Role title:
Press Officer
Team/Directorate:
Press office/Communications
Overview of the Judicial Office
The Judicial Office (JO) reports to, and is accountable, to the Lady Chief Justice (LCJ). It was established in 2006 to provide support to the LCJ and to the wider judiciary in upholding the rule of law and in delivering justice impartially, speedily and efficiently, following the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.
In addition, we support, and are accountable to, the Senior President of Tribunals, whose responsibilities extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The JO is an interesting and unique place to work. Everything we do is in support of upholding the independence and impartiality of the judiciary. We work ly with HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and others across Government as well as with the legal professions.
We are an Arm’s Length Body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. This creates an interesting and complex environment in which to work w we agree our priorities with the senior judiciary and receive our funding to deliver them from the Ministry of Justice. The Judicial Office has been through a period of significant growth resulting from an expansion of our remit and responsibilities.
See JO staff talk about working :
https://design102.wistia.com/medias/uhgtmbtnlv
Overview of the team
The Judicial Office press office is looking for a Press Officer (HEO) to add to an enthusiastic and
trusted communications team based at the Royal Courts of Justice.
The Judicial Office is independent of the Ministry of Justice and provides a trusted service to judges
and magistrates across England and Wales. The candidate will be joining a multi-disciplinary comms
team and will be able to access professional support and expertise.
For candidates within the Civil Service this post is available on level transfer or on promotion.
Hybrid Working Requirement
This position is eligible for hybrid working (current minimum requirement for time spent at base location is 60%, which is subject to business requirements).
Summary of the role
Overview
Reporting to a Senior Press Officer, you will work with two other press officers to assist with media
relations and related communications activity. The press team is responsible for providing support
to the Lady Chief Justice, heads of division, judges and magistrates.
You will have direct and frequent contact with judges and with the media and take part in the out-of-
hours duty press officer rota. (These out of hours duties are much less onerous than for a
Government press office and a small allowance is paid). The press team deal with high-profile cases
which often make the headlines and the environment can be fast-paced and require a calm
approach.
Responsibilities, Activities & Duties:
The successful candidate will:
- Manage the incoming enquiries to the press office, triaging to the team, as well as responding themselves.
- Support the team with various admin functions.
- Respond professionally and promptly to breaking stories generated by judges or court cases
during office hours and when on duty; alerting and consulting senior press officers, judges
and officials as appropriate, and writing accurate, authoritative and concise copy.
- Build relationships with key and relevant national and trade journalists and discover new media opportunities for judicial office holders across all channels.
- Work ly with senior press officers on specific jurisdictions or issues, developing
expertise in this area and providing support, advice and drafting communications.
- Manage regular uploads of judgments, media summaries and sentencing remarks to the
Judiciary website, to ensure accurate and timely coverage of courts and tribunals judgments and decisions.
- Support the wider communications team on planning functions, including contributing to forward look schedules, termly media plans and projects across different jurisdictions, and ensuring that press handling plans are joined up with wider communications strategies
Essential Knowledge, Experience and Skills
The successful candidate must:
- Have at least one years' experience as a press officer, working in a media newsroom or a
similar communications role
- Have a sharp news sense, excellent judgement, strong political savvy and outstanding media
skills gained from working in a communications environment
- Be a confident communicator with strong written and verbal skills
- Be adept at simplifying complex material while retaining the meaning
- Be confident speaking to journalists and be able to develop relationships with senior judicial
office holders
Desirable
Experience of working in the field of justice
Behaviours (for Recruitment/Success Profiles):
Behaviours
- Communicating and Influencing
Applicants will also be required to share a CV and provide 250-word answers at the application stage which demonstrate the ability to meet the above behaviours. Further details on the Civil Service
success profiles can be found - - Success Profiles - Civil Service Behaviours
(publishing.service.gov.uk
These behaviours will also be tested at the interview stage, alongside Civil Service Strengths and the below Professional Competencies.
Professional Competencies
You are expected to be proficient in each of the Government Communication Service (GCS)
competencies to IO level particularly skills and knowledge under the ‘Press and Media’ discipline.
The brief summary below is not exhaustive - you should examine the full version on the GCS website.
Communications: Insight
- Understand how to optimise audience reach through a mix of media channels, including
news aggregators.
Communications: Ideas
- Work up ideas for stories and case studies that support communication and business/policy
objectives.
Communications: Implementation
- Develop and nurture excellent relationships with journalists and contacts (e.g. bloggers) in
all forms of media, to improve story placement and check progress.
Communications: Impact
- Conduct media monitoring and evaluation to assess reach to target audiences and delivery
of key messages
Assessment process at application
Written exercise
Assessment process at interview
Question-based interviews
Presentation
Security clearance required:
(this will be determined by the location)
Please note:
Central Government policy dictates that applicants for National Security Clearance must be a resident in the UK for these minimum periods:
- CTC - 3 years
- SC - 5 years
- DV - 10 years CTC
