View Vacancy – HK – Press Officer B3(L)


The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.

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

Communications, Press and Media

Main purpose of job:

This is an exciting role in the British Consulate General’s busy and dynamic Communications Section.  

The successful candidate will be responsible for developing, implementing and evaluating the British Consulate-General’s media communications strategy and plans, and coordinating broader communications activity at post (in particular with colleagues in the Department of International Trade and the British Council).  Press handling experience and media strategic planning and analysis skills will be central to this role to ensure the UK government communications are effective, efficient and evaluated. The successful candidate will also be intimately involved in assisting political news research work, and acting as a back-up to do digital updates of the UK Government’s website and social media channels in Hong Kong.

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

Press Reporting (20%): Produce the morning media summary for the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong, which reflects the full range of key news, commentary and opinion from local and international English and Chinese language news and social media reports, as well as any other stories of interest to colleagues in the Consulate-General. The UK Government priorities refer to the basic rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Sino British Joint Declaration, rule of law, constitutional developments, and equalities issues, which form the basic groundwork for the Six Monthly Report to the UK Parliament on Hong Kong.

Media Publicity (30%): Act as the official Cantonese-speaking media contact for the UK Government in Hong Kong handling media interest for the consulate. Develop, implement and lead media strategies and plans for Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s VIPs and public diplomacy activities, and oversee cross-departmental media communications efforts across the Consulate-General. The scope of work includes pitching interviews and opinion articles, arranging press conferences and briefings, reviewing and translating press and communications materials, developing media relationships with Cantonese language and international media contacts, and answering media enquiries. Assist with the Consulate-General’s media response to crisis or emergency (a natural disaster, for example). The ability to work under pressure, and experience of meeting tight deadlines is essential, as is experience of working with journalists.  Experience of working in a busy press office is desirable

Media insight, analysis and evaluation (20%): Monitor, analyse and evaluate effectively outcomes of media communications activities to ensure right audiences are targeted with right messages to support efforts to enhance the UK’s political and economic reputation.

Political News Research (20%): Assist Line Manager to use open source materials to conduct political news research and produce brief reports to contribute to wider political reporting and engagement.

Digital (10%): Act as a back-up in managing social media platforms and doing digital updates of GOV.UK platform independently in digital editor’s absence, to build sufficient resilience as a member of the Communications Team.  In the absence of colleagues, or during periods of busy work elsewhere in the section, you might be asked to help assist in this function. Flexibility will be key.

This position is open to Hong Kong citizens, permanent residents, and partners/dependants of UK-based diplomatic staff currently posted in Hong Kong. Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment checks. No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. Candidates must have or be able to obtain work authorisation for Hong Kong in order to apply.

  • A standard of written and spoken English equivalent to or near the level of a native speaker with the ability to produce and edit high quality written English. The successful candidate will need to be able to draft press releases, communication plans and, occasionally website and social media content in English, often to tight deadlines. 
  • Fluent speaker of Cantonese (C2 level for non-native speakers) and proficient Mandarin (B2-C1 level) reading and writing skills. The successful candidate will need to be able to monitor Chinese language press and produce media coverage in English, and to translate occasional press materials from English to Chinese. 
  • High self-motivation, a flexible and resilient attitude, with a strong track record of delivering multiple tasks often under pressure, within tight deadlines, without supervision, demonstrating flexibility and a keen eye for detail. 
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills. The successful candidate will need to work effectively with teams across the Consulate-General and the UK’s diplomatic and government network; and develop excellent working partnerships with external media partners as well. 
  • Previous experience working in or with media organisations or PR agencies in Hong Kong or the UK.

  • Experience of working with digital media, in a press office and/or within a public sector organisation.

Seeing the Big Picture, Leading and Communicating, Collaborating and Partnering, Managing a Quality Service




15 October 2020

B3 (L)

Full-time, Permanent

41

Asia Pacific

Hong Kong SAR

Hong Kong SAR

British Consulate General

1

26,780




30 November 2020

This position is open to Hong Kong citizens, permanent residents, and partners/dependants of UK-based diplomatic staff currently posted in Hong Kong. Employment offers are subject to successful clearance of pre-employment checks. No accommodation or relocation expenses are payable in connection with this position. Candidates must have or be able to obtain work authorisation for Hong Kong in order to apply.

Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):

The successful candidate will have access to a wide range of learning and development opportunities in FCO e-learning and opportunities for on-the-job learning and mentoring. 

Please note that the deadline for applications is 23:55 on the day mentioned in the above field “Application deadline”.

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.

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

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.

Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Local Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.

To help us with our recruitment effort, please indicate on the application form /cover letter where (ngotenders.net) you saw this job posting.

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