Press Secretary to the Secretary of State for Education

Job summary

Our communications team is looking for a Press Secretary to the Secretary of State, with experience of working in a complex environment that is subject to significant public, political and media scrutiny. We are looking for an experienced communicator who will bring energy, experience and dynamism to the role with responsibility for the leading the media advice and delivery for the Education Secretary.

As Press Secretary, you will oversee all press activity for the Secretary of State, ensuring her priorities and agenda are understood by parents, pupils, teachers, the education sector and the wider public, through traditional and non-traditional media channels.

You will work closely with all parts of the communications team, including the social media team, to ensure the Secretary of State's priorities are reflected consistently across both traditional media and social channels, and that opportunities to amplify announcements, visits and stories across the two are identified and acted on quickly.

As part of the media senior leadership team, you will help deliver our communications strategy while being part of the senior leadership team for our high-performing media team.

This leadership role is one of the most senior positions in the communications division, working closely with a high-profile cabinet minister and influencing how policy is communicated in a prominent government department.

Job description

The focus of this role is to provide strategic media advice to the Secretary of State for Education and oversee the media activity for her major announcements, visits and events.

As Press Secretary, you will oversee all media requests for the Secretary of State and be required to establish strong relationships with journalists, briefing them on major education policies to shape the news agenda.

You will work hand in hand with the social media team, ensuring the Secretary of State's key messages and priorities are reflected coherently across all channels, and that content and news moments are planned jointly rather than in isolation.

With this in mind, your ability to develop a close and constructive working relationship with the Secretary of State, special advisers, private office, and senior officials is vital, and you will be required to confidently shape and offer trusted media advice on a daily basis. You will be required to attend high-level meetings to help shape decision making, while being responsible for briefing the Secretary of State ahead of media appearances and interviews.

You will report into the Deputy Director, Head of Media Relations, who you will support in providing strategic direction for the wider team and work closely with the Deputy Head of News.

You will take part in the senior out-of-hours rota and there is an expectation for travel with the role.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Media related experience, bringing the ability to quickly identify issues that will be of interest, and an appreciation of the rapid pace at which stories move in a 24/7 communications environment.
• A track record of building effective relationships and contacts and confidently briefing at all levels to ensure accurate and informed reporting.
• Experience of working closely with social media or digital teams, with an understanding of how stories and messages can be developed and amplified consistently across both traditional and social channels.
• Experience of working on high profile complex issues and gaining the confidence of and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Highly developed written and oral communications skills.
• Ability to rapidly brief on complex issues, presenting in a clear and concise manner and identifying key messages.
• Ability to confidently lead, inspire and empower teams and to build team capability.

Desirable Criteria (if required):

• The ability to film and produce simple phone led content for social media.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview in the event of a tie break situation to make an informed decision.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• GCS Communication - Ideas
• GCS Communication - Impact

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £77,137, Department for Education contributes

£22,346 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

Things you need to know

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. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

To apply for this role, please select 'Apply Now' at the top or bottom of this advert. CV details need to be included in the template within the application form; attached or emailed CVs will not be considered.

Stage 1: Written Application

At sift stage, you will be assessed on your Experience in line with the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job advert.

To apply for this role, please provide:

• A Short CV setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role.
• Your Statement of Suitability – In no more than 750 words, provide examples of how your personal skills, qualities and experience meet the essential criteria. This is not intended to be a cover letter, instead work through each essential criteria in turn. You may wish to follow the STAR technique to help focus your examples. The key things we are looking for are what you did, how you did it and what the outcome was.

To confirm, the maximum word count for the statement of suitability is 750 words . Please adhere to this limit as anything over 750 words will not be taken into account.

The CV and Statement of Suitability will be assessed against the essential criteria detailed in the advert.

When looking at your experience, we’re looking for examples of things you have previously achieved or your knowledge in a particular field, which are relevant to the job role. We’re not looking at how much time you spent in a particular field, but rather how you performed. Sometimes experience can be transferable from a non-work context. Skills gained through voluntary work or a hobby, such as teamwork or communication, can demonstrate the experience required for the role.

The sift will be restricted to just assessing personal statements in the event of a large volume of applications.

If candidates require reasonable adjustments during the application process, please allow sufficient time (at least 5 working days prior to the closing date) to allow us to review and progress your application to the next stage of the process.

Please note that there is no candidate support available from Friday 5pm until Monday 9am.

Please note, CV details must be contained within the template on the application form. Any CV or Statement of Suitability that has been emailed to our team will not be considered.

Once you have submitted your application it cannot be amended; only submit your application when you have completely finished, answered all the relevant questions and reviewed the information entered.

Application sifting will take place 30 September 2026 onwards. Please note these dates are subject to change.

If you are successful at application sift stage, your application will be progressed onto Stage 2 part of the Selection process.

Stage 2: Presentation/Interview

The interview will be a 2-part process:

Part 1: Candidates invited to interview will also need to prepare a short presentation. The presentation brief will be sent in advance of the interview. Please be prepared to answer any follow up questions.

Part 2: The interview will last approximately 1 hour. You will be asked questions on the Behaviours and Technical Skills listed above to determine your level of experience in these areas.

Behaviours are the actions and activities that people do which result in effective performance in a job. We want to get an understanding of the actions and activities that you have done (or would do) that result in effective performance.

Interviews will take place mid to end of October 2026. Please note these dates are subject to change. Interviews will be held in person at our London Hub, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BT. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Candidates successful at stage 2, will be invited to the next stage of the selection process.

Stage 3: Interview with Director of Communications and Secretary of State for Education.

The interview will last approximately 30 minutes. You will be asked questions on the Essential Criteria listed above to determine your level of experience in these areas.

Candidates will also be asked Strengths based questions.

Experience is the knowledge or mastery of an activity or subject by involvement in or exposure to it. When looking at your experience we are looking for/;

• Previous examples of what you have achieved.
• Your knowledge in a particular field which is relevant to the job role.
• How you performed in a particular field – not how long you served

Sometimes experience from outside work can be transferable from a non-work context. Skills gained through voluntary work or a hobby can show the experience you may need for a role. For example, teamwork or communication.

Strengths are a way for Hiring Managers to understand what motivates you and what you enjoy doing, which helps the panel to understand your areas of strength. Evidence shows that people do better work when a job aligns well with what they enjoy and find motivating. We don’t advertise which strengths we are going to assess you on as we want to be able to assess your first, natural response to the questions.

Interviews will be held towards the end of October be