About the job

Job summary

Please refer to Job Description

Job description

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Communications Planner

From supporting victims and creating new offences to protect women from violence, keeping drugs out of prisons and cutting crime, to overhauling sentencing laws – the Ministry of Justice is one of only a handful of Government departments that can truly dominate the news agenda.

And our Press Office, bursting with talent, is widely recognised as the gold standard within government for shaping stories and influencing news across print, broadcast, and online. With a diverse remit including, prisons and probation, family justice, victims support and modernising the courts system, no day is ever the same in this busy office. 

We are looking for a creative, hard-working, person to join our team, so if you’re looking for an exciting, challenging job, where you can develop with support from experienced communications professionals, keep reading. 

You will be working as part of our crucial planning and strategy team, liaising with the Prime Minister’s office, coordinating announcements and horizon scanning.

As the IO on the planning and strategy desk, you will lead on the gridding process and play a key role in the media planning function, working closely with colleagues across the department, ministerial private offices and Whitehall.

If these challenges sound exciting, you have experience in media relations, communications or journalism, and you enjoy the buzz from working in a busy environment – apply now to be a Ministry of Justice Communications Planner. You are exactly who we’re looking for.

About the role

We want someone who can do the day-to-day planning of communications activity and see the bigger picture, using horizon scanning and insight to effectively sequence announcements. You will need to spot opportunities and risks and think strategically – ensuring long-term plans align to our comms priorities and wider Government narrative.

You should be able to build effective relationships, use them to influence others and negotiate diplomatically. In addition, you’ll need to demonstrate you have the confidence and aptitude to deal with senior officials, Ministers and Special Advisers and deliver under pressure. 

Key responsibilities:

• The successful candidate will join a small team that plans and coordinates the department’s day-to-day and long-term announcements and will be a key player in developing and maintaining the press office relationship with Number 10 to negotiate the best possible grid slots. This will include representing the Department at weekly No.10 grid meetings and briefing No.10 on upcoming announcements.
• The effective relationship you will develop with the Prime Minister’s Office will ensure that Ministry of Justice announcements are given the prominence they deserve – considering the national news agenda and different communications priorities across government. 
• You will work with the Senior Communications Planner to ensure all the team’s products, including the departmental communications grids, which keep Ministers and colleagues informed of our communications activity, are produced to a high standard. You will lead on keeping the news grids, key documents for No.10 and the department, up to date.
• Developing and maintaining strong working relationships with Ministers, private offices, special advisers, senior officials, stakeholders and other government departments will be crucial.
• You will be part of the wider press office, also working closely with colleagues across the External Communications Directorate that encompasses External Affairs, Campaigns, Internal Communications and Digital.

Skills & Qualifications

Essential Criteria

• You will have a sharp news sense, excellent judgement, and communications skills gained from working in a communications environment.
• The ability to build effective relationships, influence others and negotiate diplomatically, is essential. You should have the confidence and ability to deal with senior officials, Ministers and special advisers and get them on board with our plans, so we can deliver the best comms results for the department.
• You will be organised, able to show attention to detail, manage competing demands and deliver under pressure.
• You will need competency on Microsoft Office programmes as you will be dealing with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint to help deliver key documents.

You would also contribute to the Press Office out-of-hours service, for which overtime is paid.

We are looking for candidates who have work experience in journalism, in-house press offices or PR and communications agencies.

Salary

The salary range for this post is £37,174 - £40,403 plus generous overtime payments for participation in the out-of-hours rota.

Existing civil servants on level transfer will retain their level of pay unless this is lower than the starting salary as per MoJ T&Cs. 

Application process

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide a CV, provide short examples demonstrating the behaviours below in previous roles and give us your assessment of the main media issues facing the Ministry of Justice over the next six months.

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing

Communicate clearly and concisely both orally and in writing; Express ideas clearly and with respect for others; Listen to and value different ideas, views and ways of working; Respond constructively and objectively to comments and questions; Handle challenging conversations with confidence and sensitivity.

• Delivering at pace

Regularly check performance against objectives, making suggestions for improvement where necessary; Identify what is required to ensure success, set clear goals and continually assess workloads considering individual needs; Have a positive and focused attitude to achieving outcomes, despite any setbacks.

• Seeing the Big Picture

Understand the strategic drivers for your area of work. Align activities to contribute to wider organisational priorities. Remain alert to emerging issues and trends which might impact your work area. Seek out and share experiences to develop knowledge of the team’s business area. Understand how the strategies and activities of the team create value and meet the diverse needs of all stakeholders.

More details on these can be found in the Civil Service behaviours (PDF).

Technical skills

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

• Insight

Maintain an awareness of the news agenda and emerging news events. Understand how to reach the biggest and/or most appropriate audience for an announcement using a mix of media channels.

• Ideas

Demonstrate a practical understanding of how print, broadcast, and digital media work. Work up ideas for stories and case studies that support communication and business/policy objectives.

• Implementation

Draft high-quality press releases that maximise media coverage and punchy statements that rebut criticism effectively.

• Impact

Monitor media coverage and evaluate your success in reaching the target audience and delivering key messages.

More details on these can be found in the Government Communication Professional Competency (Technical Skills) Framework.

Flexible working hours 

The Ministry of Justice offers a flexible working hours system. Like most government press offices, we are busy and you may on occasion need to work different hours to usual, but you will not be expected to work overtime regularly and ensuring everyone has a healthy work-life balance is a priority for us. 

Staff are required to work a minimum of two days a week in the office, but we encourage our team to work three days a week to support their development, particularly when it comes to learning from peers and interactions with Ministers and senior officials.

You will take part in the out of hours duty rota, which is rewarded through generous overtime payment, but there is flexibility, particularly for those with parental or caring responsibilities.  

We are a disability confident organisation where staff with a disability or long-term illness can access support or workplace adjustments to help them work and progress to the best of their abilities.

Security clearance and residency 

If you are successful at interview, we will work with you to acquire security clearance. This is a straightforward process for most people but does, generally, require you to have been resident in the UK for at least the last five years.

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £37,174, Ministry of Justice contributes £10,074 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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 security 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.