Media Officer - Lewes, United Kingdom - Sussex Police

Sussex Police

Verified Company

Lewes, United Kingdom

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

Division / Department - Media and Communications
Grade - Grade 10
Status - Full Time
Contract Type - Permanent
Salary Grade Range - £30,375 - £33,348
Working Hours Hours per Week
Politically Restricted - Yes

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

No two days are the same when working in our fast-paced, media and communications department.

From appeals for wanted people, promoting court results and highlighting the great work of our operational teams, to being the first person the media turns to at the scene of a serious crime; you will work as part of a team which helps us build trust and confidence within our communities.

As a media officer, it will be your responsibility to build positive media relations with your local print, digital and broadcast journalists; providing a proactive news service which supports divisional policing and our force priorities: protect communities, catch criminals, deliver an outstanding service.

You will spot opportunities to showcase the great work of Sussex Police, particularly at a community level, and use media and digital channels to amplify this; strengthening public engagement and the reputation of our force.

In return you will join an award-winning team and start a career which can make a real difference to the people of Sussex.

As well as a competitive salary, annual leave and pension, you will have access to a wide range of benefits including training and mentoring, discounts from some of the high street's biggest brands and various wellbeing services including discounted gym membership for our on-site gyms.

While the role is based in Lewes, we have adopted hybrid working and you will therefore be able to spend time working from the office, working from your divisional police sites and also from home.

Key Responsibilities

Liaise with districts and departments to create proactive news stories, with engaging multimedia content (including image, audio and video) that supports the operational needs of the force, positive outcomes and addresses how we prevent and respond to emerging issues and risk.
Provide creative and engaging news stories online, through social media and news media.
Access information, through the monitoring and researching of databases, attendance at meetings and at the scenes of incidents, building relationships with officers and staff, partners and media to provide accurate and relevant proactive and reactive material.
Manage public confidence issues, monitoring coverage in social media as well as traditional and webbased media outlets, to assess opportunity, issue and risk and respond in a timely and appropriate way.
To ensure the force is aware of current, emerging and anticipated media issues/public sentiment issues and takes appropriate action.
Manage media enquiries and foster positive media relations, prioritising and challenging inaccurate or misleading content where appropriate in order to support operational needs and to help build public confidence in the force.
Write and implement communications strategies to support operational requirements (criminal investigations, incidents, planned and unplanned events) providing advice to the investigating officer, and briefings, media and public FAQs, to help the operation and enable greater understanding of the force's work.
Act as a Bronze/Silver Media Officer in the event of a major/critical incident or planned policing operation, developing and implementing tactics to manage the communications issues relating to such incidents in liaison with Senior Investigating/Command Officers, departmental colleagues and where appropriate other agencies involved in the incident.
Deliver multidisciplinary communications as required including the production of multimedia content for digital communications, the delivery of internal communications and campaigns, and assisting the wider business in the implementation of its communications and engagement strategies that build positive community engagement.
Take part in the out of hours on call system for the Media and Communications Team.
Undertake other duties appropriate to the grade and character of work as may be reasonably required, including specific duties of a similar or lesser graded post.

Skills & Experience

ESSENTIAL:
Degree level qualification and NCTJ certificate or equivalent professional experience in PR/media relations.
Experience of media relations and/or PR in a busy and fastpaced news environment; able to demonstrate how media coverage can be achieved with evidence of achieving this on behalf of an organisation.
Evidence of writing effectively for multiple channels including news releases/articles, online audiences and multimedia social media posts.
Sound knowledge of media law as applied to off and online information Excellent written, verbal and presentation skills, inc