Communications Officer - Part Time

UK Power Networks; Ipswich; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 46,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Reservist Leave

Personal Pension Plan

Season Ticket Loan

Tax efficient benefits: Cycle to Work,

Green Car Leasing Schemes

Occupational Health

Switched On – discounts

Discounted gym membership

Employee Assistance Programme

Job summary

UK Power Networks in Ipswich is seeking a Communications Officer to join the HR press office. You will produce content, handle media enquiries and coordinate campaigns across the East region, with travel to London HQ.

Working 24 hours a week with a pro‑rata salary up to £42,000 and a 7.5% bonus, you’ll enjoy blended working after probation (3 days in office, 2 remote) and a comprehensive benefits package.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent qualification/experience.
• Excellent written and verbal communications.
• Interpersonal skills and confident networker.
• Demonstrable news sense and ability to identify compelling stories.
• Experience with social media platforms.
• Photography and video skills.
• Proficient in Microsoft Word and Excel.

Responsibilities

• Create high-quality external content including press releases and award entries.
• Monitor breaking news and respond to journalists' questions.
• Respond quickly to incidents and travel when required.
• Collaborate across the business to inspire content ideas and ensure consistent messaging.
• Occasionally deputise for the manager.

Skills

Excellent communications

Degree level education

Interpersonal skills

News sense

Social media

Photography & video

MS Word & Excel

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

Job description

82869 - Communications Officer - (Part Time)

This Communications Officer will report to the Media Manager and will work within the Human Resources directorate based in our Ipswich office (with regular travel across the Eastern region plus to our London HQ)

We will employ you as a permanent employee, and we offer this role on a Part Time only basis, with 24 hours of work per week.

You will attract a salary of up to £42,000 (to be pro-rata'd & depending on experience) and a bonus of 7.5%. This role can also offer blended working after probationary period (6 months) - 3 days in the office and 2 remote.

Close Date: 16/11/2026

We also provide the following additional benefits

• Reservist Leave – Additional 18 days full pay and 22 unpaid
• Personal Pension Plan – Personal contribution rates of 4% or 5% (UK Power Networks will make a corresponding contribution of 8% or 10%)
• Tenancy Loan Deposit Scheme, Season Ticket Loan
• Tax efficient benefits: Cycle to Work, Home & Tech, and Green Car Leasing Schemes
• Occupational Health support
• Switched On – scheme providing discount on hundreds of retailers' products
• Discounted gym membership
• Employee Assistance Programme

The role

How do we bring to life what goes on behind the scenes at UK Power Networks to keep the lights on for 8 million homes and businesses across London, the East and South East of England?

Our East Region stretches from North Norfolk across to Aylesbury, and borders north London. As a Communications Officer you'll secure positive media coverage across this region.

Working three days a week, every day is different. You could interview our new intake of apprentices, editing a leaflet to vulnerable customers, or drafting a winning award entry.

You will have delivered compelling publicity campaigns and have a firm grasp of news and the social media landscape. We ask that you know about corporate communications best practice.

You will collaborate with journalists and colleagues across the business. You will excel working to tight deadlines, with the ability to work collaboratively and inspire colleagues across our business to come forward with content ideas.

Your creativity key while having a strong customer service ethic will be a benefit to the team.

You will work three days a week 8am-5pm, totalling 24 hours. We will require your own transport, and we will pay work travel expenses.

Nature and scope:

Reporting to the Media Manager, working in the Press Office team under the HR department.

Principal accountabilities:

• Create high-quality content for external communications including press releases and award entries
• Monitor breaking news and respond effectively to journalists' questions
• Able to respond quickly to storms and other major incidents and prepare on those occasions to travel/work outside normal working hours.
• Collaborate across the business to inspire content ideas and ensure consistent experiences and messaging.
• Deputise for the manager on occasion

Essential skills:

• Excellent written and verbal communications skills
• Educated to degree level or equivalent qualification/experience
• Interpersonal skills and confident networker
• Demonstrable news sense and the ability to identify compelling stories
• Microsoft Word, Excel
• Social media
• Photography and video skills

Health & Safety Responsibilities

Managers and supervisors carry both legal and company responsibilities for ensuring the health and safety of their employees, those under their control and those who might be affected by the work undertaken, i.e. public, visitors and employees of other organisations. This includes briefing individuals working for them and ensuring there is the necessary understanding, competence and application of requirements to work safely and without harming the environment.

Employees will ensure they fully understand the health and safety risks involved in their work activities and their responsibility to apply the controls needed to manage those risks to acceptable levels. Similarly where work activities can have an adverse impact upon the environment, and particularly where there are legal requirements, employees will understand those impacts and the controls they must ensure are applied.

Employees need to be aware that for some craft and operational roles that work at height, or use fall arrest devices, there is an upper weight limit of 116Kg due to maximum safe working load of the safety equipment that is used.

We’re committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels welcome, valued and able to be themselves. We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. If you meet the essential criteria and believe your skills, experience or transferable strengths could make you a great fit for the role, we’d love to hear from you. If you need any adjustments or support during the recruitment process, please let us know and we’ll be happy to help.

We may use AI-enabled tools to support elements of our recruitment process. These tools help us manage applications more efficiently and consistently, but they do not make hiring decisions. All recruitment decisions are made by trained employees using human judgement and oversight. We are committed to using AI responsibly, fairly and transparently, in line with our legal, regulatory and ethical obligations.

Your data will be hosted within a secure environment and will only be used by UK Power Networks for the purpose of which it is intended. The data is used only as an input to provide insights for the screening process and is not retained by the model or by UK Power Networks’ contractor, shared with the contractor’s other customers or with OpenAI, or used to train or improve AI models.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Where applicable, this role is subject to safer recruitment processes and robust pre‑employment checks