Deputy Director, Prime Minister Media Strategy - Cabinet Office - SCS1

Location

10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 2AA. Some travel may be required for this role.

About the job

Job summary

The Prime Minister’s Office enables the Prime Minster to deliver the Government’s overall priorities and to communicate the Government’s policies to Parliament, the public and international audiences. From the Policy Unit, Communications Team, Switchboard and Custodians, to the Events & Visits team and the Private Office support; the diverse Downing Street team draws on varied expertise from across the Civil Service and beyond. The teams come together to deliver excellent service to the Prime Minister while also making No10 a great place to work.

This is one of the most exciting and challenging jobs in government communications, providing a unique and new opportunity to work at the heart of the Prime Minister’s office.

The successful candidate will need to be creative, have a clear vision for No10 and Prime Ministerial communications, and work with a high-performing No10 multi-disciplinary Communications Team.

The post-holder will lead a digital-first approach to proactive news creation from the centre of Government and drive the implementation of a creative strategy and marketing on behalf of No10.

This post will appeal to an experienced and confident communications operator with experience in digital marketing or consumer comms. They will also enjoy playing a key leadership role in a high-performing team; and want to play an active leadership role in the wider Prime Minister’s Office. They will also have experience of driving digital-first integration of multi-disciplinary media teams, such as newsrooms, government communications or agencies.

Working at No10 involves regularly delivering under pressure and to challenging deadlines. The role will also include routine out of hours work.

Job description

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead a digital-first news creation function for all Prime Minister-led media within the No10 communications team operation. Drive excellence in this team and upskill colleagues where necessary, reporting to the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesperson.
• Drive the ongoing organisational integration of the No10 communications function, ensuring that all parts of the team are working together and identifying areas for further integration.
• Lead and develop one Grade 6, and be an active part of both the No10 SCS Management Team and the Cabinet Office Communications Leadership Team.
• Ensure No10 comms has the appropriate blend of digital, traditional and non-traditional media included.
• Drive a team of proactive, news creation comms experts and ensure that Prime Minister-led comms plans have a digital-first focus. 
• Work closely with the No10 Comms Senior Leadership Team, including the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesperson, the Head of Media and Prime Minister’s Deputy Official Spokesperson, to drive integration of the team and innovation.
• Develop strong relations with political advisers.

The role will also include routine out of hours work.

Person specification

Essential criteria:

• A senior communication professional with proven digital-first marketing experience.
• An expert in news & content creation, both proactive and reactive, across all channels, broadcast, consumer and print.
• Proven leadership skills to develop a large team of ambitious professionals;
• Significant experience of working with news media, excellent news judgement, and proven ability to provide well-reasoned handling advice at a senior level;
• Experience of managing competing priorities and changing deadlines and delivering a highly organised and efficient service;
• Outstanding leadership skills and a high level of personal resilience, with a proven ability to inspire a team and enabling them to deliver during periods of change, uncertainty or ambiguity;
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and influencing skills, with the ability to work collaboratively across organisational boundaries with a diverse range of senior stakeholders;
• Ability to use recognised insight and evaluation techniques to shape communications and provide measurable results; and
• Excellent political awareness demonstrated through sound judgement.