Communications Officer (FTC) - Natural History Museum

We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website. Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things. We employ 1100 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.

Diversity and inclusion matter to us. Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment. We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.

About The Role The Communications team is responsible for protecting and promoting the reputation of the Natural History Museum as the UK’s most popular visitor attraction and a world leading scientific research centre. The team is primarily responsible for all the Natural History Museum’s editorial dealings with media, and the role of Communications Officer is varied – no day is the same! It’s an exciting time to join the press team, as you will support on comms activity promoting the Museum’s flagship campaigns and strategic projects including temporary exhibitions and new galleries as part of NHM150. Alongside proactively generating coverage for the Museum’s world-leading scientific research, you will support the work of the Commercial Communications Manager, Internal Communications Manager and Wildlife Photographer of the Year Communications Manager. Representing your campaigns across the Museum, including developing and presenting communications plans and working closely with the Marketing, Digital and Social Media teams also forms a key part of your role. You will develop and maintain excellent relationships with both internal stakeholders and media contacts and provide out-of-hours cover as part of the 24/7 Press Office duty rota. The role requires you to draft quality press releases, press packs, lines against enquiry, Q&As and statements, often to tight deadlines. You will triage and respond to day-to-day reactive press enquiries, support on issues management when needed and supervise filming with our experts both on and off site.

About You A minimum of 2-3 years’ experience of press work in a busy press office is essential. You’ll have demonstrable experience of organising and supervising journalist visits, interviews, photocalls and filming for a high-profile organisation. You’ll have proven experience of identifying and managing both reputational risks and opportunities to secure positive media coverage. Experience of working with influencers is desirable. You’ll be able to work well under pressure, prioritise effectively, respond to deadlines and maintain multiple simultaneous projects. You’ll have a flexible and positive attitude, with the desire to create new opportunities and think creatively about challenges. Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, including the ability to write attention-grabbing press releases and social media copy that positively influences, is essential. You will be able to accurately communicate complex ideas to non-specialists, ideally gained through working with academics, scientists or technical specialists in a PR capacity.

Thriving at the Museum: the way we work We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum’s values and forms the framework for the way we work.

What We Offer

• 27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent)
• Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 4 - 10%)
• Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan
• Life insurance
• Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK.
• Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes
• We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills. Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential.
• Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including an extensive list of special offers and reduced entry fees at a selection of cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets. It also provides entry to up to 300 English Heritage sites and other national treasures.
• Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball, table tennis and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi

Hybrid working We are working towards a vision where both people and planet thrive, and nothing gives a greater connection with this, than seeing first-hand, the visitors, scientific research and collections that all of our work is inspired by and working side by side with the teams delivering the visitor experience and events. We also recognise the benefits and flexibility that hybrid working brings. We operate a hybrid working model that requires regular, weekly attendance for this role, with the precise pattern of days on site and worked from home to be agreed with your manager.

How To Apply If this sounds like you, please apply below by clicking on Apply for job. Please note that as part of our commitment to anonymised shortlisting, panels do not view CVs during the recruitment process. If you choose to upload your CV, our system will automatically pull information from your CV into our application form. We advise you to double-check your application form data before submitting as the tool may interpret CVs differently. Closing date: 23:59 on 14th June. Interviews expected: w/c 22nd June. Please note that this role does not qualify for Museum sponsorship so the successful postholder will need to have a valid right to work in the UK at the point of offer.