Senior Communications Officer

Gloucestershire County/Gloucester City Councils; Gloucester; Hybrid; GBP 37,000 - 40,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Annual leave 30 days (pro-rata)

LGPS & Life Cover

Training & development

Employee assistance programme

Job summary

Gloucester City Council is seeking a Senior Communications Officer to lead internal and external communications strategies across digital platforms and media relations. You will ensure messages reach the right audiences at the right time, supporting council projects and services.

The role requires strong writing, digital content skills and the ability to advise senior leaders. Flexible/hybrid working is available with a pro rata salary of £37,280–£39,862 per annum.

Qualifications

• Experience delivering strategic communications in a high-profile environment as part of a team.
• Strong digital, social media and content-creation skills.
• Excellent judgement under pressure and the confidence to advise senior leaders.
• Collaborative mindset and the ability to engage with a broad range of internal and external audiences.
• A passion for public service and helping Gloucester's communities stay informed.

Responsibilities

• Digital communications: planning and delivering engaging content across social media and websites.
• Media relations: handling enquiries and building relationships with local, regional and national media.
• Internal communications: keeping colleagues well informed with clear, consistent messaging.
• Stakeholder engagement: working with partners, community groups, businesses, and residents to shape two-way communications.

Skills

Strategic communications

Digital & social media

Content creation

Writing & proofreading

Stakeholder engagement

Tools

Social media tools

Video editing

Job description

• Job Title: Senior Communications Officer
• Job Location: Gloucester City Council
• Salary: £37,280- £39,862 per annum pro rata
• Hours per Week: 22 hours
• Contract Type: Fixed Term
• Duration: 31st March 2028
• Closing Date: 31/08/2026
• Job Requisition Number: 14750
• This post is open to job share

We are a dynamic local authority providing essential services to the people of Gloucester.

Our main office, based in the Eastgate Centre on Eastgate Street in the heart of the city, is an accessible, modern and light space designed for collaborative working and finding new ways to work. It's all open plan, with a living green wall and other plants without set desks, so you can sit next to someone new every day. We're always looking to improve how we work and we offer flexible and agile working to give our people a great work life balance.

About the role

As a Senior Communications Officer, you'll play a leading role in delivering the Council's internal and external communications strategy. You'll ensure our messages reach the right people, at the right time and in the right way - supporting our key projects, services and organisational goals.

You will work flexibly across a wide range of communications disciplines, including:

• Digital communications - Planning and delivering engaging content across social media platforms and the internet that resonates with all our communities.
• Media relations - managing and responding to enquiries, and building strong relationships with local, regional and national news providers.
• Internal communications - ensuring colleagues are consistently well informed, engaged and supported through clear and consistent messaging.
• Stakeholder engagement - collaborating with partners, community groups, businesses and residents to shape two-way communications and build trust.

About you

You’ll be a proactive and multi-skilled communications professional with:

• Experience delivering strategic communications in a high-profile environment as part of a team.
• Strong digital, social media and content-creation skills.
• Excellent judgement under pressure and the confidence to advise senior leaders.
• A collaborative mindset and the ability to engage with a broad range of internal and external audiences.
• A passion for public service and a drive to help Gloucester's communities stay informed, involved and supported.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Experience in a communications, PR or digital media role.
• Strong understanding of social media strategy and content creation.
• Video and editing experience.
• Familiarity with social media content management tools.
• High level interpersonal skills.
• Excellent writing and proofreading skills.
• Experience of converting complex documents and material into engaging content.
• Ability to analyse performance data and report on communications impact.
• Willingness to work flexibly when necessary - with occasional evening and weekend work, as required, to cover relevant stories, council meetings and events.

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Communications and Engagement Manager, Jason Dean - [e-mail]

What we can do for you

• Flexible, hybrid, agile working opportunities
• Generous Annual Leave entitlement 30 days (Pro-rata)
• An option to purchase up to 10 days of additional leave per year
• 2 days paid leave every year to participate in local volunteering activities
• Excellent Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) & Life Cover of 3 times your salary
• Regular training, career development and qualification opportunities
• Supportive and positive working environment with regular, robust supervision
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that provides free, confidential counselling and advice for employees, available 24 hours a day, online and by telephone, and in an in-house Occupational Health service
• Enhanced family friendly leave and pay
• Car salary sacrifice scheme (T&C apply)
• Cycle to Work scheme (Salary Sacrifice - T & C apply)
• Employee discount scheme
• Discounted tickets for local events, and reduced rate use of GL1 facilities
• Free Flu-jabs
• Access to employee led networks such as Black Worker's, Prism (LGBT+), Carers, Disability and the Young Employees Network, and opportunities to participate in our Equalities Working Group

Additional Information

The council is not currently able to offer sponsorship in this role. Candidates will need to have right to work that enables them to commit to at least 6 months employment. Right to work is not transferable from a sponsored role held with another employer.

Applications from any Gloucestershire County Council's employees who are currently on the redeployment register or at risk of redundancy will be considered first at shortlisting stage.

Gloucester City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people or vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Equality and Diversity

We recognise the positive value of equality and diversity and pride ourselves on growing a high-performing workforce that is diverse, skilled and talented; that represents the community it serves.

We aim to recruit a diverse pool of talent and will recruit the person who is most suited to the job without regard to their race, colour, religion or belief, age, nationality, ethnicity, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, caring responsibilities or disability.

We are a disability confident employer committed to removing barriers to employment to those with disabilities or long-term health conditions. Reasonable adjustments will be made to the recruitment procedure to ensure that no-one is disadvantages because of their disability. Please contact the recruitment team if you require support or reasonable adjustments during the application or recruitment process [e-mail]

Further information on our commitment to Equality and Diversity can be found Here

If you wish to apply for this position on a secondment basis, please obtain approval from your current line manager that you may be released on a secondment before submitting an application form.

It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a 'customer facing role' must be able to demonstrate an ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English.