Communications officer
Communications staff help the organisation explain what it does to staff, patients, the public, partners, and the media. They write and publish content, run internal communications and campaigns, manage digital and social media channels, handle media enquiries, and protect the organisation's reputation, especially during incidents and outages.
- Family
- Corporate services
- UK GDaD PCF role
- None: this reference defines the role
- ESCO occupations
- public relations officer (ISCO-08 2432); communication manager (ISCO-08 1222)
- On GitHub
- Role document · Role data
Levels
| Band | Role level | UK GDaD PCF level | Civil Service grades | Job evaluation points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Communications officer | — | — | 288 |
| 5 | Senior communications officer | — | — | 371 |
| 6 | Communications lead | — | — | 441 |
| 7 | Communications manager | — | — | 490 |
| 8b | Head of communications | — | — | 615 |
In a digital health care organisation
- Communications about health services must be accurate, clear, and accessible, because patients may act on them.
- Campaigns often aim to change behaviour, such as encouraging patients and care staff to use a new digital service.
- Service outages, cyber incidents, and data breaches need fast, careful communications with patients, staff, partners, and the media.
- Stories about patients need consent and must protect confidentiality.
ESCO occupations and skills
ESCO lists the skills and knowledge that employers usually need (essential) or may need (optional) for each occupation. Use them as a checklist for development conversations.
public relations officer
Public relations officers represent a company or organisation to stakeholders and the public. They use communications strategies to promote an understanding of the activities and image of their clients in a favourable way.
Essential skills and knowledge (28)
Skills and competences
- advise on public image
- advise on public relations
- analyse external factors of companies
- build trust
- conduct public presentations
- develop communications strategies
- develop digital content
- develop public relations strategies
- draft press releases
- establish relationship with the media
- give interviews to media
- integrate strategic foundation in daily performance
- organise press conferences
- perform public relations
- prepare presentation material
- protect client interests
- use different communication channels
Knowledge
- business communication
- communication principles
- corporate social responsibility
- corporate sustainability
- diplomatic principles
- forming of public opinion
- market research
- reputation management
- rhetoric
- strategic planning
Other
Optional skills and knowledge (32)
Skills and competences
- advise on communication strategies
- analyse internal factors of companies
- apply diplomatic principles
- build business relationships
- build community relations
- build international relations
- carry out forum moderation
- compile content
- coordinate advertising campaigns
- develop creative ideas
- develop professional network
- develop promotional tools
- follow the news
- give live presentation
- identify customer's needs
- implement marketing strategies
- liaise with politicians
- liaise with quality assurance
- perform business analysis
- plan marketing campaigns
- speak different languages
- use analytics for commercial purposes
- work closely with news teams
Knowledge
communication manager
Communication managers are responsible for developing communication strategies in order to promote the organization's mission, services or product. They coordinate communication projects and manage the communications issued by the company for both the internal and the external clients. They supervise internal communications, ensuring that communications reach each one of the employees and further questions can be answered. For external communications, they coordinate coherence among the messages transmitted in mails, printed materials, press articles, and corporate promotional materials. They strive to maintain truthful communications.
Essential skills and knowledge (33)
Skills and competences
- advise on communication strategies
- advise on public image
- analyse external factors of companies
- analyse internal factors of companies
- apply diplomatic principles
- apply grammar and spelling rules
- build trust
- compile content
- develop communications strategies
- develop public relations strategies
- identify clients' needs
- integrate strategic foundation in daily performance
- organise participation in local or international events
- perform public relations
- prepare presentation material
- proofread text
- protect client interests
- use different communication channels
- use intranet
Knowledge
- business communication
- communication principles
- corporate social responsibility
- corporate sustainability
- diplomatic principles
- ethics of sharing work through social media
- forming of public opinion
- grammar
- market research
- office software
- reputation management
- rhetoric
- strategic planning
Other
Optional skills and knowledge (28)
Skills and competences
- advise on public relations
- build business relationships
- build community relations
- build international relations
- carry out forum moderation
- conduct public presentations
- develop professional network
- disseminate internal communications
- draft press releases
- establish communication with foreign cultures
- establish relationship with the media
- follow the news
- give interviews to media
- implement marketing strategies
- manage online communications
- manage visual communications
- organise press conferences
- share through digital technologies
- speak different languages
- study communications channels for different employers/contractors
- use online tools to collaborate
Knowledge
Contains ESCO v1.2.1 data (https://esco.ec.europa.eu/). © European Union. Reuse authorised under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.