Media Officer

Central London

£30,845 - £38,373 plus generous overtime payments for participation in the out of hours rota

Summary of Role

From keeping drugs out of prisons, to overhauling divorce laws and making upskirting illegal – the Ministry of Justice is one of only a handful of Government departments that can truly dominate the news agenda.  

And our Press Office, bursting with talent, is widely recognised as the gold standard within government for shaping stories and influencing news across print, broadcast, and online. With a diverse remit including, prisons and probation, family justice, legal aid and modernising the courts system, no day is ever the same in this busy office. 

We are looking for creative, hard-working, passionate people to join our team, so if you’re looking for an exciting, challenging job, where you can develop with support from experienced communications professionals, keep reading. 

You could have responsibility for setting up and managing media facilities, organising interviews, drafting sharp, reactive statements and briefing journalists to generate and influence our coverage. There will be opportunities to advise Ministers and provide them with media handling advice on announcements, visits and speeches, and to help us boost our social media presence. 

Alternatively, you could be working as part of our planning and strategy team, liaising with Number 10 while coordinating announcements and horizon scanning for events and opportunities that affect the department.

If these challenges sound exciting, you have experience in media relations, communications or journalism, and you enjoy the buzz of a busy environment – apply now to be a Ministry of Justice media officer. You are exactly who we’re looking for. 

About the roles 

We currently have three media officer vacancies available in our office. The team works across a wide range of areas, from proactive announcements on specific policies such as prisons and probation to reactive work, fielding calls from journalists on our busy news desk. While some of the team work on our Planning and Strategy Desk, playing a key role in media planning.

While responsibilities will depend on the desk you join, all media officers are expected to:

• Create proactive announcements and media strategies, using everything from traditional broadcast and print media to consumer websites and social media.
• Provide regular media handling advice to Ministers, officials and colleagues on sensitive, complex and high-profile issues.
• Anticipate and spot news stories so you can swiftly prepare and issue robust responses to potentially negative stories. 
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with Ministers, officials, journalists, stakeholders and colleagues in other departments. 
• Work effectively with the Communications team and wider Government so media plans are joined-up with digital, internal and strategic communications. 
• Understand departmental and Ministerial priorities so you can communicate key messages clearly, accurately and creatively to media.  

If joining our planning team, you will also be expected to: 

• Coordinate the department’s day-to-day and long-term announcements and play a key part in developing and maintaining the strong Press Office relationship with Number 10.
• Represent the department at the weekly Number 10 planning meeting. 

You would also contribute to the Press Office out-of-hours service, for which overtime is paid. 

Click APPLY for more details and to visit our website.

Closing date: 11 June 2021.