Media Manager

Job description

Have you done an entry level communications role and are now ready to step up to the next challenge? This is the role for you. Working with a dynamic and friendly team, you will hone your media skills and grow your experience and networks.

Working for Ofgem, the energy regulator, is busy but rewarding. Energy is in the news now more than ever. We are working to make sure consumers are protected as well as supporting the government's net zero climate agenda by helping to transform how we generate electricity, drive our cars and heat our homes.

Our work is attracting increasing scrutiny from the media, political stakeholders, consumer groups and the energy industry. Effective external communications are critical to Ofgem's reputation. We are looking for media managers to join our busy and skilled communications team.

You will work with a great hands-on team, on stories that are often top of the broadcast and print news agenda. You will have some experience in communications, but you will be supported on the next stage of your journey with the team. You'll need to be equally at home getting to grips with key policy areas on more technical issues, understanding their impact on consumers and net zero and writing succinct and impactful external materials. Policy colleagues will depend on your advice on communications handling for critical issues, which you will work on with your managers and wider team.

We're looking for people with a strong track record in having great attention to detail, high levels of self-awareness of communicating to different audiences and excellent verbal and written skills. You'll have a creative flair, a can-do attitude - with a growth mindset looking for different ways to tackle problems and be able to prioritise your workload. It is desirable that you have a track record of strong media relations for high profile organisations, and that you thrive working under pressure. You will have excellent written skills, including exemplary spelling and grammar. Ofgem Candidate recruitment pack This role will take part in an out of hours media rota during evenings and weekends, being the first port of call for media enquiries and interview requests.

Person specification

Key Responsibilities

• Get to grips with key policy areas and their impact on consumers and net zero
• Write press releases, briefing papers and Q&As.
• Provide effective communications handling advice to policy colleagues especially over critical and high profile issues.
• Respond to media enquiries and interview requests effectively and quickly, using news judgement to know when the story is moving on, where it's going and whether to stick to the line or develop the narrative.
• Media monitoring, delivering regular and insightful updates to colleagues on relevant developments from media and political stakeholders.
• Prepare spokespeople for interview, with the support of managers
• Take part in an out of hours media on-call rota at evenings and weekends.

Essential Criteria

• Attention to detail and experience communicating with different audiences
• Experience of working in a press office and confidence in communicating with print and media journalists and senior colleagues
• Understanding of how to engage effectively with the media to deliver the best outcome
• Ability to absorb complex information quickly, and to communicate it to a non-expert audience in a concise and engaging way
• Experience of managing and prioritising varied and complex workloads to tight deadlines, performing calmly in situations where rapid responses are critical
• Willingness to work across teams and get stuck in where help is needed, including 24/7 out of hours rota, including at weekends

Desirable Criteria

• Experience working for a large and complex organisation

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• Please refer to the Candidate Pack and Role Profile attached for full details.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,498, OFGEM contributes £8,774 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Ofgem can offer you a comprehensive and competitive benefits package which includes; 30 days annual leave after 2 years; Excellent training and development opportunities; The opportunity to join the generous Civil Service pension which also includes a valuable range of benefits; Hybrid working (currently 1 day a week in the office but is in review), flexible working hours and family friendly policies. Plus lots of other benefits including clean and bright offices based centrally, engaged networks and teams and an opportunity to contribute to our ambitious and important targets of establishing a Net Zero energy system by 2050. This exciting blend of professional challenge and personal reward identifies career opportunities at Ofgem as something to get excited about.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

When you press the 'Apply now' button, you will be asked to complete personal details (not seen by the sift panel), your career history and qualifications.

You will then be asked to provide a 1250 word 'personal statement' evidencing how you meet the essential and desirable skills and capabilities listed in the role profile. Please ensure you demonstrate clearly, within your supporting statement, how you meet each of the essential and desirable skills and capabilities.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

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 the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

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.