Press Secretary to the Secretary of State
| Posting date: | 10 January 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £59,900 to £67,090 per year |
| Additional salary information: | For details of our pay on appointment policy, please see below under the heading ‘Salary’. |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 23 January 2025 |
| Location: | London |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 385362/1 |
Summary
Whether it's actions to enhance and improve the environment and tackle climate change, protecting the nation from flooding and animal disease outbreaks, or working on new approaches to farming and fishing outside the EU, the work of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and its Arm's-Length Bodies is of huge public interest.
You will be a highly experienced press officer with excellent knowledge of communications handling, combined with strong news judgement, political awareness and the ability to confidently present your work.
This is a brand new press office role working at the top of the news agenda on high-profile issues, directly supporting the Secretary of State to communicate the important work of Defra and its Arm's Length Bodies (ALBs) to the media and the public. The objective is simple – to deliver clear and creative communications to reach our audiences with original content.
As part of a high-performing press office, you will combine first-class communications skills and exceptional news judgement to deliver creative media plans, and demonstrate resilience working under pressure to short deadlines.
You will work closely with the Secretary of State and his political team, also spending time in the private office. Working with the speechwriter and the senior press team you will help shape the Secretary of State’s communications to match his voice.
You will work across a range of Defra portfolios on strategies to communicate our work, including promoting food and farming, tackling waste, protecting the country from floods and animal and plant disease, improving nature and the environment, championing the countryside and ensuring we have clean and plentiful water for generations to come.
This is a high-profile role and you will need to develop influential and trusted relationships with a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders, including ministers and special advisers and of course the Secretary of State, with evidence of dealing with high-profile sensitive issues, professionalism and the ability to command confidence. As a senior member of the press office team, you will be required to work collaboratively with other communications disciplines, Defra’s ALBs, across government departments and with No10.
As part of the Press Office senior management team you will support the Head of News and Deputy Heads of News.
Roles and responsibilities:
- Provide communications and media advice to the Secretary of State
- Help shape Secretary of State communications content to ensure it matches his voice
- Brief the Secretary of State ahead of media engagements
- Work with the high-performing media team to develop proactive media plans that set the news agenda across the full range of channels
- As part of an out of hours duty rota, provide media advice to the Secretary of State, ministers, department and wider Defra Group
- Have personal impact in the full range of media work from briefing journalists to advising ministers face-to-face. Advise ministers, special advisers and senior policy colleagues on sensitive, complex or high-profile issues
- Build a strong network of relationships with key media across the brief
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