Senior Press Officer in London

This post is based in London (1 Horse Guards Road) or Darlington (Feethams House).

If you are interested in making a difference to people's lives, the Treasury can offer you an exciting opportunity to influence decision making that affects the whole of the UK. Working at the heart of government, we collaborate across government to promote responsible public spending and drive strong and sustainable economic growth.

Our work ranges from protecting customers through the regulation of the financial sector, helping to reduce carbon emissions and creating a greener economy, to promoting British trade around the world and supporting people across the country on jobs, growth and more.

We currently have a Senior Press Officer position on our newly expanded reactive News desk – the frontline of HM Treasury's media operation. You will be operating at the very heart of government, shaping how the biggest stories are reported and helping people understand issues that affect their daily lives. In this fun and fast-paced role, you will be helping to lead and develop a team handling daily media queries from journalists, ensuring responses and advice are of the highest standard alongside overseeing timely media monitoring, updates and evaluations.

Responsibilities Include:

• Reactive media management – lead the response to breaking stories, helping the team quickly draft, clear and issue well-written statements and briefing to journalists, while keeping the department updated on news coverage.
• News management - the ability to quickly spot potential problems and opportunities to shape coverage and insert a positive government voice while ensuring the wider department and no 10 are kept updated.
• Managing and developing News desk – manage and develop a small team, ensuring the smooth running of News desk and consistently high-quality lines, briefings and monitoring.
• Media handling and monitoring - provide regular media handling advice to Ministers, officials and colleagues on sensitive, complex and high-profile issues and maintain a first-class media monitoring operation.
• Relationship management – build strong relationships with officials, journalists, stakeholders and colleagues in other departments to support effective media operations.

Alongside these responsibilities, you will also take part in our out-of-hours duty rota. This will involve proactively monitoring for breaking news and coverage that might require correction or clarification, providing swift and effective responses to requests for comment and keeping the department updated.

Candidate Drop-In Session

The hiring manager will be running a candidate drop-in session to give you greater insight about the role and HM Treasury, and ask any questions you might have. If you would like to join us, use the link below to join the call at the right time.

Tuesday 17th February 2026 @ 10:30

If you would like to speak to the hiring manager informally prior to the closing date for applications to find out more about the job, please contact Daniel Lapedus at.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

Application Stage

Applications should consist of a CV including your employment history, and a 250-word statement demonstrating evidence of each of the below shortlisting criteria. Your CV and employment history won't be scored. It's used to give context to your application and support discussions at interview.

The panel will review applications and invite those that best demonstrate evidence of the shortlisting criteria below for interview. Please keep this in mind when writing your application.

Please note that only applications submitted through Civil Service Jobs will be accepted.

Interview Stage

If you are successful at the application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Experience
• Technical Skills - Impact, Ideas and Insight
• Strengths
• Behaviours: Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace and Managing a Quality Service

Behaviours

We will assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service

Technical skills

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

• Ideas
• Impact
• Implementation

Alongside your salary of £43,090, HM Treasury contributes £12,483 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

25 days' annual leave (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus 8 public holidays and the King's birthday (unless you have a legacy arrangement as an existing Civil Servant)

Flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours)

Generous parental and adoption leave package.

A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and average employer contributions of 28%

Onsite restaurant and coffee bar. The London office also offers a gym, showers and prayer room

Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme, season ticket advances and payroll giving

Access to a retail discounts and cashback site

A Rental Deposit Advance Scheme to help meet the total costs of deposits for privately rented homes

A range of active staff networks, based around interests and diversity

Flexible Working Arrangements

HM Treasury views flexible working as essential in enabling us to recruit and retain talented people, ensuring that they can enjoy a long-lasting career with us. All employees have the right to apply for flexible working and there are a range of options available including; part-time, compressed hours and job sharing. Additionally, we operate flexitime systems, allowing employees the flexibility to adjust their working patterns throughout the week which is subject to operational needs and line management approval.

At HM Treasury we have an incredibly broad remit; our work touches every citizen of the country. So, it's important our employees come from the widest possible range of backgrounds, bringing us the widest possible range of perspectives and ways of thinking. We are committed to ensuring that all staff can realise their potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

HM Treasury operates an office-based working approach across all Treasury sites - Darlington, London, and Norwich, and along with the rest of the Civil Service, has an expectation of a minimum of 60% attendance in the office, along with working remotely. This blended working approach allows you to work collaboratively, meet stakeholders face to face, support others and promotes a healthy work-life balance (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone's circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review. All our offices have been recently modernised and designed to collaborate and connect with colleagues as well as desk and quiet space to allow a range of ways to work.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

Selection Process Details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

Candidate Guidance

Please review our candidate guidance for an overview of the Success Profiles and STAR approach, along with top tips for applications and interviews.

Recruitment Timeline

Closing date: Wednesday 25th February 2026

Shortlisting: From 26th February 2026

Interviews: w/c 9th March 2026

This timeline is indicative and may be subject to change. We will inform you if there is a substantial change to the recruitment timeline.

If your contact details change at any time during the selection process, please ensure you update your Civil Service Jobs Profile.

Please note that only applications submitted through Civil Service Jobs will be accepted.

Reserve Lists

You will be placed on a reserve list if your application is successful, but we cannot offer you a post immediately. Where more than one location has been advertised, candidates will be approached for roles in merit order according to the first preferred location stated on your application form.

Please note that a place on the reserve list does not guarantee an offer. We would still encourage you to apply for other HM Treasury opportunities that you are interested in. If you are offered a role in your first preferred location and you decline the offer or you are unable to take up the post within a reasonable timeframe, you will be removed from the reserve list, other than in exceptional circumstances.

Those on the reserve list may also be approached for similar roles at a lower grade. If you are offered a role at a lower grade and choose to decline, you can remain on the reserve list.

Eligibility Statement

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role in the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. Checks will be performed as part of pre-employment checks in line with this.

Everyone working with government assets must complete Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks. Additionally, individuals appointed to the Treasury group will be subject to National Security Vetting. The level of security vetting required for this role is Counter Terrorist Check (CTC).

To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out, applicants will need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 out of the past 5 years. In exceptional circumstances, for example if you have been working abroad on a government posting, a lack of residency would not be a bar to security clearance however the Department will need to consider eligibility on a case-by-case basis once the advert closing date has passed.

Please read the Vetting Charter for information on what to expect during the vetting process and what will be expected from you. Many areas of your life may be explored during your vetting journey, and it is important that every individual, regardless of their background and experiences, should feel comfortable going through this personal process, whilst having confidence that it is fair, proportionate, and inclusive.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check.

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)
• 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

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.