NS&I Looking for Press Officer at Durham, Ontario, Canada Full Time

Durham, North East England, DH1 1SL : Lytham St Anne’s, North West England, FY8 4TS : Glasgow, Scotland, G2 8JX : City of Westminster, London (region), SW1P 3BT

About The Job

Job summary

To support the delivery and development of NS&I’s Media and External Affairs plan to tell NS&I’s story through the media. Proactively identifying opportunities for positive media coverage across digital, print and broadcast and taking an active part in managing issues reactively. To maximise the use of internal data and research in external communications, supporting defined business outcomes.

Job Description

Media and External Affairs

• Develop proactive media stories and campaigns for brand and product-related campaigns.
• Sell-in NS&I led stories to the media (for example promoting new customer benefits).
• Take an active role in NS&I’s press office service, responding to media enquiries, becoming a key contact for personal finance journalists and identifying opportunities to engage key journalists.
• Develop and enhance NS&I’s social media profile and output; and embed social media activity into media plans.
• Work with colleagues across the business, including Product; Customer Experience; Operations; and Brand to keep them informed of media activity and horizon scan for issues that may affect the media team.
• Support the media team to manage reputational issues. Draft lines to take as agreed and attend relevant meetings as required.
• Act as a critical friend to colleagues across the business, providing communications advice and constructive feedback when required.
• Take part in the media team’s out-of-hours on call rota.
• Support the production of NS&I’s Annual Report and Accounts.

Integrated Communications

• Ensure that media campaigns/stories are aligned with wider marketing and digital activity and support NS&I’s Communications Strategy.
• Generate engaging and innovative content for digital channels that supports or complements PR activity.
• Assist in developing customer case studies for use across the business.
• Copy-write for social media platforms and NS&I websites.
• Support with external affairs stakeholder engagement.

Data and Research

• Play a key role in identifying key data and learnings from NS&I’s research – developing research subjects, analysing data, drafting press releases, blogs and social media content, and selling-in stories.
• Suggest appropriate external partners/stakeholders to increase the value of research and sell-in stories to maximise coverage.
• Develop the use of other data (internal/customer/market) to promote NS&I or support campaigns.

Evaluation

• Ensure evaluation is planned for all activities – with learning fed back into new campaigns.
• Review monthly evaluations reports with the Media Relations Manager.

Team Support and Internal Networks

• Ensure that the press office has efficient and well managed processes, such as managing the media team mailbox, logging enquiries and updating key messages, media contact database and lines to take.
• Build relationships with internal teams across the business and external suppliers.

This role may require some occasional travel to other sites.

Person specification

Essential:

Experience

• Experience of working in a busy PR team, agency or within another communications function.
• Good working experience of social media content creation, monitoring and media relations.

Technical knowledge and skills

• Good knowledge of UK consumer media outlets, social media platforms and media database tools.
• Ability to analyse research and extract key newsworthy data.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to master technical, financial and business information and communicate it simply and effectively to external audiences – in a compliant way that meets all regulatory requirements.
• A self-starter with a strong news sense and ability to be efficient, professional and diplomatic, with a strong desire to communicate the positive stories about NS&I to all external stakeholder groups.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and support colleagues.
• Ability to act as spokesperson for print/radio where appropriate.
• Ability to deal confidently and develop good working relationships with journalists from a variety of media.
• Knowledge of evaluation methods and systems – including social media/Google Analytics – and the ability to evaluate media coverage and social media activity.

Desirable:

Knowledge of financial services and/or a retail environment, ideally experience of working in a regulated environment.

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

Technical Skills

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

• Experience of working in a busy PR team, agency or within another communications function.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to master technical, financial and business information and communicate it simply and effectively to external audiences – in a compliant way that meets all regulatory requirements.
• Good knowledge of UK consumer media outlets, social media platforms and media database tools.
• Knowledge of evaluation methods and systems – including social media/Google Analytics – and the ability to evaluate media coverage and social media activity.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,609, National Savings and Investments contributes £8,804 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

NS&I is one of the largest savings organisations in the UK with more than 24 million customers and over £218 billion invested. We are both a government department and an Executive Agency of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Our origins can be traced back more than 150 years to 1861.

A small company with a big reach, we offer a range of benefits including flexible working, great opportunities for development and a generous pension scheme. We care for colleagues, respect one another, invest in our people and manage talent effectively.

Some benefits of working at NS&I include:

• • Learning and development tailored to your role
  • An environment with flexible hybrid working options
  • 9 day fortnight scheme
  • A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
  • A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
  • Generous annual leave – starting at 25 days, increasing to 30 days
  • Performance related variable pay bonus
  • Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave

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.

To apply, please click the link on this advert and follow the steps to complete the application form.

We will sift applications based on your statement of suitability for each individual criteria stated below, up to 255 words,on how you meet the essential qualifications, skills and criteria for the role.

• Experience of working in a busy PR team, agency or within another communications function.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to master technical, financial and business information and communicate it simply and effectively to external audiences – in a compliant way that meets all regulatory requirements.
• Good knowledge of UK consumer media outlets, social media platforms and media database tools.
• Knowledge of evaluation methods and systems – including social media/Google Analytics – and the ability to evaluate media coverage and social media activity.

In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the following lead key criteria only:

• Experience of working in a busy PR team, agency or within another communications function.

Please note there is no expectation for you to meet the maximum word count provided for the statement. Feel free to use as many words as you need within the limit to demonstrate your experience in a concise and clear manner.

If shortlisted, you will be invited to attend a 1 hour panel interview via video call.

Interviews will take place on 18th & 19th October 2023.

Note we are unable to accept CVs.

This role is subject to Baseline Personnel Security Standard and financial credit checks.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

As this role may require some travel to other sites, please be aware if you travel to a second location on average 4 days a month, you may be liable for P11D taxation. If you have any queries concerning this, please contact the NS&I HR Team.

Further information

Please visit our website http://nsandi-corporate.com/about-nsi for further details about NS&I.

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.

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window) .

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : jobs@nsandi.com
• Email : jobs@nsandi.com

Recruitment team

• Email : jobs@nsandi.com

Further information

The law requires for selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service recruitment principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact jobs@nsandi.com in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at info@csc.gov.uk