Gurr expects to leave the MoD around the turn of the year, once a replacement has been found.
Gurr said: ‘It has been an honour and a privilege to do this job for the last three years. I often describe this as the best comms job in Government, and I mean it. I have a great team and we have achieved a huge amount – Prince Harry’s deployment to Afghanistan, the successful end of our operation in Iraq, seeing through the Government transition, Afghanistan and much, much more.’
He explained that he is leaving because his posting has come to an end, which had already been extended to see through the transition to a new government and the soon-to-be-completed initial strategic defence and security review work.
Gurr expects to move to another senior mainstream civil service position within the department, and is hoping for something in policy.
Gurr is the longest serving director of media and comms at the MoD, having been in the post for three years.
The MoD is planning to hold only an internal government competition, so only Whitehall staff are expected to be in the running.
Gurr was formerly the MoD's director of comms planning from 2006, a role that he also handled between 1999 and 2002. He has also worked at the Cabinet Office, where he was deputy chief of assessments staff.
