Press Officer, Judicial Office (Ref: 15994)

Job summary

Please refer to Job Description

Job description

Role title: Press OfficerTeam/Directorate: Press office/Communications Overview of the Judicial Office This is standardised wording and cannot be amended. The Judicial Office (JO) reports to, and is accountable, to the Lady Chief Justice (LCJ). It was established in 2006 to provide support to the LCJ and to the wider judiciary in upholding the rule of law and in delivering justice impartially, speedily and efficiently, following the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. In addition, we support, and are accountable to, the Senior President of Tribunals, whose responsibilities extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland. The JO is an interesting and unique place to work. Everything we do is in support of upholding the independence and impartiality of the judiciary. We work closely with HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and others across Government as well as with the legal professions. We are an Arm’s Length Body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. This creates an interesting and complex environment in which to work where we agree our priorities with the senior judiciary and receive our funding to deliver them from the Ministry of Justice. The Judicial Office has been through a period of significant growth resulting from an expansion of our remit and responsibilities. See JO staff talk about working here: https://design102.wistia.com/medias/uhgtmbtnlvOverview of the team The Judicial Office press office is looking for a Press Officer (HEO) to add to an enthusiastic and

trusted communications team based at the Royal Courts of Justice.
The Judicial Office is independent of the Ministry of Justice and provides a trusted service to judges
and magistrates across England and Wales. The candidate will be joining a multi-disciplinary comms
team and will be able to access professional support and expertise.
For candidates within the Civil Service this post is available on level transfer or on promotion.

Hybrid Working Requirement

This is standardised wording and cannot be amended. This position is eligible for hybrid working (current minimum requirement for time spent at base location is 60%, which is subject to business requirements). Summary of the role OverviewReporting to a Senior Press Officer, you will work with two other press officers to assist with media
relations and related communications activity. The press team is responsible for providing support
to the Lady Chief Justice, heads of division, judges and magistrates.
You will have direct and frequent contact with judges and with the media and take part in the out-of-
hours duty press officer rota. (These out of hours duties are much less onerous than for a
Government press office and a small allowance is paid). The press team deal with high-profile cases
which often make the headlines and the environment can be fast-paced and require a calm
approach.
Responsibilities,Activities & Duties: The successful candidate will:

• Manage the incoming enquiries to the press office, triaging to the team, as well as responding themselves.
• Support the team with various admin functions.
• Respond professionally and promptly to breaking stories generated by judges or court cases during office hours and when on duty; alerting and consulting senior press officers, judges and officials as appropriate, and writing accurate, authoritative and concise copy.
• Build relationships with key and relevant national and trade journalists and discover new media opportunities for judicial office holders across all channels.
• Work closely with senior press officers on specific jurisdictions or issues, developing expertise in this area and providing support, advice and drafting communications.
• Manage regular uploads of judgments, media summaries and sentencing remarks to the Judiciary website, to ensure accurate and timely coverage of courts and tribunals judgments and decisions.
• Support the wider communications team on planning functions, including contributing to forward look schedules, termly media plans and projects across different jurisdictions, and ensuring that press handling plans are joined up with wider communications strategies

Essential Knowledge, Experience and Skills The successful candidate must: • Have at least one years' experience as a press officer, working in a media newsroom or a

• similar communications role
• Have a sharp news sense, excellent judgement, strong political savvy and outstanding media
• skills gained from working in a communications environment
• Be a confident communicator with strong written and verbal skills
• Be adept at simplifying complex material while retaining the meaning
• Be confident speaking to journalists and be able to develop relationships with senior judicial
• office holders

Desirable
Experience of working in the field of justice

Behaviours (for Recruitment/Success Profiles): Behaviours • Delivering at pace

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing

Applicants will also be required to share a CV and provide 250-word answers at the application stage

which demonstrate the ability to meet the above behaviours. Further details on the Civil Service

success profiles can be found here - Success Profiles - Civil Service Behaviours

(publishing.service.gov.uk)

These behaviours will also be tested at the interview stage, alongside Civil Service Strengths and the
below Professional Competencies.

Professional Competencies

You are expected to be proficient in each of the Government Communication Service (GCS)
competencies to IO level particularly skills and knowledge under the ‘Press and Media’ discipline.
The brief summary below is not exhaustive - you should examine the full version on the GCS website.
Communications: Insight
• Understand how to optimise audience reach through a mix of media channels, including
news aggregators.
Communications: Ideas
• Work up ideas for stories and case studies that support communication and business/policy
objectives.
Communications: Implementation
• Develop and nurture excellent relationships with journalists and contacts (e.g. bloggers) in
all forms of media, to improve story placement and check progress.
Communications: Impact
• Conduct media monitoring and evaluation to assess reach to target audiences and delivery
of key messages

Assessment process at application Written exercise Assessment process at interview Question-based interviews

Presentation

Security clearance required:
Select one of the below.
(this will be determined by the location)
- DBS
- CTC
- SC
- DV
Please note:
Central Government policy dictates that applicants for National Security Clearance must be a resident in the UK for these minimum periods:
- CTC - 3 years
- SC - 5 years
- DV - 10 years CTC

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• Insight
• Evaluation

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £40,014, Ministry of Justice contributes £11,592 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Annual Leave
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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, 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 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 : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
• Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk
• Telephone : 0345 241 5359

Recruitment team

• Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…

https://jobs.justice.gov.uk/careers/JobDetail/15994?entityId=15994