JOB SUMMARY

The Communications team is made up of specialists who lead on all aspects of media, PR, campaigns, digital, strategic communications, external affairs and internal communications for DCMS. We provide a complete communications service to the media, department and ministers by supporting and highlighting the importance of DCMS sectors in contributing to the economy, way of life and the country’s world-leading reputation.
The Campaigns, Strategic Communications and External Affairs team sets the communications strategy for the department while also delivering innovative campaigns and leading our external affairs work. The team ensures that communication is led by audience insight and policy understanding and is properly planned and evaluated. They also manage both short-term and long-term forward looks and play a vital role in galvanising different communications disciplines around Ministerial priorities.
The role reports into the Deputy Head of Campaigns and Strategic Communications (Planning and Insight lead).

JOB DESCRIPTION

Are you a talented, creative communications professional with significant experience in strategic communications and/ or campaigns? Would you like to play a key role in developing and delivering communications strategies, working as part of a talented and supportive team working on some of the most interesting topics in Government? If so, we want to hear from you.
You will be an experienced and resilient strategic communications or campaigns manager, who is passionate about your work, demonstrating strong strategic insight and the ability to work at real pace and influence at the highest level by working with ministers, special advisers and policy officials. You will manage the planning, development and delivery of a range of high-profile and important announcements and campaigns across DCMS sectors and our Arms-Length Bodies.
The role line manages an IO role undertaking the gridding function, and will be required to cover the gridding role when the IO is on leave. You should therefore have experience of either undertaking a gridding role, or of having been in a role working closely with a gridder.
You can expect plenty of variety and the opportunity to work at the heart of government with the chance to work on high profile media events for the department such as Remembrance Sunday.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS:

• A self-starter with excellent written and verbal communication skills who can work at pace, prioritise competing demands, horizon-scan, and be responsive to change with short deadlines.
• Strong experience of bringing teams together to manage and deliver proactive communications campaigns and announcements, evaluating outcomes.
• Strong interpersonal skills and experience of building relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, to support wider government objectives and campaign delivery. Experience working with, and providing advice for, senior internal stakeholders including Ministers / Senior Leaders.
• Experience of direct line management or of task managing a team or individuals to deliver outcomes.

DESIRABLE SKILLS:

• Experience of commissioning and managing external agencies e.g. communications, events or insight agencies.
• Experience of undertaking a Communications planning role, or of line management of a Communications planning role, or of working in a press team and working closely with the planner.
• Knowledge of the Government Communications Service OASIS model or similar.
  We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role will take place on: Thursday 27th March at 1pm
  The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.
  Please register your interest by filling out this Registration form by Wednesday 26th March at 5pm and you will be sent an invitation.
  Please note that the session will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process - please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) to recruitment.team@dcms.gov.uk

TECHNICAL SKILLS

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Ideas - Develop the communication strategy and plan. Select channels and develop key messages and content for target audiences. Identify evaluation criteria
• Implementation - Develop and implement effective communication strategies and plans. Work with stakeholders and partners to deliver communication.

NATIONALITY REQUIREMENTS

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements

To apply for this vacancy, you will need to submit the following documents which will assessed against the experience success profile:

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the “Job History” section on Civil Service Jobs on the Civil Service Jobs application form.
• A Statement of Suitability (max 750 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed however these will not be considered in the assessment of your application except in circumstances where there are a high number and calibre of candidates