About the job

Job summary

About the GCS Profession:

Our mission is to deliver exceptional public service communication that makes a difference. 

People work in government communications because what we do matters. We explain the objectives and policies of the government of the day. We provide clarity and reassurance to the public at times of crisis.  We support businesses to grow. We protect our environment. We help those in need to access support. 

The Government Communication Service (GCS) is the professional body for all public service communicators working in government. Our GCS membership  incorporates marketing, stakeholder engagement, internal communications, media, digital and social, and operational communications professionals. We collaborate across government with 25 ministerial departments, 21 non-ministerial departments and more than 300 agencies in addition to other public bodies.

It's an exciting time to be a communications professional in government. The GCS Strategy is centred on a vision to become a leader in developing people and harnessing innovation and technology to improve our communications with the public. One of the main initiatives in this vision is the creation of a new learning offer for communicators via the GCS Academy, called GCS Advance, which will deliver a measurable and sustainable step change in the skills of government communicators, unlocking potential to deliver for the public and ultimately making even more of a difference to people’s lives. 

The Academy team is responsible for shaping and delivering the learning offer and programmes for the Government Communication Service,  with the aim of building and maintaining world class skills, and the capability and talent of GCS people across government. 

Job description

GCS Advance, our flagship learning and development programme currently under development, launches in 2024. As Academy Lead, you’ll be helping lead the team that is designing, testing and introducing innovative learning interventions and events, from concept to implementation.

The field of communications is rapidly changing, with the advent of AI and other technologies offering new possibilities but raising practical and ethical questions. Against this backdrop, communicators in government will require new training to develop new skills.

Reporting to the Head of Academy, you will be responsible for leading a number of areas of the Government Communication Service’s professional learning offer and managing the team delivering this. Our portfolio of learning and development is undergoing rapid change and you will need to be experienced and confident in developing, delivering and managing programmes across a wide range of formats, ranging from digital to on demand to face to face events.

With a background in learning design and delivery, you will develop and deliver programmes for the Academy that are innovative, meet learners’ needs and are of a consistently high quality. You will lead on ensuring that the learner experience, right from our initial communications, through the online registration and access process, to the learning experience itself, is enjoyable and effective. Given the innovative nature of our offer, experience of working with digital tools and learning management systems (LMS) is essential.

You will build and maintain relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including: our digital development and integration teams; Directors of Communication and Heads of Discipline; communicators throughout the UK; and a range of external partners and suppliers. Strong communications and collaboration skills will be essential for ensuring effective delivery. 

In order to ensure that we continually enhance and adapt our learner offer in response to user needs, you will be responsible for gathering insight and data on our learners and the market in which we operate. You will regularly evaluate all our L&D activity using a range of data as well as feedback from learners themselves, measuring whether our programmes are meeting both organisational and learning objectives.

You will be well-organised, with an ability to plan, schedule, and manage across teams, working with others in the unit to ensure the right resourcing is in place for the delivery of multiple programmes, both digitally and in person.  You will also be expert at running and facilitating training and workshops and managing course participants digitally and in person so that they have an exceptional learning experience. 

Possessing very strong verbal and written communications skills and, ideally, with a background in marketing, you will promote the Academy’s courses and learning interventions to GCS members, working with the Head of Academy and the GCS Member Services team to identify opportunities and channels. You will also oversee the development of promotional materials and content to support uptake of our offer. 

Day-to-day work in the Academy team is fun, fast-paced and creative and the role will involve managing and working closely with team members based across a range of locations. There will be a requirement for some regular travel throughout the UK. 

Person specification

As Academy Lead you will:

• Lead a team within the Academy which is responsible for a large programme of work across the UK, and overseas via internal delivery partners; and coach and develop them as individuals as well as overseeing their day-to-day work.
• As a key member of the Academy leadership team, ensure the Academy programme runs effectively, working with a range of external and internal partners as needed. This includes overseeing a range of processes: promotion; signing up learners; setting up cohorts; and on-boarding and managing participants; and delivery and facilitation of learning events and workshops to meet business needs and priorities.
• Use data and insight from a range of sources to understand our learners and gain a strategic awareness of learning, trends and best practice for the profession. You will work closely with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, to ensure that the learning offer meets their needs, reflects the current market and learner environment and can be delivered cost-effectively. 
• Devise and have strategic oversight of our customer journeys, leading on ensuring that the learner experience is enjoyable and effective, right from our initial communications through the online registration and access process to the learning experience itself.
• Using your digital expertise, ensure that your team understands and is trained in delivery via our LMS and registration platform, and ensure that insight from learners is fed into its future development. 
• Forecast demand for the Academy for the year and rolling quarter ahead, and devise workable resourcing solutions to deliver courses and programmes across all learner groups, including planning for the use of additional resourcing capacity from outside the core team at peak periods. 
• Lead on the strategy for promoting the uptake of programmes and courses and manage communications with our learners, working with the GCS Member Strategy and Services team to grow an community of learners in the UK and beyond via both online and offline channels. 
• Work closely with the digital product development team to ensure all learning products, including workshop assets for face-to-face delivery, as well as digital and hybrid learning, meet user needs and provide recommendations for development and iteration as needed. 
• Lead on procurement and contract management with learning delivery partners as required.  
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including Directors of Communications, Heads of Discipline, subject matter experts, GCSI programme managers and other partner organisations such as OECD.
• Lead on evaluation of learning delivery, designing and using surveys and other tools for capturing data and feedback across all segments of learners, and feeding into regular reporting to different stakeholder groups. Proactively use evaluation to support the improvement of learning interventions and delivery.

Essential skills and experience:

• Extensive experience of running digital learning delivery programmes, with an in-depth understanding of learning management systems (LMS).
• Experience of devising and delivering learning programmes and managing learner groups across a range of formats, with a proven track record of motivating and engaging learners and a passion for delivering great learning experiences.
• Excellent facilitation skills and a track record of delivering impactful, innovative learning events; expertise in communicating with participants in an accurate, accessible and engaging way.
• A background in marketing and/or communications, with excellent verbal, written and visual communication skills that you are able to tailor to the needs of the audience. 
• Strong creative thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to understand the problem at hand and use evidence and insight to come up with workable options and solutions.
• Proven experience of leading, motivating and developing and others to ensure the team is able to deliver consistently great learner experiences.
• A track record of building and maintaining successful internal and external stakeholder relationships. 
• Proactive, flexible and able to take the initiative.
• Track record in building and maintaining strong stakeholder relationships and networks.
• Experience of using data and evidence to influence decision-making; experience of monitoring and evaluation, and reporting on measurable targets. 
• Financially literate and commercially aware, with experience of setting, monitoring and reporting on targets.
• Proven ability to deliver to tight deadlines with excellent prioritisation and organisational skills.

Additional information:

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. Although requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £53,400, Cabinet Office contributes £14,418 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Application process

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and a 750 word personal statement. Within your personal statement please outline any experience, skills and qualifications that makes you a suitable candidate for this role. Further details of what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using experience criterion only. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Selection process

During the blended interview you will be assessed against your experience, behaviours that are contained in this advert and a technical assessment task, details of which will be shared with those in advance who are successful at sift invited to interview.

Expected timeline (subject to change)

Expected sift date – tbc
Expected interview date/s – w/c 5 February 2024
Interview Location - remote

Further information

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to Cabinet Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service or Disclosure Scotland on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. 

For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Reasonable adjustments

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: 

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. 
• Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'contact point for applicants' section.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). 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.