Do you know your torrent sites from your trade marks? Can you navigate your way around Pirate Bay to patents? If so, the Intellectual Property Office could use your skills because we are looking to recruit a media relations officer based in our London office.
Your role will be to promote our work, and protect our reputation, through the engagement with traditional and social media.
This will mean acting as a confident spokesperson on behalf of the IPO for all its policy and operational areas; coordinating media handling and Ministerial interviews with the Department for Business; generating and managing coverage of difficult issues; planning all the IPO's announcements and other media activity (often directly with Ministers’ offices); and monitoring and evaluating all relevant media coverage.
The national, local, international and specialist IP media (broadcast, print and digital) all have a keen interest in the work of IPO and IP in general.
You will work as part of the specialist strategic communication team offering advice and support across a range of disciplines including traditional and social media relations, and stakeholder engagement to Ministers, our chief executive, senior management and officials on a daily basis.
We're looking for media-savvy people who can deal effectively with - and influence where needed - a broad range of people - from civil servants, to Ministers, No.10 to key stakeholders, as well as the media.
Your work would fall into two categories - reactive and proactive. On reactive issues you'll need to act quickly, often under considerable pressure, using good news judgement to protect the reputation of the IPO.
Proactively, you'll be expected to offer sound, creative and thoughtful advice on how to turn complex IP policies into compelling content and crucially identify and mitigate risks to our reputation. This will also require close working with, and understanding of, all of our other communications teams, including stakeholder management, social and digital communications and ministerial events.
Being a media relations officer is not for the faint hearted but if you are a talented media handler, innovative, enthusiastic and up for a challenge this is a highly rewarding and active job which you will be hard pressed to match.
Qualifications and experience:
- Ideally educated to a degree (or equivalent level) with a sound understanding of media, economics and politics, Whitehall and Westminster;
- An understanding of Intellectual Property Law will be an added bonus;
- Demonstrable experience in similar role.
What security level is required for this post?
If you are a successful candidate you will be expected to undertake the following level of security check:
- Counter Terrorism Check.
Previous Experience & Skills:
Please include details in your CV and the covering letter.
Competencies are as follows:
- Insight: Press and Media - Maintain an awareness of the news agenda and emerging news events. Understand how to optimise audience reach through a mix of media channels, including news aggregators. Demonstrate an understanding of the link between IP, innovation and the economy;
- Ideas: Press and Media - Demonstrate a practical understanding of how print, broadcast and digital media work, including the media cycle, circulation and deadlines. Work up ideas for stories and case studies that support communication and business/policy objectives;
- Implementation: Press and Media - Demonstrate ability to translate often complex issues into more easily understandable material. Draft quality press releases, blogs, opinion pieces, lines to take, Q and A to a high standard. Develop and nurture excellent relationships with journalists and contacts (e.g. bloggers) in all forms of media, to improve story placement and check progress. Demonstrate techniques and strategies for handling journalists;
- Impact: Press and Media - Conduct media monitoring to assess reach to target audiences and delivery of key messages. Evaluate the outcomes of media coverage and use insight to plan and recommend future activities.
In addition, you should:
- Have excellent written and oral communication skills;
- Be able to motivate and manage a team to deliver top quality communications products, and to continuously develop their skills;
- Demonstrate a positive, collaborative approach and focus not just on what you do, but how you do it;
- Have awareness of Ministerial priorities, wider (BIS) departmental business objectives and the broader political/Governmental context;
- Be confident, thoughtful and authoritative when speaking on behalf of the Department;
- Give clear, competent and trusted advice;
- Be able to work under pressure for sustained periods – while also maintaining sound judgement;
- Have good relationship management skills and be able to maintain key links with relevant people across the IPO;
- Be able to have robust conversations with any stakeholder and to influence their communications activity;
- Be able to work with other government organisations and No.10 to co-ordinate presentation and policy;
- Be aware of the rapidly changing nature of communications – and how to put that to good use, including social media;
- Keep up-to-date with industry developments in communication through Government Communications Network and other professional networks;
- Have a strong ability to multitask and progress a number of issues at once;
- Be able to assimilate complex information and explain it concisely;
- Know how to monitor, measure and evaluate the impact of your work.