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* Please note, you will need to merge your personal statement and CV into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and personal statement. If you experience any technical issues, please contact recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk.

Job summary

Important - To apply for this role you will need to submit a CV and covering letter. These need to be merged into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and covering letter. There are further details in the Selection Process section further below in this advert.

• Call to give region’s leaders £1bn a year to help level up – p1, Yorkshire Post, 1 August

• CAN HE FIX IT? Rishi ‘steps in’ to sort London’s housing crisis – and blames Sadiq - p1, Evening Standard (28 July)

• Sunak ready to overhaul green targets for landlords as general election nears - p1, Financial Times (26 July)

• PM bids to demolish his housing critics – p1, The Times, 25 July

• Sunak: Tories won’t concrete over Green Belt – p1 Daily Telegraph, 24 July

• Gove: Net Zero can’t become a crusade – p1 Sunday Telegraph, 23 July

• M&S boss attacks Gove over planning curbs – p1 Daily Telegraph, 21 July

This is a small selection of articles that have appeared in the last fortnight in relation to the work of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). And they’re the type of issues that you would be involved in handling as a Chief Press Officer in this department.

We are looking for a talented and confident communications professional to join our media team and help us tell some of the biggest stories around. DLUHC is at the heart of delivering many of the government’s most important priorities, whether that’s Levelling Up, building more homes, Renters Reform and Social Housing, helping Ukrainians through our Homes for Ukraine scheme or highlighting the importance of the integrity of the Union.

Your amazing press skills will be instrumental in shaping the communications strategy around our key announcements and setting the long-term communications direction for the department. You’ll have exposure to a variety of high-profile issues, as well as regular contact with Ministers, and senior figures within the department.

This is a leadership role in a busy and friendly team that delivers a high quality 24/7 media relations operation for seven Ministers, including the Secretary of State. More detailed information about the work of the Department can be found here.

We particularly welcome candidates from an ethnic minority background and other underrepresented groups to apply, as we work to continually improve our ability to represent the places and communities we support through our work

Job description

Important - To apply for this role you will need to submit a CV and covering letter. These need to be merged into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and covering letter. There are further details in the Selection Process section further below in this advert.

You will lead and oversee one or more press teams that set up and manage media facilities, organise interviews, draft sharp reactive statements and, most importantly, brief the media. Above all you’ll be adept at speaking to journalists to generate and influence coverage for DLUHC. In more detailed, you will be expected to:

• Be a leader in our office; play a full role in developing and delivering the media aspect of our communications strategy.

• Play a full part in both the Press Office and wider Communications management team - contributing to the smooth operation of the whole office.

• Provide overall support and direction to your teams, with particular attention to managing and developing their skills to build their potential.

• Lead your teams in developing proactive longer-term handling strategies that deliver high quality media outputs for Ministers.

• Oversee and provide regular media handling advice on policy briefs going to Ministers and senior officials on sensitive, complex and high-profile issues.

• Ensure the team are anticipating and spotting breaking news stories and issuing swift and appropriate responses quickly and under pressure.

• Have personal impact in the full range of press office work from briefing journalists to advising Ministers face to face.

• Use the full range of channels in promoting our priorities, maximising digital tools, applying evaluation and insight to get the best possible results.

• Act as an ambassador for Comms – set an example for the team and drive enthusiasm in press office for effective engagement with others in department.

• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with Ministers, private offices, special advisers, senior officials, stakeholders and other departments.

• Work effectively with colleagues across DLUHC comms so that media handling plans are integrated with wider comms strategies.

You will also contribute to the department’s out-of-hours service to the department, providing back up support for the duty press officer.

Person specification

• You must be at ease with the prospect of direct daily contact with Ministers, SpAds and senior officials, confidently providing them with strategic media handling advice on announcements and engagements.

• You will be a proven leader with a track record of people management. You’ll have oversight of an important brief and will be expected to provide motivational leadership to your team and the wider office. You must be able to handle big news days in succession, while keeping sight of longer-term media strategy.

• Our work is fast-paced and challenging, and we need to see strong evidence of an excellent news sense, spot-on judgement, acute political savvy and examples of having used these in tricky situations. You should also be comfortable working flexibly: priorities can shift quickly, so resilience, initiative and an ability to run with breaking issues are important.

• Proof of building effective relationships and using them to influence others and negotiate diplomatically to meet your ends is also essential.

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role

• An environment with flexible working options

• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Things you need to know

Selection process details

We are for everyone 

At DLUHC we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce. We promote equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment and a working environment free from discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation. 

We would strongly recommend that applicants get in touch with the vacancy manager to find out more information about this role. 

We are for everyone 

CV and Cover Letter Declaration 

We recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - this is called name blind recruitment. 

Please remove references to your: 

• name/title

• educational institutions

• age

• gender

• email address

• postal address

• phone number

• nationality/immigration status

You will need to merge your CV and covering letter into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and covering letter. 

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that your application would be viewed by different assessors. 

At sift, through your CV and covering letter we will be assessing: 

Experience 

Technical Ability 

Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page and demonstrate how you meet the requirements for the Chief Press Officer role. Please use previous examples of where you have delivered impactful media communications.

The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of behaviour and strength based questions as listed in the advert. The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.  

In full the campaign will test the below Success Profile Elements: 

Experience: Yes 

Technical: Yes 

Strength: Yes 

Behaviours: Yes - Leadership, Communicating and influencing, Managing a quality service & Delivering at Pace

We do not consider direct CV applications – you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs: 

Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign 

Grade 7 salary 

• The salary for this role is £54,632 (London) or £49,697 (National). 

• For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. 

Benefits 

Transfers across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018: 

Any move to DLUHC from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk. 

For further information about the benefits available to DLUHC employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack. 

Location 

• London 

• Bristol

There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly depending on the business needs. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis if you are successful for the role. 

Sift and Interview dates 

Sifting is envisaged to take place W/C 4th September with interview dates to be confirmed. All interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall. 

Reserve List 

In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details on a reserve list for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Due to the length of time CTC checks can take, our HR Shared Services team will contact reserve list candidates for London based roles to commence CTC checks. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list. 

CTC (Counter-terrorism Clearance): 

Important note 

 
Successful candidates for roles based in our 2 Marsham Street building must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check and the process can take up to 8 weeks to complete. 
 
Please note that successful candidates will need to pass the CTC security checks – this requires you to have been resident in the UK for the past 3 years. Please refer to the DLUHC Notes on Security Clearance section of our Candidate Pack for further information on Counter Terrorism Clearance (CTC).  
 

Candidates should also note that with effect from 1st August 2018 the department will also check all applicants who are successful at interview, against the Internal Fraud Database (IFD) held by the Cabinet Office. In accordance with the Civil Service Internal Fraud Policy, any applicant who is included on the IFD will be refused employment by DLUHC. Please see the Candidate Pack for further information on the Internal Fraud Database. 

Before starting your application it’s very important to make sure that you are eligible to apply and meet the Civil Service nationality requirements. All candidates are expected to read the information provided in the DLUHC candidate pack regarding nationality requirements and rules 

Candidate Pack Information 

Please see attached Candidate pack for further information. 

Internal Fraud Database 

The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned.The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, civil servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the civil service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited dataset back to DLUHC as a participating government organisations. DLUHC then carry out the pre employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way, the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented.  

For more information please see- Internal Fraud Register 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals

• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK

• nationals of the Republic of Ireland

• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)

• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service

• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service

• certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name :James Fowler

• Email :James.fowler@levellingup.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email :recruitment@communities.gov.uk