Press Officer

Job summary

The Home Office works to build a safe, fair and prosperous UK. We achieve this through our work on counter-terrorism, policing, crime, drugs policy, immigration and passports.

The Corporate Services Group works closely with the Home Office’s policy and operational commands to enable us together to deliver the department’s priorities. The group is comprised of different teams and professional functions, including Commercial, Communications, Finance, People, Portfolio and Project Delivery, Private Office, Security, Estates and Information.

The Communications Directorate is a multi-disciplinary team delivering the Home Office’s communications strategy. We are insight-led and results-driven, and our marketing campaigns support strategic objectives using a wide range of channels. We seek to provide high quality media, rebuttal and social media services. Our Internal Communications team supports employee engagement and business transformation.

Our work as Home Office communicators is never far from the front pages, making this a fast-paced and hugely exciting and creative team to join.

Whether it’s helping to reduce dangerous boat crossings or making the UK’s streets safer, the Communications Directorate supports the government to deliver on its priorities. Led by audience insight, we help build awareness and drive behaviour change across our internal and external communication teams, including media, digital and marketing. At the centre of all this is the News desk.

Job description

The role holders will be responsible for responding to media queries from journalists, liaising with all parts of the department to agree an approach, crafting the department’s response and shaping coverage. They will be responsible for alerting and providing analysis of news coverage as it breaks, identifying and rebutting inaccurate reporting and ensuring that the department’s position is reflected.

Key Responsibilities

• Respond to enquiries from national, international, regional, consumer and digital media outlets to enhance and protect the reputation of the Department and Ministers.
• Ensure the Department’s position is accurately reported.
• Work closely with colleagues, including policy officials and operational teams, to advise on the role communications can play.
• Produce proactive communications plans to announce policies or successes.
• Provide a high quality proactive and reactive media relations service, including developing strong working relationships with key journalists, writing responses and press releases, monitoring media and taking the initiative to rebut inaccuracies.
• To be a committed member of the national media team and support colleagues working in other regions.

Working Pattern

Due to the business requirements of these roles, they are only available on a full-time basis.

The roles will involve some weekend working. Successful candidates will be placed on a rota with colleagues which spans seven days a week – with five working days and two non-working days spread across the seven.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Experience working in a fast-paced media-facing role or equivalent, juggling competing priorities, exercising good judgement, and keeping calm under pressure.
• Strong news sense and understanding of current affairs, as well as the political and media landscapes, including how to identify and mitigate reputational risks.
• An ability to communicate effectively (excellent written and speaking skills), and develop trusted and productive relationships with colleagues, journalists and stakeholders.
• Creative communications skills, including some awareness and application of digital channels.
• Proven ability to distil large amounts of complex information into clear key messages suitable for specific audiences.
• Understanding of how insight and evaluation can be used to inform communication strategies and activity, including how to maximise reach among target audiences.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of building strong relationships with and briefing journalists.
• Experience of using media monitoring platforms.

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Seeing the Big Picture

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• Communications - Ideas
• Communications - Impact
• Communications - Insight

Benefits

In addition to your salary, a career with the Home Office offers a range of benefits, including:

• Recruitment and Retention Allowance (RRA) of £2,300 per annum.
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• In-year reward scheme for one-off or sustained exceptional personal or team achievements.
• 25 days annual leave on appointment, rising with service to 30 days.
• Eight days of public holidays, plus one additional privilege day.
• Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office.
• See more of our benefits on our careers website.

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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, Experience and Technical skills.

This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

We will endeavour to conduct the selection process in line with the dates indicated below, but cannot guarantee that these will not, where necessary, be revised.

1. Application – by 22nd September 2026

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:

• CV
• Personal Statement (maximum 500 words)
• Evidence of the Behaviour Delivering at Pace (maximum of 250 words)
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