based on scoring during the full selection process. We will feedback on the results of the interview will to each candidate if requested.

In order to opt-in to this scheme, you need to complete the relevant criteria during the application process.

If you have any questions regarding this, our recruitment can be contacted through recruitment@epilepsy.org.uk