Media Literacy and emerging technologies policy consultant (between 40 and 50 days from January 2025 to the end of March 2025).

This role is a part time position (2-3 days per week) and can be fully remote but may require occasional travel to our London office (Riverside House) for major meetings.

Overview of Ofcom and the team

Ofcom exists to make communications work for everyone. We regulate the TV, and fixed and mobile telecoms, postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate. We are the regulator for UK-established video sharing platforms and have recently taken on additional responsibilities as the UK’s online safety regulator under the Online Safety Act.

Our culture is clear - we live by our values: Empowerment; Excellence; Collaboration; Agility and Respect. These define how we work to deliver our purpose, now and in the future. We focus not only on what we do, but how we do it. We pride ourselves on being an organisation of people who genuinely care about helping others.

This successful consultant will be a temporary member of Ofcom’s Making Sense of Media (MSOM) media literacy team, a cross-disciplinary team delivering a programme of work to improve the ability of adults and children in the UK to engage effectively with online services and other media.

Purpose of the Role

In our three-year media literacy strategy, we commit to build on our role as a convenor of media literacy experts to co-create policy and practical recommendations on emerging technologies such as AI.

We have stated that we will undertake a collaborative workstream of internal and external experts and stakeholders to conduct thematic reviews of key elements of life online and how AI, and other future and emerging technology may influence users’ experience.

This workstream will identify the media literacy opportunities and challenges and co-develop policy and practical recommendations to support the media literacy sector and beyond.

We are therefore looking for a consultant to support Ofcom in the delivery of this work. The consultant will be asked to identify relevant expertise for a working group. They will then support Ofcom in the development of relevant deliberative content for the working group, and in consolidating the recommendations of the working group into an appropriate output to inform those working on media literacy.

This role requires someone with a unique set of skills and experiences. You will have significant policy experience, able to understand complex topics at pace. You will be able to communicate clearly on complex topics in both in both written and verbal formats, as well as having compelling inter-personal skills.

We are looking for someone who can motivate themselves to deliver a set of policy and practice recommendations, and run a timely, in depth and inclusive policy development process. You will need to analyse and synthesise complex information accurately and at speed and bring together the expertise of external stakeholders.

Requirements of the role

Develop a recommendation on the first area for exploration
Identify and bring together an ad-hoc working group for the duration of this project
Able to work with Ofcom colleagues to understand the technological capabilities of new and emerging technologies
Can produce written documents that clearly communicate complex topics
Comfortable supporting discussions with working groups to develop understanding and generate discussion
Able to work independently
Produce end of project output that appropriately reflects the findings of the working group and communicates them clearly to an external audience

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

Deep policy experience, preferably in media literacy, technology, or adjacent field.
Communication skills: Excellent communication skills, especially clarity and presentation skills in written documents
Analytical Skills: Able to take complex, varied content and pull-out key information in a structured and systematic way

Inclusivity is at the heart of what we do.

We are a forward-thinking, inclusive employer and recognise the value of diversity to truly make communications work for everyone. Our vision is to ensure Ofcom is a place where our people can work hard and be themselves. We aim to recruit from the widest pool of candidates possible – no matter your social background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or disability. We strive to be representative of the whole of the UK and our aim is to be an employer of choice for everyone.

We champion flexible working patterns including job shares where we can. Discover more about working at Ofcom at careers.ofcom.org.uk

We strive to ensure all our recruitment information and processes are accessible to and useable by everyone. If you would like to receive any information in a different way or would like us to do anything differently to help you apply for our roles, please let our recruitment team know by emailing resourcing@ofcom.org.uk or by telephone on 0330 912 1378.

As a Disability Confident employer, we offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for our advertised jobs. When you apply, you can let us know if you would like your application to be considered under this scheme (sometimes known as ‘guaranteed interview scheme’).

Deadline for applications is 29 November 2024.

If you would like to learn more about this opportunity before applying, please email amir.noormahamod@ofcom.org.uk with your CV and a short letter briefly detailing why you wish to be considered.

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Policy Consultant - Media Literacy & Emerging Tech