Job Description:

Job information Speechwriter to the Secretary of State from the Company Ministry of Defence, this latest Speechwriter to the Secretary of State job vacancy is located in the city London located in the country United Kingdom . This latest job opening is open to job seekers who have the latest education / graduate GCSE . Job Vacancies in this Engineering field have been opened and published up to the specified time.

Job Responsibility:

Details

Reference number

364970

Salary

£67,820 Posts based in London will attract the relevant London weighting. A Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Job grade

Grade 6 B1

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

MOD - Head Office & Corporate Services - Directorate of Defence Communications - Speechwriting Team

Type of role

Press Relations

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Homeworking, Job share, Part-time, Compressed hours

Number of jobs available

1

Contents

Location

About the job

Benefits

Things you need to know

Apply and further information

Location

London

About the job

Job summary

The position of Speechwriter to the Secretary of State is a high-profile and influential post at the heart of one of Whitehall's busiest and biggest government departments.

Your work will be a shop-window for the Ministry of Defence and our Armed Forces. You will have a key role in conveying Defence messages both internally and externally.

Your focus will be providing high quality, personalised speeches (including for Parliamentary debates), articles and other content for the Secretary of State.

You will manage the overall process to achieve these outputs and will be able to call on the support of the departments other speechwriters (G6 - Chief Speechwriter & Grade 7 - Speechwriter

Content will cover a wide range of subject matter, including UK assistance to Ukraine, our operations in the Red Sea, significant commemorations, and the modernisation of Defence to cope with a more dangerous age.

You will provide strategic advice to help shape editorial programme as a strategic communications tool.

This is a high profile role which involves working closely with the Secretary of State. You will have direct access to them, and the opportunity to attend meetings and accompany them on visits.

Organisation background

This key post is in the Directorate of Defence Communications. DDC is responsible for communicating the activities of the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces both internally and to the outside world. Its aim is to help people understand what Defence is about.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week but you may be required to work out of hours given the parliamentary cycle.

Job description

• Delivering outstanding speeches, articles and editorial products for Secretary of State
• Explaining policy positions accurately while building strong, creative and lively arguments which engage audiences.
• Taking a big picture, strategic perspective on MOD issues.
• Building strong relationships with SofS, SpAds and ministerial offices.
• Contributing to maintaining a first-class editorial team which provides consistency of service across the ministerial team.
• Increasing the speech writing skills of the wider Communications Directorate and wider MOD.
• An ear for how SofS expresses himself and an ability to translate that into speeches and other products.

Person specification

Essential

• Confident, self-starting and imaginative
• Very strong communication skills - both written and spoken
• ComfortablLe dealing with Ministers and the most senior people in Defence - both military and civilian
• Ability to work under pressure to achieve tight deadlines
• Resilience - able to withstand criticism and assimilate salient facts from a mass of information
• Experience of speechwriting
• Flexible - ability to capture the distinctive voices of our Ministers and translate it into compelling prose that we will be delivered before audiences worldwide.
• Outstanding writing skills (to be assessed via a written assignment).
• Knowledge of UK Defence policy and the workings of MOD or wider HMG.
• An ability to work collaboratively with Ministers and a wide range of senior colleagues from across HMG.
• Excellent judgement, proven while working effectively in fast-paced environments.
• An ability to see the connections between politics, policies and issues.

Desirable

• Speech writing
• An interest in the work of the department and the Armed Forces

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Working Together

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• - Impact - https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Government-Communication-Service-Career-Framework.pdf

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £67,820, Ministry of Defence contributes £18,311 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• Free use of gym at Main Building
• London weighting of £3250 per annum
• Season ticket advance to assist with travel costs to/from home and your permanent work location

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.

Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.

Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.

Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey - we may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

The 2 stage recruitment process will test and reward speechwriting skills and judgment in addition to effective behaviours as defined in the Civil Service Success Profile Framework.

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience.

In place of a traditional Personal Statement, please provide a 500 word draft speech setting out why you should be offered this job. You should use this to cover the information you would include in a traditional personal statement, but you should write it in the third person, to be delivered by an unspecified MOD Minister. You should aim to demonstrate an understanding of speechwriting principles and techniques.

At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profiles:

Behaviours

• Communicating and influencing
• Seeing the bigger picture

At interview, you will be assessed by answers to general questions about speechwriting and against the following Success Profiles:

Behaviours

• Communicating and influencing
• Seeing the bigger picture
• Working together

Technical Skills

• Ideas

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk .

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical.

The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window). See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative. Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

Name : Alex Gore Email : Alex.gore108@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email : DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk

Further information

Please ensure you read the attached candidate information document prior to completing your application. If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received from DBS, or believe that DBS has failed to follow the recruitment process in line with the Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition, you can raise a formal complaint by writing to DBS at the following address: Defence Business Services, Scanning Hub, Room 6124, Tomlinson House, Norcross Lane, Blackpool, FY5 3WP. If after raising your complaint with DBS you remain dissatisfied you can complain directly to the Civil Service Commission at the following address: , Civil Service commission, Room G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ Or by email: info@csc.gov.uk. Keywords : London jobs
Closed Date : 2025-08-27