Chief Press Officer

Job summary

We are MHCLG

This is a demanding senior position within our communications team, offering the opportunity to shape communications across a diverse portfolio of issues that really matter – from changes to and our flagship Pride in Place programme to improve communities, to making buildings safer and reforming the rental and leasehold sectors.
As Chief Press Officer, you will lead a team handling complex policy and operational delivery through all media channels. You will be a candidate with the creativity, ambition, and strong organisational skills to consistently secure coverage in a highly competitive news environment.
Your focus will be on identifying innovative platforms and outlets to target specific audiences – content creators, podcasts, new online platforms – while continuing to serve traditional media channels. Your experience in crafting compelling stories will help ensure our announcements land; candidates with a track record of building and maintaining excellent relationships with journalists and new media contacts is essential.
As a trusted adviser to Ministers, Special Advisers, the Secretary of State, and senior officials, you will provide expert media guidance across complex policy areas, leading the handling of major announcements and crisis communications situations. The role requires robust internal leadership to support this, working alongside senior figures across the department and collaborating with communications colleagues throughout government and ALBs.
You will play a key role during fast-moving incidents, providing expert advice and leadership to respond proactively and robustly to breaking news and incidents. You will work across teams to ensure the department’s actions are communicated clearly and effectively across all relevant media, working to very tight deadlines. Additionally, you will participate in the press office out-of-hours service, providing senior cover for special advisers and ministers while supporting the duty press officer.
The role demands drive, enthusiasm, resilience, and expertise in both management and media handling in order to lead your team to deliver at the highest standards, with an emphasis on propriety, resource prioritisation, and performance management. In this role you will be supported by a senior leadership team which invests in professional development, with a track record for internal progression within the Communications team and beyond.

Job description

• Leading and mentoring a team of Press Officers, taking overall responsibility for their performance and development, maintaining exemplary standards across the team, and playing a pivotal role in the Press Office Senior Management Team.
• Providing comprehensive media handling advice to Ministers, senior officials, and Special Advisers on major departmental announcements, complex journalist queries, and emerging issues.
• Shaping and implementing long-term media plans that target a range of channels, delivering high-profile announcements with maximum impact alongside targeted drumbeat activity.
• Overseeing the planning and delivery of high-profile media events, including ministerial interviews, visits and major announcements, ensuring strategic objectives are met and media coverage is maximised.
• Directing crisis communications responses together with the department’s operational teams, overseeing the management of breaking news stories and helping to coordinate multi-departmental responses to critical incidents.
• Approving and guiding the drafting of high-quality communication materials, including briefings and press releases, ensuring very high standards are consistently met by your team to ensure minimal edits are required by spads, ministers and No10.
• Participating in the out-of-hours 24/7 duty rota, ensuring robust senior media coverage and leadership for urgent matters, and supporting the department’s ability to respond rapidly to emerging issues

Person specification

Essential person criteria

• The ability to absorb complex policy – both MHCLG policies and issues across government – very rapidly and advise Ministers, senior internal figures and journalists with authority and credibility.
• The personal resilience to work under sustained pressure and scrutiny, with demonstrable experience of leading teams effectively through ambiguity while managing multiple priorities to very tight deadlines, preferably with experience of navigating operational incidents or reputational crises.
• You must have excellent relationships with journalists across lobby, broadcast and the regions, with extensive knowledge of emerging outlets and the news cycle, and the ability to forge relationships with new journalists quickly.
• The ability to nurture a culture of creativity, innovation and collaboration across the press, social media, visits and external affairs teams to generate ambitious PR moments and ‘off grid’ ideas, and spot opportunities to improve press office processes and outcomes.
• Highly effective negotiating and influencing skills up to the most senior levels within the department to secure the best results for Communications, with a track record of robustly briefing journalists to defend the organisation’s reputation.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,092, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £16,829 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Staff Benefits Scheme, Childcare Vouchers, and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here.

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

Application and Selection

The application process will be split into 2 stages, testing the following Success Profiles:

Behaviours , Experience

Please ensure your CV does not contain any personally identifiable information.

Note: We do not consider direct CV applications. All applications must be submitted via the provided application link.

Important: Your CV and Cover Letter must be merged into a single document before uploading.

Stage 1: Sift (CV & Cover Letter)

Experience: Your covering letter should be no more than 800 words and cover both how your experience meets the person specification as well as setting out how you would further elevate our media output and reach.

Stage 2: Interview

• Behaviours: Seeing The Big Picture, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace
• Experience: Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.

Candidates will be asked to prepare a 5-minute presentation, further details will be provided on invitation to interview.

Sift and Interview Dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place 30/04/2026.

Interviews will likely be held in person at 2 Marsham Street in the weeks commencing 4th May and 11th May. We are unable to accommodate interviews in Wolverhampton and Bristol. If you have selected Wolverhampton or Bristol as your intended work place, we may consider funding reasonable travel fares for those who would be financially disadvantaged. Please let us know if you would like to discuss further

How We Recruit

Find out more about our recruitment processes here.

• Applying

• Sifting

• Interview

• Interview Results & Feedback

• Reserve List

• Near Miss

• Civil Service Grades

• We are a DCS, RIS & GPTWV employer

• Reasonable Adjustments

How to Apply

Find out everything you need to know before applying here.

You must review the following information from the MHCLG Career's Site before submitting your application. This step is essential to ensure your eligibility for the role and that your application is completed correctly.

• Security Clearance Requirements

• Civil Service Nationality Requirements

• Right to Work

• Artificial Intelligence

• Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles

• CV Declaration

• Sponsorships

• Salary and Grade

• Existing Civil Servants

• Conflict of Interest

• Location and Flexible Working

• Fixed Term Contracts

• Internal Fraud Database - Internal Fraud Register

• Appeals and Complaints

• Conflict of Interest

Security Clearance Requirements

National Office: + CTC

London Office: + CTC

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 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.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.

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

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 : Harry Davis
• Email : harry.davis@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@communities.gov.uk

Further information

If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application, you should speak to the Resourcing team - recruitment@communities.gov.uk. Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been:

a procedural irregularity

an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy

exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day.

It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the MHCLG Resourcing Hub at recruitment@communities.gov.uk.

If the MHCLG Resourcing Hub is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by email to: info@csc.gov.uk