Communications Officer

Starting salary: £32,255

Contract type: Fixed term until 07 October 2026

Grade: 3

Location: Longmore House, Salisbury Place, Edinburgh EH9 1SH (with hybrid working)

Working Hours: Monday - Friday, 35 hours per week

Interviews: To be held on Week Commencing 12 January 2026

We are looking for a skilled and enthusiastic communications professional to join our External Communications team. As Communications Officer, you will play a key role in delivering innovative and effective communications projects and activities that support our strategic narrative and engage diverse audiences across Scotland and beyond.

Benefits of joining us at Historic Environment Scotland

• Enrolment onto a Civil Service Pension scheme – 28% employer contribution
• 25 days annual leave, pro-rata (increasing to 30 days after 3 years public holidays
• Reimbursement for relevant professional subscriptions
• Support for further education and personal development
• Study leave for work related courses
• Flexible working hours (where appropriate)
• Free entry to all of our properties (with up to three guests)
• Free entry to English Heritage, Manx and Cadw properties

Key Responsibilities of this role

• Support the implementation and delivery of the Communications Strategy.
• Identify creative solutions to promote the organisation across a diverse audience base.
• Develop and deliver effective and creative communications activities for key projects and campaigns across all channels.
• Identify good news stories and appropriate channels and audiences.
• Respond to media enquiries quickly and positively.
• Research and write press releases, features, and briefing materials.
• Assist in organising press briefings, photo calls and media events.
• Advise on social media content and messaging for key issues.
• Participate in creative campaign planning and cross-directorate coordination.
• Operate as first point of contact for out-of-hours communications support (on-call rota).
• Support Communications Manager and senior colleagues in the delivery of key projects and activities.

Key requirements of the role:

In order for you to be successful in this post, we will be looking for you to submit a cover letter which addresses how you can meet each of the essential and desirable criteria (in up to 1,200 words), using examples of where you have demonstrated these criteria previously. Please ensure that you provide real life examples for each of the criteria to be considered for this post. You can use examples of how you have met this criteria from your work life, home life, education or volunteer experience.

Essential:

• A good knowledge and understanding of the media and news cycle.
• Excellent communication skills – both verbal and written, with great attention to detail.
• Relevant and recent experience of working in a similar communications environment, creating and delivering proactive media campaigns and activities.
• Experience in handling reactive media enquiries within strict deadlines.
• Experience of creating and delivering impactful social media content and understanding how it can be used strategically.
• Ability to manage multiple communications activities simultaneously and work effectively under pressure.

We are dedicated to building a workforce which is reflective of diversity within Scotland. We warmly welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, regardless of age, race, gender or gender identity, religious beliefs, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, or neurodiversity. In support of our Gaelic Language Plan, we welcome applications from Gaelic speakers.

We want every candidate to have the best chance to succeed during the recruitment process. If you require your application in an alternative format, please reach out to us via email at or call our Head Office at and speak to a member of our People Team.

Please note that, at this time, we are unfortunately unable to provide sponsorship as part of the recruitment process, therefore you must have current right to work in the UK to be considered for a post.