About the job

Job summary

The Ministry of Defence is seeking a talented and motivated Press Officer to join one of government’s busiest and highest-profile teams. 

From international visits and communicating Britain’s response to the war in Ukraine, to supporting His Majesty’s Coronation in May, the successful candidate will be responsible for managing media coverage and communications relating to defence policy across the UK and around the globe. 

The post holder will be expected to engage with national and international media (print, broadcast and digital), working closely with ministers, military officials, policy teams and No10 Downing Street to deliver proactive and reactive communications. 

The Ministry of Defence is looking for those who enjoy delivering interesting and diverse communications at pace to continue to enhance the reputation of the department, UK Government and Armed Forces; and to support global security and stability.

This post is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

The Ministry of Defence – including the Royal Navy, the British Army, and the Royal Air Force – are subject to intense public, parliamentary and media scrutiny. 

You will be responsible for delivering successful proactive and reactive communications which protect and enhance the reputation of the department and the Armed Forces.

You will:

• Respond to enquiries from national, international, regional, consumer and digital media outlets to enhance and protect the reputation of the department, ministers and senior military officers.
• Draft press releases, statements, and briefings for senior spokespeople, Ministers and military.
• Manage media arrangements at a range of high-profile events.
• Provide professional and comprehensive communications advice to ministers, military officers, senior officials, special advisors, and members of the Directorate of Defence Communications.

 As part of the News team, you will report to a Senior Communications Officer.

 You will be required to take part in the out-of-hours duty rota, dealing with media enquiries across the full breadth of the MOD’s responsibilities. This involves occasional overnight stays in MOD accommodation for which a generous allowance is paid and time of in lieu given.

 In the last year, the team has worked on topics including:

• The military’s response to international crises, such as the conflict in Ukraine.
• The Coronation of His Majesty The King.
• The department’s support to relocate eligible Afghans who supported the UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan.
• International military alliances, including NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force.
• £6 billion worth of ship building contracts in one week. 

There are opportunities for travel in the role, within the UK and abroad. Press Officers have deployed to locations including the US, Singapore and Estonia.

Person specification

Essential criteria include:

• Excellent understanding of the media and social media landscape.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• The discretion to handle classified and sensitive information pertaining to global military operations.
• Confidence and good judgement, as successful candidates will be required to become a trusted adviser to ministers and senior military officers.

Desirable criteria include:

• A proven record of working either in a media/press office environment, or in defence/international affairs.
• Experience of news management in PR or journalism.
• Experience of using social media and evaluating communications.

The successful candidate will take part in the press office out-of-hours duty rota, which will require occasional overnight stays in MOD accommodation.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £35,290, Ministry of Defence contributes £9,528 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, Experience and Technical skills.

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include: job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience.

Candidates will be required to provide a statement of suitability.

At sift, you will be assessed against:

• CV
• Statement of suitability

Candidates successful at sift will be invited for interview.

At interview, you will be assessed against the following Behaviours and Technical Skill:

• Communicating & Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Implementation - GCS Technical Skill

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical.
The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk 

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. 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.