Chief Media Officer - EU and Constitutional Affairs -GCS Press Office

The Cabinet Office is seeking an outstanding Chief Media Officer within its busy Press Office, to support the Ministers and develop proactive communications across a range of high-profile policy areas. This will include the UKs ongoing reset of relations with the European Union, reforming our constitution and improving propriety standards.

You must be an exceptionally talented communications professional with skills in dealing with traditional and new media and a strong political awareness.

This is a unique position which provides exposure to a range of high-profile and sensitive issues and serves, including senior Cabinet Office Ministers and officials.

You will occupy a pivotal leadership role on the Press Offices Senior Management Team, supporting Press Officers and Senior Press Officers and reporting directly to the Deputy Head of News and Head of News.

You will be responsible for seeking out positive news stories, including how new UK-EU deals are supporting businesses and consumers, building close relationships with senior officials and Ministerial private offices.

You will also provide robust media handling advice on extremely sensitive areas, including proprietary issues in government and supporting the Royal Household on constitutional affairs.

The Press Office explains and promotes the work of the Cabinet Office by turning the departments activity into compelling stories which engage our target audiences and illustrate our purpose in digital, new and traditional media.

The Office works closely with the departments external affairs and internal communications teams to provide an integrated communications capability for our Ministers and senior officials. And being part of the centre, we also work flexibly to support the Prime Ministers communications priorities when needed.

The Cabinet Office has a vital role at the heart of the UKs government; responsible for the effective running of government, national security and crisis management and critical policies like digital ID and UK-EU relations.

Audience-focused and insight-driven, you will bring storytelling expertise to public service communication. You will have extensive experience of working with traditional and national media and at the same time will boldly champion modern communications - leading the wider cultural shift from reactive, press-first communications to integrated always-on comms, embracing digital innovation, leveraging responsible AI by putting citizens at the heart of our planning and delivery.

Key Responsibilities

Working with the Deputy Head of News and Head of News you will:

• Understand Departmental and Ministerial priorities and communicate their key messages clearly, accurately and creatively across a range of media.
• Develop proactive longer-term handling strategies that deliver high quality outputs across traditional and new media for Ministers, aligning to the Governments objectives including economic growth and national stability.
• Anticipate and track breaking news stories in order to issue swift, robust and appropriate responses at short notice and under pressure.
• Work effectively with communications colleagues in No.10 and across Whitehall, so that media handling plans are integrated with wider communications strategies.
• Forge strong working relationships with key journalists and build good relations with communicators in key stakeholder organisations to support collaborative working.
• Play a full part in the Media Team senior management team (SMT) to set the direction and contribute to the smooth operation of the whole Office.
• Manage social media output for owned and earned channels - identifying opportunities to visually tell compelling stories about how government policies such as new UK-EU deals are benefiting businesses and consumers.
• Sensitively handle extremely high profile reactive media issues, such as proprietary investigations or constitutional discussions. Represent the Cabinet Office and its communications recommendations to external partners including the Royal Household.
• Play a part in an out-of-hours back-up rota to provide oversight of media handling from duty media officers (an additional duty allowance is provided).

In the selection process applicants will need to be able to show that they have the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post.

You must have the following essential skills and experience:

• Demonstrable success as a first-rate media relations operator, with excellent news sense, spot-on judgement, acute political awareness and first rate writing skills;
• Experience of creating joined-up media strategies and plans that contribute to the delivery of complex organisational objectives;
• A proven track record of working in an environment that is subject to intense media attention and public scrutiny and of providing clear, balanced advice and professional leadership at senior management level;
• Experience of leading and developing colleagues to deliver effective proactive and reactive media relations, including crisis management;
• Evidence of strong interpersonal and influencing skills with a demonstrable ability to achieve personal impact in your working relationships, ideally with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, including journalists, senior leaders, and ministers; and
• A strategic thinker, you will have the ability to plan and evaluate in the short, medium and long term, alongside the day-to-day demands of a fast-paced news agenda.

Additional information:

Cabinet Office policy is that a minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. For some roles, due to their nature and the business need, this may be up to 100%. Requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.