Assistant Press Officer

Job summary

The Welsh Government Communications Service supports Ministers in delivering effective public sector communications.

The service supports the Government by informing people of legislation and polices that affect them, and delivering responsive and informative communications 24 hours a day, 365 days a year

The press office is a busy and interesting place to work, which handles lots of media enquiries, while also developing proactive, creative opportunities to promote the Government’s agenda.

Job description

The Welsh Government Communications Service supports Ministers in delivering effective public sector communications.

The service supports the Government by informing people of legislation and polices that affect them, and delivering responsive and informative communications 24 hours a day, 365 days a year

The press office is a busy and interesting place to work, which handles lots of media enquiries, while also developing proactive, creative opportunities to promote the Government’s agenda.

As assistant press officer, you will work with your team to communicate important and high-profile issues facing Wales today.

You will also work alongside our digital media colleagues to develop creative and effective digital content on behalf of the Welsh Government and its Ministers.

Working with policy, marketing and digital colleagues, you’ll communicate Government messages through the media, engaging with different audiences and developing exciting press plans.

Working with your Senior Press Officer/Press Officer, you will play a supporting role in providing media advice and support to Ministers and senior officials.

You will contribute to monitoring and evaluation of media work.

Delivering positive coverage in the media is a central part of the job, so a good news sense, creativity and enthusiasm is essential. A big part of this is successfully selling-in stories to news editors and journalists – so, we’re looking for someone with a positive, resilient, can-do attitude.

Working as part of a team, you will be required to respond swiftly and accurately to breaking news by drafting concise, accurate responses.

After being part of the press office for six – 12 months, you will be expected to take part on the out-of-hours duty rota, for which overtime is paid.

Person specification

• Work as part of a team to provide Minister with press and media relations advice and support.
• Draft press releases, reactive statements and digital content to communicate Government policies.
• Alongside your press office team, meet with Ministers, Special Advisers, and senior officials to plan media activity and handling.
• Contribute to the development of communications plans to support key announcement or issues.
• Provide regular evaluation of media activity for Ministers and officials.
• Accompany Ministers on engagements, advising on media arrangements, organising and managing interviews, and capturing social media content.
• Maintain strong links with UK, Welsh, regional and specialist media.
• Establish and maintain good working relations with a range of individuals and organisations including Ministers, special advisers, policy colleagues, external agencies, stakeholders and contractors.
• Adhere to high professional standards, including good writing skills.
• Keep abreast of developments in the communications landscape.
• Provide general administrative support to your wider press team, including co-ordinating requests for translations.
• Take part in the evening and weekend press office duty rota as required.

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the Big Picture

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,754, Welsh Government contributes £8,909 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%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
Number of Stages:2 stage processStage 1Application FormStage 2Interview

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

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist 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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.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 : Chris Seal
• Email : chris.seal@gov.wales

Recruitment team

• Email : SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales