Deputy Head of Media - New Media


Company:	Government Recruitment Service
Salary:	£74,535 to £74,535 a year
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	London
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	28 Aug 2026
Closing date:	20 Sept 2026

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Summary

Can you demonstrate exceptional leadership skills?

Do you thrive on pace?

Do you think in platforms and channels as naturally as you think in headlines?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

DfT is a high-profile department at the heart of UK government. We work with agencies and partners to support the transport network that helps businesses and gets people and goods travelling around the country. We plan and invest to make journeys better.

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday
Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!

Find out more about what it's like working at DfTc

The Department for Transport's Media Team provides outstanding communications and advice on Secretary of State priorities, including driving up performance on the railways and improving bus services.

As Deputy Head of Media, you will be a senior leader with a specific focus on new media — shaping how DfT tells its story in an environment where news breaks online first and public narratives can shift within hours. You will work in close partnership with the Digital Communications team, bringing media and digital functions together to deliver joined-up, campaign-led communications that cut through.

The Deputy Head of Media is one of two deputies reporting to the Head of Media, forming a tight-knit senior leadership team at the core of DfT's communications operation.

Alongside managing two Chief Media Officers on proactive or reactive desks, you will have a particular focus on the fast-moving world of digital media — monitoring emerging narratives, spotting issues gaining traction online before they become crises, and driving agile, coordinated responses across the full channel mix. You will be the bridge between the Media Team and the Digital Communications team, ensuring that media handling and digital activity are always aligned and mutually reinforcing.

You will also lead on embedding campaign ways of working across the Media Team — working with the Strategic Communications Team to bring structured planning, audience insight and measurable objectives to both proactive and reactive media work, and ensuring that earned media is fully integrated into wider campaign strategies.

Out-of-hours working is a core part of this role. You will participate in the management back-up rota for out-of-hours duty press officers, for which overtime payments are provided.

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

Act as deputy for the Head of News, including regular attendance at meetings with the Transport Secretary
Lead the department's approach to new media
Work closely with the Digital Communications team, ensuring media and digital activity are planned and delivered together
Manage and develop a high-performing team of communications professionals

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills set out in the Civil Service Line Management Standards.

Flexible resourcing

Colleagues are expected to work with a degree of flexibility, meaning responsibilities may change to support priority delivery.

For further information on the role, please read the role profile which is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.

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