Remediation - Communications Lead

You will be responsible for leading an embedded communications team to deliver a suite of internal and external communications activities, working with teams across the directorate and the departmental comms team. This will include digital communications, campaigns, the development of internal knowledge sharing and engagement with press office, strategic communications, policy and operational teams. You will need to build excellent relationships to deliver effective comms that have the desired impact. You will enjoy being on top of, and alive to, a wide range of issues, and be able to translate this into succinct high quality written products. This is a cross-cutting role that will best suit applicants who can thrive under pressure, manage competing priorities, have excellent written skills and handle complex policy. It is a great opportunity to play a key role in delivering on a critical government priority. We are looking for someone who is open to developing new and creative approaches to storytelling, ensuring that we’re continually testing and learning and increasing the impact of our messages to achieve our objectives., + Work closely with the central comms team and policy teams to lead on the delivery of communications activities and support the ongoing development and implementation of an overarching remediation comms strategy to achieve key objectives and reflect diverse stakeholder needs. + Manage the quality of all communications materials and external messaging, including written content, web presence, campaigns and other materials. + Identify communications opportunities, providing strategic communications advice and oversight to identify and drive the delivery of policy announcements. You will be adept at recognising opportunities and then, working with MHCLG comms, putting in place plans to turn these into strong announcements to demonstrate delivery. + Ensure that colleagues throughout the Remediation Directorate are kept up to speed on the latest communications and engagement developments. + Analyse communication metrics, measuring the effectiveness of different channels and adjusting strategies for continuous improvement. + Act as key counterpart for the central comms team to improve coordination of responses to media queries and development of comms products. + Support the development of a portfolio narrative and ensure that this narrative is present in relevant communications and briefing products. + Leadership and line management of a team to deliver objectives, ensuring they feel supported to deliver under pressure., This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills. As part of our pre-employment checking process we will be using your CV to confirm your job history. Please note that by providing us with your CV you are consenting to us using the information enclosed as part of the checking process. CV and Cover Letter Declaration We recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - this is called name blind recruitment. Please remove references to your: + name/title + educational institutions + age + gender + email address + postal address + phone number + nationality/immigration status You will need to merge your CV and covering letter into one document. When submitting your application Applied will ask you to upload a CV, when doing this you should upload your merged document of your CV and covering letter. Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that your application would be viewed by different assessors. At sift, through your CV and covering letter we will be assessing: Experience Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page referencing how you meet the criteria set out in the job description. In your covering letter please highlight your experience with leading or managing external communications activities. The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of the following success profiles elements: Behaviours: Communicating and Influencing, Working Together, Delivering at Pace, Seeing The Big Picture, There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly depending on the business needs. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis if you are successful for the role.

• Please note: The Darlington Economic Campus is a pioneering new cross-government hub which will bring together people across departments and public organisations to play an active role in the most important economic issues of the day. The work of the Campus will make a real difference to people both across the UK and internationally. There will be substantial career opportunities and exciting prospects - a career at the Campus means you will be working at the heart of Government, with access to the benefits and fantastic opportunities offered by the civil service.
For further information on the DEC, please take a look at the attached DEC candidate pack. Sift and Interview dates Sifting is envisaged to take place W/C 21 October 2024 with interview dates to be confirmed. All interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall. Reserve List In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details on a reserve list for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitment@communities.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list. Candidate Pack Information Please see attached Candidate pack for further information. Before starting your application it’s very important to make sure that you are eligible to apply and meet the Civil Service nationality requirements. All candidates are expected to read the information provided in the MHCLG candidate pack regarding nationality requirements and rules Internal Fraud Database The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned. The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, civil servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the civil service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited dataset back to MHCLG as a participating government organisations. MHCLG then carry out the pre employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way, the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented. For more information please see: Internal Fraud Register Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.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) (opens in a new window) + 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 (opens in a new window)Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

+ You will have proven experience in communications, marketing, public relations or related fields. + You will be highly organised, enabling you to effectively manage multiple, sometimes conflicting priorities whilst delivering high-quality results. + You will be an articulate communicator, both in writing and verbally, who is able to confidently engage internal and external audiences across various channels. + You will be a critical and creative thinker who is able to develop innovative communications solutions and engaging materials, leveraging trends and data. + You will have great interpersonal skills which enable you to develop positive, trusting relationships with a range of stakeholders of all levels to get things done. + You will have experience of crafting key messages and developing plans to implement communications or behaviour change campaigns, drawing on audience insight., + Communicating and Influencing + Working Together + Delivering at Pace + Seeing the Big PictureTechnical skills We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process: + Written exercise

Alongside your salary of £51,934, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £15,045 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. + Learning and development tailored to your role + An environment with flexible working options + A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity + A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%, + The salary for this role is £51,934 (National).