Media Relations Manager

Location: Cambridgeshire

Media Relations Manager

Salary: £45,100 – £60,400 per annum

Location:

Cambridge, UK – Hybrid (40–60% office based)

Contract:

Permanent

Hours:

Full time, 35 hours per week

Are you a skilled media relations professional with a strong news sense and a passion for shaping impactful stories?

We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.

This is an exciting opportunity to join our External Communications and Brand team and play a key role in raising our global profile. You will help shape how we tell our story, securing high-quality media coverage and supporting our mission to improve education worldwide.

About the role

As an experienced media relations professional, you will develop and deliver strategies that enhance and protect Cambridge's global reputation and support our organisational priorities.

You will lead the creation and delivery of compelling, media-ready stories on key education topics, driving proactive coverage across national and international outlets. Alongside this, you will manage reactive communications and contribute to critical incident response, ensuring messaging is clear, timely and consistent.

You will also build strong relationships with journalists and editors, maintain effective media monitoring and contact systems, and advise and train senior colleagues to engage confidently with the media.

Additional responsibilities and accountabilities include:

* Build and manage relationships with key journalists and media outlets to secure high-quality coverage

* Draft and oversee press releases, statements and key messaging to ensure consistency and accuracy

* Lead media enquiry handling and partner with senior communications leadership on crisis communications and critical incident management

* Deliver media training and provide advice to senior stakeholders on effective media engagement

* Monitor media coverage and provide insight and reporting to inform communications activity

This position has been classified as a hybrid role, requiring the selected candidate to typically spend 40-60% of their time collaborating and connecting face-to-face at their dedicated location. Aside from our hybrid principles, other flexible working requests will be considered from the first day of employment, including other work arrangements should you require adjustments due to a disability or long-term health condition.

About You
You will be an experienced media relations professional with strong knowledge of generating positive coverage and managing reputational risk in a complex organisation. You will bring excellent writing skills, a strong news sense, and the ability to respond quickly and effectively to both proactive opportunities and reactive issues.

You will demonstrate experience of delivering media outcomes, building effective relationships with journalists, and advising senior stakeholders. You will also be highly organised, with the ability to manage competing priorities and meet tight deadlines.

If you meet the above minimum requirements, we encourage you to apply.

Your application will be even stronger if you can also demonstrate the following desirable criteria:

* Experience working in education

* Knowledge of UK and/or international media landscapes

* Experience delivering media training or supporting spokesperson development

* Understanding of legal and regulatory considerations in media relations

For a detailed job description, please refer to the link at the bottom of the advert on our careers site.

We are a Disability Confident (DC) employer that is committed to equality and inclusion ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to all. The DC scheme's Offer of an Interview commitment applies to applicants who opt in, and disclose a disability or a long-term health condition, and who best meet the minimum criteria for the role. In instances where interviewing all qualifying candidates is not practicable and/or appropriate, we prioritise those who best meet the minimum criteria, as we would for applicants who do not have a disability or long-term health condition.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is an approved UK employer for the sponsorship of eligible roles and applicants under the Skilled Worker visa route. Please refer to the gov uk website for guidance to understand your own eligibility based on the role you are applying for.

Rewards and benefits

We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world-class, flexible rewards package, featuring family-friendly and planet-friendly benefits including:

* 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays

* Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance

* Discretionary annual bonus

* Group personal pension scheme

* Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary

* Green travel schemes

Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.

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