Press Officer

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 302538**Salary**:

- £31,641 - £35,719**Job grade**:

- Higher Executive Officer- Band 3**Contract type**:

- Fixed Term**Length of employment**:

- Until 29/03/24**Type of role**:

- Communications / Marketing**Working pattern**:

- Full-time**Number of jobs available**:

- 1Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- Birmingham, Liverpool, Newport (Gwent), NorwichAbout the job

**Job summary**:
**_ W_**_ould you like to help raise the profile of the UK’s largest public procurement organisation, and help achieve better value for taxpayers? Join a team that makes a real difference to the public sector and our staff. _**

Can you demonstrate a track-record of delivering engaging, clear, and relevant communications activity across a range of channels? If so, this role could be for you.

As Communications Officer, you will use your experience of communications techniques to extend our coverage, and tell the story of CCS’s work.

**Directorate Overview**

The Customer Experience Directorate (CXD) is responsible for ensuring that the voice of our customers is heard across Crown Commercial Service (CCS), thereby increasing spend through our agreements, and building and maintaining the reputation of the organisation. We help CCS customers find the right commercial solutions for their needs.

CXD is a customer-focused team that uses its unique perspective - uniting CCS with its customer organisations - to deliver value to both through four key capabilities:

- Source of detailed knowledge about customers and their commercial needs (that can be justified and validated - using this to shape and manage CCS strategy, solutions and services)
- Strong and established personal relationships (to support customers in efficient and effective engagement with CCS and represent their needs internally within CCS)
- Drive growth (convert leads and opportunities with key customers into increased take up of CCS solutions, and take a customer-led perspective on retention. Spearhead adoption of CCS solutions into new customers and markets)
- Broad commercial perspective (staff who can work cross category and a CXD function that has a unique view across CCS, and across a complex regional and sectoral matrix within the public sector procurement landscape)

An example of the breadth of scope for CXD was her late Majesty’s death where we managed both the external news and internal communications, as well as working directly with customers such as DCMS to enable them to provide blankets and sign language support to the queues of people paying their respects to Queen Elizabeth.

**Team Summary**

This fantastic opportunity sits in the external communications team. We use our experience of communications techniques to create engaging content, disseminating it across a range of channels, building engagement, and telling the story of CCS’s work.

**Job description**:
**Key Accountabilities**:

- Support the forward planning and delivery of CCS’s external communications activities, working within and drawing inspiration from the Government Communication Service modern operating model
- Handle media enquiries and manage CCS’s reputation
- Develop productive working relationships with colleagues and external partners to help create and implement communications plans
- Generate and deliver content ideas for news items, editorial, social media and other channels including video and audio, ensuring the most appropriate and cost-effective channel mix is used
- Optimise copy and content according to audience insight to maximise impact
- Support the development of communication plans considering resources and budgets.
- Identify risks and plan mitigating actions
- Participate in the press office out-of-hours duty rota

**Person specification**:

- Have an inquisitive mindset and be comfortable in using data to tell a story and make recommendations
- Excellent communication planning skills and attention to detail
- Experience in an external communications and/or press office function with a track record of collaboration
- Be an influential and skilled at communicating with senior stakeholders verbally and in writing, providing expert advice and challenge
- Significant experience using IT systems such as Google Docs, PowerPoint, Word, Excel and GMail
- Experience in a similar role

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

- Seeing the Big Picture
- Communicating and Influencing
- Working Together

**Technical skills**:
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

- Writing Test

**Benefits**:
**What we will offer you, here are some of the benefits you can expect**:

- Competitive salary
- Generous pension scheme
- A discretionary non-contractual performance related bonus
- Working remotely in addition to working in advertised office location
- Flexi time scheme (available for B1-B6