Contents Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information Location Wales About the job Job summary Welsh Government press office is a key part of the Welsh Government Communications Service, delivering a 24/7 news service. The press office is a busy and interesting place to work, which handles lots of media enquiries, while also developing proactive, creative opportunities to promote the Governments agenda. As assistant press officer, you will work with your team to communicate important and high-profile issues facing Wales today. You will also work alongside our digital media colleagues to develop creative and effective digital content on behalf of the Welsh Government and its Ministers. Working with policy, marketing and digital colleagues, youll communicate Government messages through the media, engaging with different audiences and developing exciting press plans. Working with your Senior Press Officer/Press Officer, you will play a supporting role in providing media advice and support to Ministers and senior officials. You will contribute to monitoring and evaluation of media work. Delivering positive coverage in the media is a central part of the job, so a good news sense, creativity and enthusiasm is essential. A big part of this is successfully selling-in stories to news editors and journalists so, were looking for someone with a positive, resilient, can-do attitude. Working as part of a team, you will be required to respond swiftly and accurately to breaking news by drafting concise, accurate responses. After being part of the press office for six 12 months, you will be expected to take part on the out-of-hours duty rota, for which overtime is paid. Job description Work as part of a team to provide Minister with press and media relations advice and support. Draft press releases, reactive statements and digital content to communicate Government policies. Alongside your press office team, meet with Ministers, Special Advisers, and senior officials to plan media activity and handling. Contribute to the development of communications plans to support key announcement or issues. Provide regular evaluation of media activity for Ministers and officials. Accompany Ministers on engagements, advising on media arrangements, organising and managing interviews, and capturing social media content. Maintain strong links with UK, Welsh, regional and specialist media. Establish and maintain good working relations with a range of individuals and organisations including Ministers, special advisers, policy colleagues, external agencies, stakeholders and contractors. Adhere to high professional standards, including good writing skills. Keep abreast of developments in the communications landscape. Provide general administrative support to your wider press team, including co-ordinating requests for translations. Take part in the evening and weekend press office duty rota as required. Person specification A written exercise on Experience Criteria One will be required at interview stage. More information will be provided in the invitations to that stage. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Working Together Communicating and Influencing Delivering at Pace Making Effective Decisions Seeing the Big Picture Benefits All Welsh Government staff are members of the Civil Service, and as a result are eligible for: Civil Service Pension Scheme 31 days annual leave (pro-rated for part time) training and development opportunities Cycle2Work Scheme Smart Working flexible working arrangement Green Car Scheme (subject to availability) If you are an active Civil Service Pension member you can continue your membership throughout your employment with us. Things you need to know Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours. Welsh Government, like all other Government Departments use Success Profiles when we recruit. For each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job. It raises performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. The selection process and stages are: Number of Stages: 2 stage process Stage 1 Application Form Stage 2 Interview Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window). See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Nationality requirements This job is broadly open to the following groups: UK nationals nationals of the Republic of Ireland nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020 Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). Apply and further information This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative. Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Contact point for applicants Job contact : Name : Welsh Government Newsdesk Email : WelshGovernmentNewsgov.wales Recruitment team Email : sharedservicehelpdeskgov.wales Apply at advertiser's site Share this page Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn GMail