Our aim is for everyone in the National Church Institutions (NCIs) to feel that they belong, and are valued for who they are and what they contribute. Together, our people contribute in different ways towards our common purpose, whichever NCI they work in and whatever their background.

The Church of England’s news team provides a service to journalists and the National Church Institutions, aiming to share the story of the Church’s work and mission across the country and facilitate truthful, open, accurate and informed coverage of the life of the Church in the media.

As a Media Officer you will support the day-to-day work of the News Team and the wider Communications Department to help deliver a high quality communications service.

You will be the first point of contact for media enquiries and also responsible for maintaining the Media Centre section of the Church of England website and publishing press releases.

The Church of England is for everyone and we want to reflect the diversity of the community the Church serves across the whole country. Therefore, while of course we welcome all applications from interested and suitably experienced people, we would particularly welcome applicants from UK Minority Ethnic Backgrounds and people with disabilities.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact John Bingham at john.bingham@churchofengland.org

In return we offer a unique environment with opportunities for continuous learning, generous annual leave for work life balance, season ticket loans and a range of benefits including discounted entry to attractions and what we feel is a market leading package when it comes to our pension scheme.

The Role

• Acting as a first point of contact for media enquiries, handling requests from regional, national and international media in liaison with appropriate colleagues and stakeholders, helping to arrange interviews and quotes.
• Maintaining the Media Centre section of the Church of England website and publishing press releases.
• Managing and updating media contacts lists.
• Assisting with the drafting and research of press releases, media briefings and media coverage reports.
• Monitoring of the shared inbox and incoming calls and assisting in day-to-day news team support, including with some out-of-hours duties.
• Assisting with production of the Daily Media Digest.
• Assisting with the production of content for our communications channels, including the Church of England website and social media channels in liaison with the Church of England Digital Team.
• Quickly building familiarity with key platforms, including news monitoring, mailing, contact and website systems.
• Supporting the development of relationships with journalists and the national network of Diocesan Communications Officers.
• Proactively seeking out and developing good news stories, both from national Church of England bodies and the wider Church of England.
• Supporting communications for projects within the national church, supporting a range of internal (NCI) and wider Church of England stakeholders.
• Being part of the media support team for General Synod both in York (July) and London (Feb/Nov) and occasional other conferences and events.

The Requirements

Knowledge/Experience:

• An understanding of the news and media function and priorities of an organisation.
• Familiarity with using a CMS website and social media on behalf of a business or organisation.
• Experience of supporting the delivery of communications projects.

Attributes:

• Good news sense.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Comfortable using a range of software and digital platforms, and able to adapt quickly to new systems.
• Demonstrable ability to write concisely and clearly.
• Ability to show initiative and professionalism in dealing with a range of enquiries and stakeholders.
• A team player who is able to build effective relationships with colleagues at all levels including other departments within the National Church Institutions and external stakeholders.
• Well organised with the ability to work under pressure, prioritise and deliver to deadlines.
• Able to work to support the beliefs, aims and ethos of the Church of England.

Experience:

• At least a year’s experience in a communications, news or public relations role, or equivalent demonstrable experience.

Desirable

• Good understanding of the Church of England and its contexts.
• Experience of writing press releases.

We in the National Church Institutions support the mission and ministries of the Church all over England. We work with parishes, dioceses (regional offices), schools, other ministries and our partners at a national and international level.

Excellence, Respect, Integrity

We follow these three values in everything we do, whether we are of Christian faith, another faith or no faith. To learn more about working for National Church Institutions and our benefits, please click here

As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively look to attract, recruit and retain those of you who are disabled.

As a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, we welcome applications from those of you who have served in our Armed Forces and their families.

We are committed to being an equal opportunities employer and to ensuring that everyone, job applicants, customers and other people with whom we deal, are treated fairly and not subject to discrimination. We will do whatever is necessary to provide genuine equality of opportunity. We continuously review our policies and processes to support our aim to create a workforce as diverse as the nation the Church of England serves.