View Vacancy - CGZ - Senior Communications Officer, EO

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Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Policy & Political roles)
Communications, Press and Media

Main purpose of job:

This post offers a unique and exciting opportunity to join a friendly and creative communications network at the heart of the British Consulate-General Guangzhou.  We are looking for an innovative and energetic Senior Communciarions Officer to carry out public diplomacy for all sections operating in the Consulate.  

The Guangzhou Communications Team is responsible for managing the public profile of the British Consulate-General Guangzhou in South China. The Senior Communications Officer has an important role in promoting the UK’s ‘soft power’ messages across China. The successful candidate will be responsible for forging and maintaining contacts with a network of journalists and media professionals in the region. The jobholder will be tasked with managing and delivering public diplomacy projects that support the UK’s messages, executing campaigns and running events that engage and influence our target audiences. The jobholder will also be asked to support and develop content for digital campaigns. 

The successful candidate will need to have a proven track record in delivering projects from planning to evaluation, along with excellent organisational skills.  The successful applicant will need to demonstrate ideas, initiative and passion to maximise the impact of our communications across all channels. A flexible and cooperative team approach and good interpersonal and communication skills are essential. S/he will need to have excellent event management, media handling and communications skills. S/he will need to have good understanding of the media and social media landscape in China, be creative in identifying media and digital opportunities to promote the UK’s expertise and strengths. 

The British Embassy and Consulates as a whole develops and maintains relations between the UK and China and covering the full range of issues including bolstering global security, increasing mutual economic prosperity, establishing stronger people-to-people ties as well as supporting British nationals in China.

The Communications Team is a busy team but work in an environment where learning and development is encouraged and all team members support each other during particularly busy periods. There are often opportunities to try new projects or work on different areas.

Roles and responsibilities/what will the jobholder be expected to achieve:

1. Delivering public campaigns and events (30%)

  • Manage the design, delivery and evaluation of public diplomacy activities with hands-on event management skills
  • Assist Head of Comms to deliver public campaign event across a range of traditional and digital media relevant to the local context, in line with national comms campaigns to promote UK strengths in areas including trade and investment, climate change, science and innovation, culture and education
  • Manage the production of campaign related event materials, including invitation, backdrops, posters and digital content
  • Monitor and report the results of public campaign activity by providing timely and accurate evaluation reports.

2. Delivering media engagements for HMG Senior Leaders (30%)

  • Build and maintain a network of local journalists and media professionals to increase the profile of public diplomacy activities, including those active in press, broadcast media, internet and social media
  • Understand local media organisations and their operation styles in order to secure impactful media coverage of Consul General and Senior Leaders’ public engagements
  • Write press releases and draft effective messages to the media to generate positive coverage of Consulate work as requested

3. Delivering and Supporting Digital Communications (30%)

  • Provide support and content creation to digital campaigns e.g. writing WeChat articles and Weibo tweet
  • Support digital officer on video filming projects with HMA, Consul General and other Senior Leaders
  • Identify opportunity to work with social media partners and online influencers
  • Support social media data analysis

4. Internal communications and Reporting (10%)

  • Lead on internal communications within different sections of the Consulate
  • Collate and contribute communications content to FCDO China Communications Network
  • Writing internal reports and evaluation dashboards.

Language Requirements:

  • Highly proficient in Spoken and Written English
  • Native in Spoken and Written Chinese  

Essential on Arrival:

  • Hands-on Event management skills to deliver successful public events
  • Media skills and journalism knowledge to organise media interviews and write press materials
  • Excellent English writing and speaking skills
  • Experience of working with the media or work in government communication environment

Desirable:

  • Digital marketing skills desirable
  • Basic video filming and editing skills
  • Knowledge and experience about the UK
Seeing the Big Picture, Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together
3 April 2023
Executive Officer (EO)
Fixed term, with possibility of renewal
35
Asia Pacific
China
Guangzhou
British Consulate General
1
CNY
19,096 for Chinese Nationals and 26,443 for Expats
5 June 2023

We offer a competitive package which includes –

  • An monthly gross salary of CNY 19,096 for Chinese nationals and an abated monthly salary of CNY 26,443 per month for British Nationals and spouses/partners (all nationalities) of diplomats who are ‘W’ (diplomatic) visa holders and meet passport criteria;
  • Commercial insurance package including accidental, life, medical and business travel insurance
  • 22 days annual leave entitlement in pro-rata which increases by 0.5 per full calendar year worked up to maximum of 25 days. We offer different types of compulsory leave in accordance to Chinese law, e.g. Maternity Leave, Paternity Leave, Marriage Leave, Parental leave, etc.
  • In addition to the above compulsory leave, we also offer other types of leaves with pay e.g. Study Leave, Volunteering Leave to support staff who undertakes volunteering activities, Special Paid Leave to deal with emergencies involving a close family member, and more.
  • Employee Assistance Programme which is a confidential service providing help, support and information to staff to resolve and manage situations causing concern whether at work or personal nature is available to staff 24/7;
  • There is also plenty of opportunity to develop on and off the job, and establish expertise and build capability. We are strongly supportive of the job holder continuing to develop their professional skills. The Mission encourages a blended learning culture based on the 70/20/10 model which includes e-learning, mentoring, coaching, other development activities and role-specific required trainings. This offer also includes supporting staff members to take part in a 5 days of learning activities each year.

Learning and Development Opportunities:

The jobholder will have access to a range of e-learning and face-to-face learning opportunities made available via the FCDO’s ‘International Academy’ and through Learning & Development programmes organised by the Consulate-General and the China L&D Team. There will also be other formal and informal opportunities for professional development, eg. job shadowing, mentoring.

The Jobholder, as a member of the China Communications Network, will have access to professional communications and digital learning opportunities including The International Communications Programme, The Modern Communicator Programme and digital skills workshops etc.

Working Patterns:

Full time.

Other Information:

This is a fixed term contract until 31 October 2023 with possibility for renewal.

The Jobholder will be asked to travel to work on media engagement activities in our Consular districts in South China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hunan, Fujian and Jiangxi ), if there is a business need.

Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment and security checks.

Staff who are locally recruited by the British Consulate General are subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local Chinese employment law.

No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. All candidates must be legally able to work and reside in the country of the vacancy with the correct visa/work permit status or demonstrate eligibility to obtain the relevant permit. Any costs related to obtaining or renewing permits and visas are the responsibility of the successful applicant.

Please note that your application must be submitted before 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field "Application deadline."

Please be aware that the deadline for submitting applications is considered to be the time zone for the country where the vacancy has arisen.

We advise you to allow enough time to complete and submit your full application since only applications completed and submitted before the deadline will be considered.  Applicants called for an interview will be assessed on the core behaviours listed above.

All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the online application form completely including the employment and educational details, experience, professional skills and behaviour-based questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the applications and incomplete form in any respect may not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.
 
Only shortlisted candidates for interview will be contacted. Interviewees will be assessed on the core behaviours/qualifications listed above. Unsuccessful candidates will be notified via the system in due time. Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a ‘reserve list’.  If during the reserve period of 6 months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate.

For inclusivity and diversity, please remove the following personal information when uploading your CV: name, address, email address, age, date of birth, gender, and nationality.

The start date mentioned in the job advert is a tentative start date and the successful candidate will be required to undergo security vetting procedures. Any offer of employment will be subject to the candidate achieving suitable clearances.

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This opportunity is closed to applications.