UK National Audit Office
Press Officer
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Job Title: Press Officer
Contract type: Fixed Term until end of March 2027
Preferred Start date: 7th September 2026
Location: London with a minimum of 2 days per week in the office in line with our hybrid working policy.
Salary: London Salary -c£42,262 pro rata per annum (more may be available for exceptional candidates + Civil Service Pension)
Role overview
The National Audit Office (NAO) supports Parliament in holding government to account and improving public services, with a focus on driving long-term, sustainable performance. As an independent body, we scrutinise public spending to ensure value for money for taxpayers and deliver recommendations that lead to financial savings and better service delivery across the public sector.
We are seeking a skilled and proactive Press Officer to join our Press Team on a fixed-term contract, preferably commencing on 7 September 2026 and continuing until 31 March 2027. This role is responsible for publicising the work of the NAO to the media to protect and enhance our reputation. The post-holder will need to be able to understand complex, technical information and turn this into simple and engaging messages for our audiences. They will need to be capable of managing proactive, planned press work but have the ability to react to events and enquiries as well. They should also be digitally aware and experienced at using a range of communication tools and channels.
Main responsibilities
Promoting the work of the NAO to external audiences via traditional and social media:
- Write press notices, pitches to journalists, op-eds and blog posts promoting our value-for-money and financial audit reports;
- Draft social media posts to promote our outputs, working alongside the design team to develop content for multimedia posts;
- Brief journalists across print and broadcast on NAO reports to help secure in-depth, accurate and positive media coverage;
- Organise and oversee press briefings and media interviews;
- Engage with stakeholders, including Parliament, government departments and audited bodies’ press offices;
- Support audit teams and NAO spokespeople to communicate our work externally;
- Develop communications plans which help achieve audit teams’ impact and influence objectives with our key stakeholders;
- Help prepare spokespeople for media interviews by conducting practice interviews and developing support materials;
- Respond to time-sensitive, high-profile enquiries from journalists accurately, by drafting reactive lines to take and briefing NAO spokespeople and the media to protect the NAO’s reputation;
- Respond appropriately to questions and comments on social media about our work;
- Build relationships with national, local and trade press journalists across all sectors our work covers;
- Participate in an out-of-hours press office rota with other team members.
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Working with press team colleagues to help deliver a range of tasks, including:
- Supporting the senior press officers in compiling and sharing media coverage;
- Assisting in delivering internal media training for colleagues;
- Maintaining media databases compliantly;
- Compiling internal reporting statistics.
Essential criteria assessed at application sift
- Demonstrable knowledge of the UK media landscape, including a strong news sense and awareness of the UK political environment
- Demonstrable writing skills, with the ability to produce clear, accurate, and effective written communications within agreed timescales
- Demonstrable communication skills, including the ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with a range of stakeholders and convey messages to different audiences using appropriate communication techniques
Additional essential criteria
- The successful candidate should also be able to demonstrate the following:
- Ability to translate complex and sensitive information and data into simple language
- Experience using digital and print media and able to learn new tools quickly
- Able to work under pressure and respond to issues at short notice and out of hours
- Effective team player with a demonstrated understanding of other communications disciplines
- Proficiency in traditional and social media monitoring
- Experience working as a journalist, or in a press office or communications team
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Desired criteria
- Interest in and understanding of how government works
To apply candidates should provide:
- An up-to-date CV
- A covering letter of no more than 2 pages of A4 clearly demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria and providing relevant examples from your experience
- The closing date for applications is 23:59 on Sunday 16th August
Selection process
- Candidates should be available to start in September 2026 to be considered for this opportunity.
- Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview, either in person or online on 25th and 26th August. They will be required to complete an assessment exercise in advance, which will then be discussed during the interview.
Nationality Requirements:
- UK nationals
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with (or eligible for) status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
Please note, we are not able to sponsor work visas. Please contact us at hrservicedesk@nao.org.uk should you have any questions on your nationality eligibility.
Equal opportunities and diversity
Disability and Reasonable Adjustments: Applicants with a disability who wish their application to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme should confirm this when submitting their application. Under this scheme we guarantee an interview to an applicant with a disability who meets the minimum requirements for the role. You should also let our HR team know if you wish us to consider any Reasonable Adjustments at any stage of the process (HR Service Desk (HRServiceDesk@nao.org.uk).
We are committed to fair and open recruitment. All applications will be assessed on merit against the requirements of the role. We do not discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic as defined by the Equality Act 2010.
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