76,000 - 98,500
London Weighting Allowance of 3300
A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
GBP
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Job grade
SCS Pay Band 1###
Contract type
Permanent###
Business area
MOD - Head Office & Corporate Services###
Type of role
Communications / Marketing
Senior leadership###
Working pattern
Full-time###
Number of jobs available
1
Contents
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Location
About the job
Benefits
Things you need to know
Apply and further information
Location
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MOD Main Building, Whitehall, London
About the job
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Job summary
The Ministry of Defence is recruiting to fill its Deputy Director of News, Digital and Speechwriting post. The new government has brought a refreshed approach to communications and this role will be required to lead the team through both this change and the departmental reform which includes reviewing the communications operating model. Reporting to the Director of Defence Communications, you will be responsible for:
News management and creation.
Strategy and management of the Digital function - one of the most followed in Government.
Oversee some 50 posts with a 24/7 news team, a proactive content-producing campaign function and speechwriters at the heart of that effort.
Playing a full and proactive role in the Defence Communications Leadership team and leading a team to deliver high quality communication services.
The future responsibilities of this role could be adjusted given the wider Defence Reform context within the Department. This role will therefore require an individual to be flexible as well as someone who can lead through this change.
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Job description
1. Leadership and Management
Deputising for the Director of Defence Communications when appropriate.
Lead a diverse team of around 50 people, military and civilian, both in central London and when required in key operational locations ensuring a high-quality service for the Department and across Whitehall.
Set clear deliverable communication objectives and delegate clearly and effectively to achieve work and generate output and content in a timely fashion and to the highest standard.
Lead collaboration across the directorate, encouraging joint working
Lead, inspire and grow the capability of all elements of the External Communications teams.
2. Setting Direction and Delivering Results
Developing and overseeing proactive and reactive strategies to deliver a coherent and consistent approach to communicating the purpose and effectiveness of Defence activity.
Setting the strategic direction for communications and social/ digital engagement work informed by an in-depth understanding of the evolving media and political landscapes.
Shaping and influencing external and internal stakeholders including Ministers, Special Advisors, officials, the military, the media and other Government departments.
The individual should be a key influencer in the MOD, advocating for the directorate.
3. Strategic Communications Oversight and Implementation
Drive and develop the strategic planning process from an early stage working with policy teams, Private Offices and Special Advisors to produce robust multi audience delivery plans
Engage proactively in high level senior cross-Government planning efforts including No.10 meetings and the work of partner departments.
Be the primary point of contact for and provide professional and comprehensive communications and media handling advice to Ministers, Chiefs and senior officials.
Act as senior communications adviser for the Defence Secretary and to maintain strategic oversight of the MOD's news teams.
Work closely with the Ministers and the military Chiefs and other senior personnel on strategic and organisational issues, where communications can have effect.
Oversee an interactive digitally driven external communications operation that actively seeks to anticipate and influence media coverage and identify trends to inform media and communications activity across the PR delivery area, the wider Department and non-departmental bodies.
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Person specification
The role requires sophisticated and extensive media relations, public relations and campaigns experience, and a proven track record in using media, and digital channels to deliver organisational aims and objectives. However, even more critical to your success in this role will be your outstanding interpersonal and leadership skills, your ability to lead and fully integrate teams across the communications disciplines; prioritising and resolving issues and conflict.
The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their experience and skills against the following essential criteria:
Extensive media relations experience, Board level, and a proven track record in building and managing news teams in busy organisations. You will also need to demonstrate how you are able to build and lead high performing, diverse and inclusive teams in a matrixed environment.
Strong interpersonal skills, with an ability to build good internal and external working relationships with a variety of senior stakeholders, especially at Board Level. You will need to show how you use your networks to good effect, build trust quickly, get the best out of others and develop a sense of common purpose to achieve results.
Proven leadership skills and experience in motivating, empowering and continuously improving teams to meet challenging deadlines while delivering work to the highest standard.
Demonstrable experience of supporting and building systematic resilience in news and digital teams operating in fast pace, sensitive and high-profile environments.
Proactive and delivery focused, with an adaptable approach to delivering multiple concurrent workstreams in environments where there is high levels of ambiguity and change, with the ability to re-prioritise when needed.
Benefits
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Alongside your salary of 76,000, Ministry of Defence contributes 22,017 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.Learning and development tailored to your role
An environment with flexible working options
A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Things you need to know
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Selection process details
To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process by no later than
23:55 on Sunday 15th June 2025
and will involve providing the two documents outlined below via the Civil Service Jobs portal:
A
CV
(no more than 2 pages) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
A
Personal Statement
(no more than 2 pages) explaining how your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role.
Both documents are weighted equally in their scoring, so it's important to consider this when uploading your application. Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification.
We understand that you might use AI and other resources for your application; however, please ensure all information you provide is factually accurate, truthful, and original and doesn't include ideas or work that isn't your own. This is so that your application is authentically and credibly your own.
For further information about the role and full application process, please refer to the candidate pack attached below. If you wish to receive any material in a different format for accessibility, then please contact People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk.
External candidates who join the MOD and are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.
As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.###
Security
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting .
See our vetting charter .
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.###
Nationality requirements
Open to UK nationals only.###
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code 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 .
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.###
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .
Apply and further information
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This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.
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
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Job contact :
Name : SCS Recruitment Team
Email : People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk
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