Communications Officers

Department of Health & Social Care, City of Westminster

Communications Officers

Salary not available. View on company website.

Department of Health & Social Care, City of Westminster

  • Full time
  • Permanent
  • Onsite working

, 15 Dec | Get your application in now before you're too late!

Closing date: Closing date not specified

job Ref: bfe0f0b826ac45fd89e7d745b915cda0

Full Job Description

We are looking for a media relations officer who is as comfortable briefing journalists on queries and writing press releases as they are planning and delivering high-profile campaigns and producing campaign content. You'll be someone who can hit the ground running as part of a high-performing team, in an exciting, fast paced communications environment. Each day will bring new challenges and varied opportunities to develop your skills and a career at the heart of government. You will need an excellent news sense to respond to breaking news stories and challenge misreporting, as well as creativity to generate proactive media announcements, support campaigns and create engaging social media content. We are also looking for a campaigns officer who will play an integral role in our multi-discipline comms teams, working with media and other campaign experts, focusing on planning, designing and delivering communications activity to support the health issues that matter to people. Your role will include generating proactive communications announcements, helping to create innovative campaigns to land our messaging with key audiences and will have the opportunity to work with ministers, major stakeholders and influencers. Applicants are required to have substantial, demonstrative experience working in either media, public relations, or other communications roles. You will be supported to develop your career as part of a friendly, welcoming team where learning and development and wellbeing are integral parts of the offer. Once you become a member of our team, we are not only interested in what you can bring to communications, but also our culture and values, including commitments to staff health and wellbeing, and our Diversity & Inclusion working group. We actively welcome applications from anyone who shares the communications directorate's and wider department's commitment to diversity and inclusion, while ensuring candidates who apply through the Disability Confident Scheme requiring adjustments are supported during our recruitment process. Those working on our news desk will shape the news as it develops, responding directly to journalists, and monitoring media and social. You'll ensure DHSC's position is reflected in coverage, rebut inaccuracies, and update ministers and advisors with news as it breaks. Campaigns and proactive media teams will focus on planning, designing, and delivering communications' campaigns to support departmental priorities. You'll be devising innovative audience-focused communications plans maximising all the channels at your disposal, including media, social, paid for and low cost no cost marketing. You will also be required to:

  • advise senior officials and ministers on a range of communications issues on behalf of the department, including identifying potential reputational risks and proactive opportunities.
  • support ministers on communications on their policy brief, providing clear briefing on live media issues and accompanying them on interviews, visits, and events.
  • supporting the planning, designing and delivery of communications activity to support departmental priorities, across a range of channels and platforms, to key audiences.
  • provide a professional, responsive around the clock media service through participation in the out-of-hours and shift rotas, and working with our rebuttal team. Media relations officers will be expected to join the out-of-hours and shift rotas, for which an annual allowance of £5,000 per annum is available.
  • build close working relationships with counterparts in arms-length bodies and partner organisations, ensuring communications activity and messaging is coordinated and supports shared objectives.
  • work as part of a team to ensure all activity is planned and evaluated in line with Government Communications Service (GCS) standards, including the use of audience insight be given the chance to learn and enhance basic social media skills, including video content and photography, to support ministerial activity.

    Disability Confident
  • About Disability Confident A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.

    In the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) , we are proud of our purpose - to enable everyone to live more independent, healthier lives for longer. To achieve this, and create a great place to work, we have four values: we are inclusive, we constantly improve, we challenge, and we are agile. If this sounds like an environment you would like to work in, we would love to hear from you. The DHSC team is an award-winning operation, recognised for its work on crisis communications, evaluation, insight, and partnership working.