JOB TITLE: Senior Communications Officer GRADE: Band 6 LOCATION: Office and Home Working CONTRACT DURATION: FIXED TERM CONCERT – 18 MONTHS HOURS: 37 SALARY SCALE: £41,608 to £50,702 per annum Apply on-line www.jobs.scot.nhs.uk We are looking for a talented and creative professional to help us tell the story of NHS Lothian; Scotland’s second largest health board, serving a local population of 800,000 and providing specialist services nationally. You will have the opportunity to promote NHS Lothian’s world class innovation in health treatments and care, celebrate the fantastic achievements of our 26,000 staff and support our continued response to the real challenges being felt everyday across the NHS. The communications team touches every aspect of the organisation so you will never be bored. You will be managing media relations; generating and writing stories and media releases, creating engaging multimedia content for our digital channels, running campaigns; publicising innovation; managing events, and facilitating VIP visits to our services. Your main focus will be in supporting the teams delivering urgent care at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, the Western General Hospital and St John’s Hospital, Livingston. You will work with frontline staff on a major service redesign programme to help shape vital work to improve waiting times and the experience and safety of patients. You will promote best practice, share successes and work to raise public awareness of change within the service. This is a superb opportunity for a team player with a ‘can-do’ approach. If you are as comfortable putting together and executing a well thought-out plan as you are responding to a fast moving situation, we’d love to hear from you. You will need: * a proven track record in communications/PR/media * excellent written and verbal communication skills * up to date knowledge of social media tools and real skill for generating engaging digital content * the ability to produce accurate work to very tight deadlines. * experience of working on a range of different projects and teams * Experience in proactive and reactive media relations Please note: we anticipate a high level of interest in this position and may close the vacancy early once a sufficient amount of applications are received. Therefore, please make sure you complete and submit your application at an early stage. We will fully support disabled candidates, and candidates with long-term conditions or who are neurodivergent by making reasonable adjustments to our recruitment policy and practices. To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service. Further information on what NHS Scotland Boards are required to do to check this as well as what your responsibilities include can be found in the further information for this vacancy. This post requires the post holder to have a PVG Scheme membership/record. If the post holder is not a current PVG member for the required regulatory group (i.e. child and/or adult) then an application will need to be made to Disclosure Scotland and deemed satisfactory before they can begin in post. Due to legislative changes from 1 April 2025, this post may require a different level of criminal records check done than is currently the case. If the post is assessed as a "regulated role", your appointment will be subject to joining the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme. If there is any change to what is currently required, this will be confirmed by either the Hiring Manager or the Recruitment Team. For more details on these changes please visit: Disclosure Scotland Changes .