Festival Team

OVERVIEW
The annual Bridport Literary Festival (BridLit) is seeking to appoint a contract Digital Comms Officer (4 hours a week part-time). The successful candidate will provide support to the book festival at an exciting moment in its development, as it seeks to grow its programmes, engage new audiences and introduce new activities. This will include social media and marketing support. Although the role averages 4 hours a week, this will be split unevenly across the year, with more activity in the run-up to the festival. The successful applicant will be expected to be available during the annual festival week in November.

ABOUT BRIDPORT LITERARY FESTIVAL
In its 22nd year, the annual Bridport Literary Festival Bridport is one of South-West England’s leading cultural events. From 7-14 November 2026, the Festival will produce more than 60 events for adults and children across multiple venues in the Dorset town. The charity also hosts occasional events throughout the year and funds opportunities for young people through its BridLit Bursary scheme.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE
● Develop, manage and deliver a calendar of communication, content and campaigns that supports engagement and provides a consistent and compelling story of BLF and its impact.
● To develop a strategic approach to social media that delivers measurable results in line with the Festival’s aims and objectives.
● To create strong engagement with local community groups, stakeholders and audiences through the development of targeted content.
● To record, measure and report on the impact of BLF campaigns and to adapt output accordingly.
● To grow user numbers and engagement figures and to engage new audiences.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
● Plan and deliver campaigns for BLF’s existing social media channels in line with the Festival’s overall objectives.
● Develop and manage channels, tools and systems to meet BLF’s changing needs and demands.
● Oversee the direction of communications activity in line with overall BLF objectives.
● Monitor and evaluate activity (e.g. through the use of data and analytics) to improve future activity and engagement.
● Support development objectives, fundraising and volunteer engagement through social media support.
● Support BFL’s commercial objectives, including driving sales for the annual Festival and for one-off events.
● Work with the Director to identify potential campaigns and areas for promotion.
● Work with our creative designer to ensure that all BLF communications are consistent with brand guidelines.
● Liaise with our web manager as appropriate to ensure that content is effectively shared and that social media posts drive engagement with the website.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS / EXPERIENCE
● A flexible and collaborative approach to working.
● Experience in developing and managing social media campaigns, including Facebook, Instagram and X.
● Experience in clipping, editing and filming video for social media.
● Proven interest in culture. Familiarity with the cultural life of the Bridport area and a motivated and keenness to work as part of a local team.
● Ability to interpret complex information and present it for different audiences.
● Practical expertise to ensure we are adapting and adopting communication channels, to drive activity with different audiences, delivering high-quality impactful campaigns that tell an organisation’s story and drive engagement towards ticket sales, fundraising and broader messaging.
● Keen visual sense and understanding of how visuals and copy interact to tell a story.
● Ability to write clear, concise copy with a consistent tone in line with briefs.
● Ability to read and interpret analytics and set analytical goals.
● Understanding of how individual platforms’ algorithms impact effective content delivery.
● Understanding data protection (GDPR) requirements.
● Understanding accessibility standards in communications.

DESIRABLE SKILLS / EXPERIENCE
● Skills and experience with WordPress.
● Skills and experience working with social media scheduling tools (eg Hootsuite).
● Skills and experience with email marketing platforms (e.g. Mailchimp).
● Skills and experience with Adobe InDesign.
● Background in festivals or events.
● Background / interest in literature and books.

Applications: To apply, please send a CV and covering letter to hello@bridlit.com by 5pm Friday 22 May.

Bridport Literary Festival is an equal opportunities employer.