Press and Communications Officer

This is an exciting and challenging post that involves a wide range of communications functions – press and media handling, as well as internal and external communications (including social media).

Importantly, the role comes with an unusually high level of access to ministers. You will get to accompany the Attorney General and Solicitor General on interviews and visits and will often be required to attend briefing sessions and meetings with them.

You will be supported to fast-track your career in a busy, interesting and friendly office where learning and development is a key offer. Each day brings new challenges and opportunities to develop your communications skills and as you progress you will be trained in a range of fields.

The successful candidate will need to be able to work well under pressure and will be expected to participate in the out of hours duty rota, for which an allowance will be paid. Above all, we are looking for someone with excellent communication skills with a great news sense and the ability to work at pace and understand often complex issues.

The AGO Communications Team

The Communications Team at the AGO is a small multidisciplinary team advising on and delivering all aspects of departmental communications. The team supports ministers and officials across the Department and is regularly praised for its work.

The AGO Communications Team is responsible for dealing with often controversial legal decisions and issues, raising and managing the profile of the department, explaining and promoting its work, and defending its reputation. The team is responsible for all aspects of departmental communications, including providing content for the department’s external website, internal communications, digital, visits and media handling.

The Team also directly provides a media office service to two of the Law Officers’ Departments – the Government Legal Department (GLD) and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) under a shared service arrangement.  

What you’ll be doing:

• working as part of a team to provide day-to-day communications support to senior figures including the Attorney General, Solicitor General and Director General of the AGO, for example by providing advice on media enquiries and internal department updates
• managing reputation issues and opportunities by being responsible for a portfolio of policy areas which will allow you to develop proactive and reactive handling plans for approval by ministers and senior officials
• drafting press releases and reactive statements and briefing journalists on the work of the AGO, GLD and HMCPSI
• producing media briefings and coverage summaries for ministers
• stakeholder liaison across a wide range of other government departments including the No10 Press Office
• creating content for the Department’s online channels including gov.uk and video content for Twitter.

Technical/Professional Skills

We are looking for good communicators with energy, enthusiasm, a strong news sense and the ability to influence and work at pace. That means we want people with the following skills:

• good written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to choose style and content to suit the audience
• good influencing and negotiation skills with the ability to work effectively with colleagues and external stakeholders, ranging in seniority 
• Design skills to enhance communications i.e. filming and editing videos, creating infographics and Tweet cards.

Experience

• experience of working in communications role and providing communications advice to senior figures
• experience of creating communications products like press releases, media briefings and content for digital channels

Apply:

Please send a CV of up to two pages and a covering letter of no more than two pages, which should demonstrate how you meet the essential skills and experience for the post, with relevant examples.

You will also need to complete the Diversity and Monitoring form.

All applications will be sifted by an AGO panel. Applicants that pass the sift may be invited to interview. Feedback will only be given to candidates invited to interview.

The interview process will include a scenario based exercise.  More details will be provided if you are invited to interview.

Any appointment is subject to reference checks. 

Interviews will take place mid to late March. 

Some departments have signed up to the Positive about Disabled People Commitment and will guarantee an interview to any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. The Equality Act 2010 defines a disabled person as someone who has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and adverse long-term effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

To meet the minimum criteria, candidates applying under the terms of the Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS) must:

• Meet all aspects of the stated minimum eligibility criteria (i.e. academic, nationality, and professional criteria);
• Obtain a minimum score for (i) the core competencies being assessed at the application stage and (ii) against any job specific criteria specified.

Candidates applying under the terms of the GIS, who meet the minimum criteria outlined above, will be invited to attend an interview
.