Senior Press Officer – Regional

Darlington, County Durham
HM TREASURY-1

Are you looking for an exciting new opportunity to work collaboratively across the different aspects of communications, in a high-profile role, taking a large degree of ownership, devising proactive communication plans that complement government announcements and key Chancellor priorities? If so, we’d love to hear from you!

About the Team

We are looking to recruit a Senior Press Officer which sits within the Ministerial and Communications Group of the Communications Team.

The Ministerial and Communications Group sits at the heart of the Treasury. If you are interested in the inner workings of the Government, meeting Ministers, Senior Officials and liaising with the Press then this could be the place for you!

We are a friendly and inclusive Group working on some of the most exciting issues of the day, bringing together work from across the rest of the department and engaging closely with partners across Whitehall and beyond.

We provide support to Ministers, through Ministerial offices. We act as Treasury’s external face, through the Press Office and Communications team. We are responsible for managing the department, through our support for the Permanent Secretary, the Second Permanent Secretaries, the Treasury Board, and the Executive Management Board (EMB), and our ownership of Treasury governance structures. The Group is led by the Permanent Secretary.

The Communications Team is responsible for all communications conducted by HM Treasury and its Ministers. It works closely with Ministers, special advisors and policy teams to communicate the full range of the Treasury’s work, through traditional and new media channels.

About the Job

In this role, you will:

1. Develop and deliver a new HM Treasury regional communications strategy, serving as a consultant within the team for embedding regional media activity into announcement and visit plans.
2. Build and maintain constructive working relationships with key contacts at regional print, broadcast, and other media.
3. Set up interviews and filming opportunities for the Chancellor and other Ministers with regional and local media, and drafting communications tailored to such media.
4. Write briefings for and staff the Chancellor’s regional and local media engagements
5. Using a suite of tools to monitor traditional and social media output from regional publications, ensure that the right people in the Treasury have sight of emerging stories
6. Play a full role in the proactive delivery of high-profile fiscal events such as the Budget and spending reviews, with particular responsibility for ensuring policies are communicated through regional media channels.
7. Contribute to corporate workstreams on important issues. Examples of ongoing work includes wellbeing and diversity and inclusion.
8. Participate in the Newsdesk’s reactive call handling function, and deputising for the Head of Newsdesk, International and Union Communications when required.

You will be part of our Newsdesk and will need excellent news judgement, the ability to spot and respond to emerging issues, and the confidence to build and maintain relationships with journalists – particularly those working for regional and local media outlets.

About You

The successful candidate will have a successful track record in communications and or media experience. You will have excellent news judgement and awareness of the broader context. You’ll have the ability to proactively build and maintain relationships and communicate with different audiences to promote organisational objectives. Lastly you will thrive working independently in a high-paced environment.

Some of the Benefits our people love!

• 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus 8 public holidays and the King’s birthday (unless you have a legacy arrangement as an existing Civil Servant). Additionally, we operate flexitime systems, allowing employees to take up to an additional 2 days off each month
• Flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours)
• Generous parental and adoption leave packages
• Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions of 28%
• Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme and season ticket advances
• A range of active staff networks, based around interests (e.g. analysts, music society, sports and social club) and diversity (e.g. women in the Treasury, ethnic minority network, LGBT network, faith and belief network)

For more information about the role and how to apply, please follow the apply link.

If you need any reasonable adjustments to take part in the selection process, please tell us about this in your online application form, or speak to the recruitment team at