Press Officer - News desk

Are you looking for a challenging and exciting role at the very heart of government? This role involves crafting how the biggest stories are reported and helping people understand issues that affect their daily lives. If so, we'd love to hear from you!

About the Team

The Ministerial and Communications Group sits at the heart of the Treasury. If you are interested in the inner workings of the Government, meeting Ministers, Senior Officials and liaising with the Press then this could be the place for you! We are a friendly and inclusive Group working on some of the most exciting issues of the day, bringing together work from across the rest of the department and engaging closely with partners across Whitehall and beyond.

We provide support to Ministers, through Ministerial offices. We act as Treasury's external face, through the Press Office and Communications team. We are responsible for managing the department, through our support for the Permanent Secretary, the Second Permanent Secretaries, the Treasury Board, and the Executive Management Board (EMB), and our ownership of Treasury governance structures. The Group is led by the Permanent Secretary.

About the Job

In this role, responsibilities will include:

• Reactive media management - dealing with breaking stories, quickly drafting and providing well-written statements and information to journalists, and keeping the department updated on news coverage.
• News management - the ability to quickly spot both potential problems and but also opportunities to insert a positive government voice.
• Providing regular and timely media monitoring and insight of departmental issues for the department.
• Providing regular media handling advice to Ministers, officials and colleagues on sensitive, complex and high-profile issues.
• Creating summaries of the day's coverage and expected stories for the wider department.
• Working at pace with policy and wider HMT comms to create sharp, insightful media lines.
• Developing and maintaining strong relationships with Ministers, officials, journalists, stakeholders and colleagues in other departments.
• Media operations - assisting on ministerial media visits, including issuing operational notes and assisting with media on the day.
• Alongside these responsibilities you will also take part in our out-of-hours duty rota. This will involve proactively monitoring for breaking news and coverage that might require correction or clarification, providing swift and effective responses to requests for comment and keeping the department updated.

About You

You will possess strong oral and written communication abilities and be capable of engaging effectively with senior leaders. You will be able to analyse complex information, consider various options, and clearly articulate your recommendation. You will also develop positive relationships with colleagues across different teams and draw on these connections to advance goals.

Some of the Benefits our people love!

• Generous Annual Leave - 25 days (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus public holidays and the King's birthday.
• Outstanding Pension Scheme - Defined Benefit pension with employer contributions of 28%
• Parental Leave Packages - Including 6 months' occupational pay for maternity/adoption, shared parental leave options.
• Flexible & Hybrid Working - Options include part-time, job-share, compressed hours, flexitime, and hybrid working (where business needs allow).
• Advance Schemes & Discounts - Rental deposit, cycle-to-work, SmartTech, season ticket loans, and access to HM Treasury's benefits portal for a wide range of discount codes.

For more information about the role and how to apply, please follow the apply link.

If you need any reasonable adjustments to take part in the selection process, please tell us about this in your online application form, or speak to the recruitment team at .