Press Officer

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities; Wolverhampton; On-site; GBP 34,000 - 41,000; Full time

Job summary

A government department in the UK is looking for motivated individuals for a media and communications role. You will manage press inquiries, draft press releases, and engage with both traditional and digital media. The ideal candidate is skilled in communication, has strong media handling abilities, and can work under pressure. This position offers a salary of £34,801 along with additional benefits including a generous pension contribution.

Benefits

Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme

Flexible working

Childcare Voucher schemes

Cycle to Work Schemes

Qualifications

• Proven experience in media and press management.
• Ability to draft high-quality written content with minimal supervision.
• Experience in digital communications and social media.

Responsibilities

• Manage breaking stories and draft media lines under tight deadlines.
• Draft proactive press releases and communications plans.
• Monitor news to identify opportunities for government messaging.
• Assist in digital communications through social media networks.
• Participate in a 24/7 out-of-hours media rota.

Skills

Excellent understanding of the news agenda

Political judgement

Exceptional verbal and written communication skills

Proven ability to distil complex information

Strong organisational and planning skills

Strong networking skills

Strong team collaboration skills

Job description

Overview

We are looking for motivated and creative individuals, with a passion for news and current affairs, to join our supportive, ambitious and collaborative team.

Responsibilities

• Reactive Media and Press Management – managing breaking stories, drafting concise media lines to very tight deadlines, and confidently verbally briefing senior journalists.
• Proactive Media Handling – drafting proactive press releases and communications handling plans that tells the government's story in a clear and succinct way. You will work with policy colleagues and political advisers to agree key messages and plans to maximise ministerial time, including on visits.
• News Management – the ability to quickly spot both potential problems but also opportunities to insert a government voice positively.
• Digital Communications – helping government create, shape, share and exchange information through online and social media networks.
• An essential part of the role is participating in the press office out-of-hours rota, providing a 24/7 point of contact for media enquiries and responding to breaking incidents outside of core business hours, for which you will be remunerated in line with the department's overtime policy.

Experience & Application

Experience: Your covering letter should be no more than 1000 words. Please set out how you meet the essential skills and experience required in the role.

Qualifications

• Excellent understanding of the news agenda, including outlets spanning regional, consumer and trade audiences as well as online and social media focused news output.
• Political judgement, strong news judgement and excellent understanding of the news cycle and the social media landscape.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills – producing high quality written content such as press releases, briefings and social media copy for a range of different audiences, with minimal supervision and requiring minimal edits. Confident when briefing senior figures and/or journalists.
• Proven ability to distil large amounts of complex information into clear and concise key messages suitable for specific audiences.
• Strong organisational and planning skills, comfortable managing multiple priorities and working to extremely tight deadlines.
• Strong networking skills with confidence in building and maintaining a network of internal and external contacts, including journalists.
• Strong team collaboration skills, working effectively as part of a team, contributing to shared goals, supporting colleagues and fostering a positive team environment.

Nationalities

• UK nationals
• Nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• Individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter‑terrorist check (opens in a new window). See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks (opens in new window).

Diversity & Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,801, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £10,081 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Childcare Voucher and Cycle to Work Schemes.