The Department for Work and Pensions is recruiting for two Press Officers to be part of our supportive and high-performing press team. You will be responding to breaking national stories, planning proactive press activity, and briefing ministers and senior officials on a regular basis.
The work of the DWP makes a difference to the lives of millions of people across the country – from delivering cost of living payments to low-income households and supporting people to start or return to work via our national network of Jobcentres, enacting policy to improve the lives of disabled people and ensuring pension savers are protected from unscrupulous scammers.
To succeed in the role, you will have strong news judgement, the ability to be able to think strategically, excellent interpersonal skills, and an aptitude for digesting complex information and explaining it in plain English.
We are a close-knit team that collaborates closely with the digital, external affairs and campaigns teams, as well as private offices, policy and frontline colleagues.
This post will be based at Caxton House, London.
If this sounds like the right fit for you, we would love to hear from you!
As a Press Officer you will :
* Develop expertise in DWP policy areas and build strong relationships with officials in these areas, as well as relevant journalists.
* Manage breaking stories on behalf of the department and ministers, providing a timely, accurate and professional service to journalists.
* Know how to use a range of media channels to reach audiences, working with campaigns colleagues and incorporating digital media into all communications plans.
* Produce high quality written work including proactive press releases and op-eds.
* Provide media handling advice to Ministers and Special Advisers on a range of reactive and proactive activity.
* Contribute creative ideas to communicate and promote the department’s policies.
Please Note:
Due to the nature of the role, candidates will be required to work full time hours.
Out of hours working is a key feature of this role and you will be included on a duty rota for weekday evenings and weekend service. There is an additional allowance paid for this .
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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 .