Media Relations Manager

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.

We aim to support candidates by making our interview process clear and transparent. The closing date for all applications will be 4^th July 2026. We will review applications on an ongoing basis, and shortlisted candidates can expect interviews to take place on the 9^th and 10^th July 2026.

If you are shortlisted and progressed through the stages, you can expect: 

• First stage in-person at our offices in Cambridge. You will be provided with a brief to complete a role related task which will need to be returned by email in advance of your interview. 
• Final stage interview: in-person at our offices in Cambridge.

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process due to a disability or a long-term health condition, there will be an opportunity for you to inform us via the online application form. We will do our best to accommodate your needs. 

Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.

We are committed to an equitable recruitment process. As such, applications must be submitted via our official online application procedure. Please refrain from sending your CV directly to our recruiters. If you experience technical difficulties or require additional support with submitting your online application, contact the Recruiter. 

Why join us

Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You will belong to a collaborative team that is exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe – for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it is safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background. 

We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.

• Media Relations Manager - Job Description.pdf (181.44 KB)