Vacancy Information
Division / Department - Corporate Communications
Grade - Grade 10
Status - Full Time
Contract Type - Permanent
Salary Grade Range - £28,023 - £30,951
Working Hours - 37.0 Hours per Week
The starting salary for this role will usually be at the bottom of the salary range and will be pro-rata if the working hours are less than full time.
The Role
If you’re an experienced communicator who thrives on variety and compelling news content, come and join our team.
As a News and Media Officer you’ll be engaging with the public to promote public safety, prevent and detect crime and tell the story of how our dedicated officers and staff work to keep Sussex safe.
Creating compelling news packages online, through social media and news media, you will promote the wide variety of work of Sussex Police, enhancing public understanding and confidence in our service.
Responsible for providing a proactive news service, your creative multi-media content will support the operational needs of the force, produce positive outcomes and address how we prevent and respond to emerging issues and risks.
As an integral part of the News and Media Team, and the wider Corporate Communications Department, you will share ideas and work closely with professionals in our other teams.
You will provide advice and guidance to officers and staff at all levels, working closely with partners on a range of issues and events, including high profile and major incidents.
Importantly, you will maintain and enhance relationships with national, regional and local media organisations, providing opportunities for positive and supportive coverage about our service, providing advice and responding to enquiries, while managing expectations.
If you’re looking for a rewarding, exciting and challenging job and can confidently manage a range of demands on your time then this may be the job for you.
This is a permanent role, 37 hours per week. The successful candidate will also be required to work shifts between 7am-6pm Monday to Friday and provide an out of hours on-call service as part of a rota.
Key Responsibilities
Provide a proactive and engaging news service via earned and owned channels, supporting operational policing and force priorities and maintaining public confidence.
Liaise with districts and departments to support operational policing issues, creating engaging news stories, with images, audio and videos, online, through social media and news media.
Access information through the monitoring and researching of databases, attending meetings and building relationships with officers, staff, partners and media to create opportunities to promote the work of Sussex Police, advising and responding a timely way, managing expectations and correcting misreporting.
Write and implement media strategies to support operational needs, providing advice, briefings and FAQs to enable greater understanding of the force’s work.
Provide tactical guidance and advice about media issues, helping prevent and respond to emerging issues and risks, working closely with colleagues across the department
Implement policy, managing media enquiries and implementing strategies to manage risk and reputational issues, promote partnership working, help prevent and detect crime and increase public confidence.
Maintain and build positive relationships with media organisations to maximise positive and supportive coverage and swiftly respond to correct misreporting.
Ensure the force reacts swiftly and appropriately to the news agenda and ensuring awareness of anticipated news issues and appropriate action.
Be able to effectively respond to a major or critical incident, developing and implementing tactics to manage communications issues, in liaison with senior officers, colleagues and relevant agencies.
Be part of the out of hours on call rota.
Skills & Experience
Qualifications:
Degree level qualification, NCTJ certificate or equivalent professional experience in PR/media relations.
Desired: CIM/CIPR diploma
Knowledge, skills and experience:
An analytical approach to problem solving.
Ability to balance and manage conflict between short and long term priorities and reactive/proactive work, with an emphasis on managing risk and making the best use of resources.
Media law experience.
Negotiating and influencing skills.
Experience of delivering communications across multiple channels.
Experience of social media.
Media relations/PR experience.
Desired:
Proven decision making skills under pressure.
Multi agency working.
Further Information
Jill Pedersen
jill.pedersen@sussex.pnn.police.uk
Diversity Statement
We are only as good as our people. It's really important to us that our officers and staff can be themselves in the workplace and we believe that as an organisation we'll benefit from the variety of thinking, approach and skills that diversity can bring; all of which helps us to deliver a better policing service.
We have worked really hard to create a safe, open and inclusive culture. We have a range of staff networking groups to provide specific support and advice and we are proud to be members of Stonewall and Disability Confident, and to be aligned with the Armed Forces Covenant and the HeForShe movement.
We value the differences that people bring from all backgrounds and communities so, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, disability, social status or religious beliefs, we would love to hear from you.
Additional Information
Following submission of your application you will receive a confirmation email with a copy of your application attached. Occasionally emails from this address can fall into spam/junk folders so please ensure this is checked regularly. You may wish to consider adding noreply@surreysussexpolice.as.recruitmail.com to your address/contact list to ensure you receive all communications.
This post is being advertised in parallel with Force redeployment processes. Any redeployees who are identified will be given preference. This may result in the post being withdrawn at any point during the recruitment process.
If you are an internal candidate looking to apply for this role, please ensure that you discuss your application with your line manager before submitting an application. If you are conditionally offered the role your attendance record and any reasonable adjustments already in place will be discussed with yourself and your current line manager.
Please note that not all jobs are available for internal candidates across both Forces, the current agreed recruitment principles are;
- vacancies in collaborated units are available to all officers and staff across both Forces
- vacancies in non-collaborated units are only available to officers and staff within the Force with the vacancy unless it is advertised externally. If the vacancy is advertised externally and an officer or member of staff from the other Force is success it will result in a transfer of employment.
Surrey Police and Sussex Police Special Constables, Volunteers and Agency Staff (excluding self employed workers) covered under the Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) are eligible to apply for internal advertised posts.
Applications will only be accepted by clicking the 'Apply Now' button. CVs are not accepted as part of our recruitment process.