About the job

Job summary

We recognise the challenges that people with protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.

Do you have excellent stakeholder engagement and communications skills?

Would you like an opportunity to produce and deliver engaging communications for high profile projects that make a difference to people’s lives and help place Britain at the forefront of the transport revolution?

If so, we have a fantastic opportunity to join our Coordination and Planning (CAP) team, and we would love to hear from you!

Job description

Our CAP team is responsible for coordinating the business planning process for train operators, ensuring alignment between individual operator plans, Department and industry policies and strategies, the contractual basis and incentives for rail operators, and the industry financial settlement the Department agrees with His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT).

In this role, you will be responsible for the stakeholder engagement and communications on behalf of the Programme Lead. You will collaborate with the Project Manager to systematically identify and carry out an analysis of stakeholders, coordinate the planning and conduct of interactions with them, take account of their levels of influence and particular interests, and ensure their involvement throughout the Annual Business Planning (ABP) programme and related work streams.

As ABP Stakeholder and Communications Manager, you will have a key role within our CAP team using your expertise to handle the planning, production, and delivery of communications. You will coordinate content requests, advise on, and produce messaging, and how best to deliver communications through events, channels, materials, and other activities for diverse audiences. Your target audience will include senior civil servants, internal Whitehall Departments and Ministers, alongside the private sector and delivery partners. 

If you would like to find out more about what it's like to work at DfT Rail, please click here.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Leading stakeholder analysis, utilising appropriate tools and developing the strategy in conjunction with other senior project leads, and providing advice on the most appropriate communication channel for each stakeholder group.
• Developing the stakeholder profile by working with the project leads to understand and map the changing needs against stakeholder influence and involvement.
• Managing relationships, successfully influencing, and collaborating with key partners in the programme, wider department, delivery partners and the Private Sector to deliver outcomes.
• Preparing, co-ordinating and delivering events to the required time, budget and quality standards and fully contributing to the effective governance arrangements for the delivery of the events programme.

Person specification

About you

You will either hold at least one typical project delivery qualification, or have a desire and willingness to work towards a qualification once in role.

You will have excellent stakeholder engagement and interpersonal skills and experience of developing positive relationships with partners across professions, organisational boundaries and with external organisations. You will be an articulate, engaging, and trusted adviser, with the credibility to influence and challenge at all levels.

You will have experience of drafting and simplifying complex information from multiple sources to produce high quality, accurate and engaging content suitable for a range of channels and media. 

You will enjoy taking the initiative and ownership of tasks and delivering multiple products to a high standard in a complex environment.

Additional Information

This role is available to individuals who wish to be spending their office time in Leeds or Birmingham, and we would also expect the individual to be willing to occasionally travel to visit different DfT office locations.

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace, although requirements to attend other locations for official business, or carry out detached duty in another DfT workplace, will also count towards this level of attendance. 

Project Delivery Capability Framework - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Benefits

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits. We offer generous annual leave, attractive pension options, flexible working, inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance.

Find out more about what it's like working at the Department for Transport.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

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

How to Apply

When considering applying please look at how your experience relates to the role, and within your CV and Personal Statement (maximum 750 words) please provide detailed evidence of your experience of the following:

• Proficiency in engaging stakeholders and managing communications.
• Utilising stakeholder engagement tools and techniques.
• Collaborating with diverse stakeholders to ensure messaging and content quality across various channels and media.

The sift is due to take place from 02/05/2024.

Interviews are likely to be held from 17/05/2024.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.

The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment will include:

• an interview

This interview could be conducted online via Teams or face to face at one of our offices. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

You’re encouraged to become familiar with the role profile, as you may be assessed against any of the criteria recorded within.

The Department for Transport alongside other Government Departments recruit using Success Profiles. This means for each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate in order to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

For further information on Success Profiles visit our Careers website.

Pre-employment Checking

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.

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Document Accessibility

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

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email DRGComms@dft.gov.uk for assistance.

Further Information

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

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.