Senior Communications Officer

Senior Communications Officer

Salary - £49,004 - £52,671

This role is available full-time for 37 hours per week Monday – Friday. Flexible working pattern requests are welcome. Opportunities to work from home one day per week.

Are you a skilled writer? Do you have experience in producing content for a variety of communications platforms? Do you have abilities in digital design, photography or video?

We’d like to hear from you.

National security is the focus of our work here, which makes it a fascinating and unique place to be. The challenge you’ll have is to identify stories that can be told externally, campaign opportunities that can be taken, and to use creativity in planning your communications to support HMGCC’s objectives. These include promoting HMGCC’s identity more broadly, sharing more about our work with academia and industry, as well as supporting our STEM outreach work to inspire future generations of engineers.

You’ll work in a fast-paced environment contributing to the overall aim of promoting HMGCC’s external profile with key stakeholders, for example in government and industry, as well as the wider public.

The External Communications team is small, so the spectrum of what you’ll produce is broad. Ranging from web stories to social media posts, press releases and marketing material, there will be plenty of opportunities to get involved in producing a variety of different comms products.

Working in an environment in which the treatment of information is sensitive, you’ll be someone who has a keen eye for detail – including for errors in copy. You should be able to spot potential sensitivities with external or internal stakeholders, and have a broader awareness of impact on repetition and brand.

More about you

To apply for this role, you will already have:

• Extensive experience in communications, PR, digital design or journalism.
• A keen news sense, first-rate media handling skills and experience with social media and digital platforms.
• Delivered creative media plans, using the right channels for the target audience.
• Willingness to occasionally work outside of core hours if required.

To strengthen your application, it would be beneficial if you also have:

• Experience in digital design, photography or video e.g. for producing social media assets.
• Practical knowledge of working in an external communication role.
• Event planning experience.
• Understanding of how government/ public sector communications work.

Your personal skills

You will be someone who:

• Is an enthusiastic team player with a can-do attitude.
• Can listen and communicate well, dealing confidently and sensitively with many different types of stakeholder.
• Enjoys coming up with creative solutions .
• Wants to improve on yesterday – striving to be the best you can.
• Takes pride in producing thorough and high quality work.
• Learns from any mistakes.
• Has strong people skills – able to develop relationships across the organisation and key external contacts.
• Can go with the flow. Change is a big part of our organisation. You will be able to adapt with the support of your team and management.

Putting your skills to use

Using your diverse range of skills you will:

• Support in identification of key stakeholders, planning out appropriate communications strategies to target them with key messaging.
• Help in creation and design of social media content, together with development of digital assets.
• Research, create and produce content for multiple communication channels, ensuring appropriate sign-offs.
• Spot story or photo opportunities and identify the best ways to utilise these in order to support communication objectives.
• Prepare signed off materials and deliver briefings to senior leaders in readiness for media interviews and appearances at events.
• Assist in organising attendance at events, which could include admin, briefing to internal stakeholders, development of marketing material and support in delivery of speeches.
• Create, plan and implement campaigns which support communications objectives.
• Work efficiently alongside an internal communications team, producing internal visions of external news as and when appropriate.
• Liaise and work with journalists/media outlets, proactive and reactively as required.
• Support in production of team evaluation reports, assessing external communications outcomes.

What we offer

Now that we’ve explained a bit about what you will we be doing, here’s what we can offer you:

• 25 days annual leave, rising to 30 after 5 years’ service.
• 8 bank holiday days off in addition to your annual leave.
• 2 ½ additional days leave (set dates through the year).
• Paid overtime or time off in lieu. Your salary is for your contracted hours. If you work more, we believe you should be rewarded for that. Lots and lots of training. This can be anything from a ½ day internal course to a distant learning degree. If it’s relevant to your career, we will aim to support you.
• Our pension scheme is Alpha. It’s competitive.
• Sports and social society. Whether it’s classic cars or baking, golf or crafting, we have a society for you.
• On site nursery (subject to availability).
• 3 days paid leave a year to support a registered charity of your choice.
• Free parking.
• Free onsite gym, open 24 hours a day.
• Relocation loan*.
• Affinity groups – whether you are disabled, LGBTQ and/or from an ethnic minority. We provide an inclusive environment and support for everyone.

About HMGCC

We are HMGCC, the engineering specialists at the heart of the UK’s national security.

We work with the national security community, UK government, academia, private sector partners and international allies to bring engineering ingenuity to the national security mission, creating tools and technologies that drive us ahead and help to protect the nation.

We invest in our people, not only with training but also support throughout your career with us; to allow you to reach your full potential at work, as well as enjoy the work/life balance many aspire to.

To find out more about us and if we’re right for you, please visit our website.

Equal opportunities

Inclusion and diversity really matters to us. It's not just about numbers or visible differences.

HMGCC are committed to providing equal opportunities and encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, and those with disabilities or who are neurodiverse.

We’re not looking for any one type of person. We’re looking for talent from all different backgrounds to join our organisation, where we genuinely respect and value each other's differences, as well as our similarities. It makes us even better at what we do.

We are proud to offer candidates the opportunity to apply through the Offer of Interview scheme. The scheme ensures eligible candidates are selected for an interview as long as their application meets the minimum criteria for the role. To find out more and how you can apply under this scheme, please see the inclusion and diversity information on our website.

Apply now

Discover more by clicking ‘apply’.

Our recruitment team will process your application once the role has closed and everyone will get a response.

Please note dependent on the recruitment requirements, we withhold the right to bring forward the closing date for this role from the original closing date.

*If you are relocating to the area and renting a property then we can offer an interest free relocation loan of up to £2,500, which is to be repaid in instalments over a period of 24 months.