Press Officer

Bristol, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, York

Job Summary
We are looking for ambitious, talented and motivated press officers.

Whether it's actions to enhance and improve the environment, protecting the nation from flooding and animal disease outbreaks, or preparing new approaches to farming and fishing, the work of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is of huge public interest.

You will have an excellent knowledge of the news agenda, combined with strong news judgement, political awareness and the ability to confidently present your work.

Job Description
Successful candidates will join a Press Office team working on some of the highest-profile issues in Government. Your role will include:

• Providing timely proactive and reactive media handling advice to ministers, senior officials and leaders from across the Defra group.
• Producing external communications products in the forms of press releases, reactive media lines and social media content.
• Helping organise ministerial or senior leader interviews, visits, announcements and publicity around speeches and events.
• Effectively briefing journalists accurately and with authority.
• Provide a monitoring service across online, print, broadcast and social media.
• Work with colleagues across the communications team to develop strategies to communicate our work.
• Developing an understanding of issues across the Defra group, enabling you to play an effective part in the wider communications team.
• You will also be expected to participate in the out of hours duty rota for which there is additional pay.

Role
Successful candidates will join a Press Office team working on some of the highest-profile issues in Government. Your role will include:

• Providing timely proactive and reactive media handling advice to ministers, senior officials and leaders from across the Defra group.
• Producing external communications products in the forms of press releases, reactive media lines and social media content.
• Helping organise ministerial or senior leader interviews, visits, announcements and publicity around speeches and events.
• Effectively briefing journalists accurately and with authority.
• Provide a monitoring service across online, print, broadcast and social media.
• Work with colleagues across the communications team to develop strategies to communicate our work.
• Developing an understanding of issues across the Defra group, enabling you to play an effective part in the wider communications team.
• You will also be expected to participate in the out of hours duty rota for which there is additional pay.

Person specification

• Experience of working in a fast-paced communications role with the ability to prioritise and manage competing demands.
• Strong knowledge of the national news agenda and media landscape including new and multi-media; strong news judgment and political awareness.
• Excellent written and oral communications skills.
• Strong influencing skills, the ability to build rapport with a range of stakeholders.
• Track record of working collaboratively with colleagues in a team.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Working Together

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Alongside your salary of £34,765, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £10,071 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Application Process
As part of the application process you will be asked to submit a CV, a personal statement (no more than 500 words), and Civil Service Behaviour statements.

Your personal statement should provide detailed evidence of how you meet the essential criteria as noted in the person specification section of the job advert.

Sift
Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the personal statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Interview
If Successful At Application Stage, You Will Be Invited To Interview Where You Will Be Assessed On The Following Civil Service Behaviours

• Communicating and influencing
• Delivering at pace
• Working together
• Seeing the big picture

A presentation/additional exercise may also be assessed.

Interviews will take place online via Microsoft Teams.

Artificial intelligence
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application. However, all examples and statements must be truthful, factually accurate, and based on your own experience. Plagiarism—including presenting others' ideas or AI-generated content as your own—may result in withdrawal of applications or disciplinary action for internal candidates. Please refer to our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Location
As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).

Where the location is 'National' the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra's location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

Successful applicants currently employed by the hiring Defra organisation for this post may choose to remain in their current contractual location or may choose to change contractual location to one of those listed above. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.

Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.

The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.

Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.

Salary
New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

Reserve List
A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Childcare Vouchers
Any move to DEFRA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

Reasonable Adjustment
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the 'Assistance required' section in the 'Additional requirements' page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Accessibility
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Visa Sponsorship Statement
Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.

Merit Lists
Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be appointed in merit order for each location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.

Criminal Record Check
If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre- stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Higher Security Clearance
All of these posts require the successful candidate to hold basic security clearance. Candidates posted to London may be subject to a higher level of clearance because of the security requirements for that location. Job offers to these posts are made on the basis of merit. Security vetting will only take place after the receipt of a job offer.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter

Internal Fraud Database Check
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

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.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

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.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

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).

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

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 : Sophie Mowbray
• Email :

Recruitment team

• Email :

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email:

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: here