Deputy Head Of News - Cabinet Office Comms

This is a critical and challenging role in the Cabinet Office Media Team, supporting the Head of News to manage a team of media and digital officers and supporting the Deputy Prime Minister as their Press Secretary.

You will:

• Provide dedicated press secretary support to the Deputy Prime Minister, helping to devise his external communications programme including print, broadcast and social media. advising on media approaches and channels, and ensuring that all activity supports the Prime Minister’s priorities and shapes the reputation of the Cabinet Office.
• Offer strong leadership to the press and digital team, helping to manage and develop their communications skills to achieve the best performance and building their potential.
• Contribute to the smooth and effective day-to-day operations of the press office as they set up and manage media facilities, organise interviews and brief journalists in order to generate and influence coverage of the Cabinet Office. Including taking part in an out-of-hours senior back up rota supporting the team's 24/7 reactive newsdesk operation (overtime payments are made available).
• Understand the departmental and ministerial priorities and convey them to the team so they can communicate the key messages clearly, accurately and creatively to the media.
• Quality assure and evaluate the output of the office in developing proactive longer-term handling strategies that deliver high quality media outputs for Ministers and the department.
• Work effectively with communications colleagues in all disciplines across the department, in No.10 and across Whitehall, so that media handling plans are integrated with wider communications strategies. Ensuring a constant supply of News stories to highlight and promote the department's work for the public.
• Forge strong working relationships with key journalists and build excellent relations with communicators in key partner organisations including other government departments.
• Play a full part in the Cabinet Office Communications senior management team (SMT) to set the direction and contribute to the smooth operation of the whole directorate.

The Cabinet Office is seeking an outstanding Deputy Head of News to join the senior leadership team of its busy Press and Media team and act as Press Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

You must be a talented communications professional with skills in dealing with the full range of media outlets.

This position provides exposure to a range of high-profile and sensitive issues, including for example, domestic resilience and how we prepare for the threats we face, national security and investment, and cyber security.

You will occupy a pivotal leadership role within the media team, helping to ensure that the team delivers a high-quality 24/7 media relations operation for all Cabinet Office ministers. You will be expected to provide confident and robust advice to the Deputy Prime Minister, other Cabinet Office ministers and senior leaders, alongside executing communications plans to a demonstrably high standard.