View Vacancy - Communications and Political Officer - Kingston, Jamaica

We are looking for a dynamic self-starter who will lead on Public Diplomacy and Communications for all UK Government Departments at post, including management of social media platforms, and be responsible for developing and maintaining a wide range of stakeholder contacts. The successful candidate will have an excellent understanding of Jamaica’s traditional and digital media environment and a good knowledge of Jamaica’s system of government, domestic and foreign policy, local and regional political dynamics and recent history.

The successful candidate will also lead end-to-end on the process of advertising, recruiting and supporting annual cohorts of Chevening Scholars from Jamaica, and serve as the liaison point for the active and growing Chevening alumni community.

Roles and responsibilities:

• Advise on and implement the British High Commission’s strategic communications objectives with a view to maintaining a strong UK-Jamaica partnership, where relevant stakeholders have a good understanding of that relationship and what each partner contributes;
• Promote the UK and its interests in Jamaica through traditional and digital media. This includes:
  • Acting as spokesperson for the British High Commission, and as first point of contact for media enquiries;
  • Working with the FCDO’s media department to deliver a consistent, clear and coherent media strategy for the UK Government’s activities and policy priorities in Jamaica;
  • Media information and handling including drafting and dissemination of press releases and articles, preparing relevant background and speaking notes for media handling; lead on social media engagement including producing content for Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter/X; coordinate media handling with other UK posts in the region;
• Lead on project-specific communication activities across all departments at post;
• Keep abreast of political, economic and social developments in Jamaica and their implications for UK interests and contribute to high quality analysis/reporting on them;
• Build a network of contacts across media, the Jamaican government, think tanks, academics, civil society, the international community and the Jamaican diaspora community in the UK;
• Manage the Chevening scholarship programme and maintain alumni contact;
• Budget oversight for political work and Chevening programme;
• Support the wider team as required on visits, meetings, crisis response and any other duties as may become necessary.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure): 
None

• Must have the legal status to live and work in Jamaica
• First degree in International Relations, Politics, Communications or other relevant subject area
• A minimum of three (3) years relevant experience of working in or with the media

Language requirements: 

Language: English
Level of language required: Native speaker level