Communications Officer (Media & PR) at Natural History Museum | London, UK

Natural History Museum

Communications Officer (Media & PR)

London, UK (Hybrid)

Salary Not AvailableMid Level2+ years expFull time

Posted 1 month ago

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Job Summary

Own press office coverage for a high profile museum: oversee press releases, reactive inquiries, issues management, and flagship campaigns with cross‑team support.

Press workflow ownership: draft releases, packs, Q&As and statements under tight deadlines.
Reactive outreach and filming: triage inquiries and supervise journalist visits, photocalls, and on/off site shoots.
Stakeholder and media relationships: build internal and external networks and coordinate with Marketing, Digital, and Social teams.

Job Description

The role involves drafting quality press releases, press packs, lines against enquiry, Q&As and statements, often to tight deadlines.
Triage and respond to day-to-day reactive press enquiries.
Support on issues management when needed.
Supervise filming with our experts both on and off site.
Representing your campaigns across the Museum, including developing and presenting communications plans and working closely with the Marketing, Digital and Social Media teams.
Develop and maintain excellent relationships with both internal stakeholders and media contacts.
Provide out-of-hours cover as part of the 24/7 Press Office duty rota.
Support on comms activity promoting the Museum’s flagship campaigns and strategic projects including temporary exhibitions and new galleries as part of NHM150.
Support the work of the Commercial Communications Manager, Internal Communications Manager and Wildlife Photographer of the Year Communications Manager.

A minimum of 2-3 years’ experience of press work in a busy press office is essential.
Demonstrable experience of organising and supervising journalist visits, interviews, photocalls and filming for a high-profile organisation.
Proven experience of identifying and managing both reputational risks and opportunities to secure positive media coverage.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, including the ability to write attention-grabbing press releases and social media copy that positively influences, is essential.
You will be able to accurately communicate complex ideas to non-specialists, ideally gained through working with academics, scientists or technical specialists in a PR capacity.

Experience of working with influencers is desirable.

27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent).
Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 4 - 10%).
Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan.
Life insurance.
Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK.
Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes.
We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills.
Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential.
Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including offers and reduced entry fees at cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets, plus access to English Heritage sites.
Membership to our Sports and Social Association (small fee), including access to our in-house gym and clubs.

Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum is a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. More than 80 million objects spanning billions of years are in our care. We welcome more than five million visitors to our galleries annually, and 16 million visitors to our websites. Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes.http://www.nhm.ac.uk/jobs Stay up to date with Museum news and events on our website: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/And on social media:https://facebook.com/naturalhistorymuseum https://twitter.com/NHM_Londonhttps://instagram/natural_history_museum https://www.tiktok.com/@its_nhmhttps://youtube.com/naturalhistorymuseum

London, England, GBR

1.7K employees (315 in marketing)

www.nhm.ac.uk