About the job

Job summary

Are you an experienced communications professional looking for an exciting new leadership role? Do you want to work on a range of high-profile cases and projects? Join us at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and play a pivotal role in the delivery and decision-making of our strategic communications function.

About the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)

We help people, businesses, and the UK economy by promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair behaviour. Our work is wide-ranging, ambitious and often new and challenging.

The Strategy, Communications and Advocacy (SCA) Directorate is at the heart of the CMA, working across the organisation on a wide range of high-profile cases and projects, to make sure the important content the CMA generates is communicated clearly and effectively to everyone in the UK.

What we can offer you

The CMA is a hugely diverse, rewarding and stimulating place to work – an opportunity to work for the public good and to stretch and develop yourself in doing so. We offer generous benefits, including an excellent pension scheme with an average employer contribution of 27%, at least 25 days leave (increasing to 30 over five years), and generous maternity/paternity leave provision. You can also take advantage of interest-free season ticket loans, a cycle to work scheme, our employee assistance programme, and our extensive flexible working options.

To find out more about this opportunity and about working for the CMA, please click on the APPLY button.

CMA – Working for the CMA , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk)

Or our LinkedIn page:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/competition-and-markets-authority/

Closing date: 11.55pm on Monday 4th March 2024.

Job description

As our Head of Strategic Communications, you will help establish a strong central strategic communications function, based on planning, channel expertise, content development and insight and evaluation.

You will lead a new team of four, working across a busy and varied brief, ranging from merger control and tackling cost of living issues, to regulating the world’s biggest digital firms. 

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Programming: Lead external communications programming in the CMA, including case announcements, speeches, op eds, events, publications, campaigns, and compliance communications.
• Building and leading a new team: Establish and run a new, high-performing Strategic Communications team with a strong emphasis on cross-functional collaboration working. This will include providing line management, development programmes, and timely feedback on performance for direct reports, as well as establishing appropriate systems, processes and governance.
• Planning: Produce and manage a co-ordinated long-term forward plan for CMA communications and external engagement activity that demonstrates how our work aligns with key messages and priorities. This forward plan, bringing together work and projects from across the SCA Directorate and the CMA more broadly, is a critical tool to help us manage resource and communicate strategically for maximum impact.
• Communications Horizon Scanning: Pro-actively identify themes or events which impact the CMA from a communications perspective. Build strategies to manage these including leveraging horizon scanning and foresight capabilities.
• Insights and evaluation: Develop and enhance our communications Insight and Evaluation function, providing meaningful reporting and learnings about the CMA’s media environment for Communications, SCA and the CMA (including our Executive Committee and Board).
• Content development and activation: Identify, create and deliver pro-active strategic communications content such as op eds, forewords and blogs based around key priorities and moments. This includes developing a house style for corporate communications and ensuring this is successfully implemented.
• Speechwriting: Lead a speechwriting function that will flex between co-ordination of ‘self-serve’ speechwriting by frontline teams, through to full-service delivery for some senior staff members.
• Work with colleagues across the CMA: Including the Office of the Chief Economic Advisor and frontline project teams, to ensure that relevant knowledge and expertise from colleagues across the organisation is brought to bear on our support and advice to government.

Person specification

It is essential that you can provide evidence and examples for each of the following selection criteria in your application. If you do not meet the lead selection criteria in your application, the panel will not be required to score your application against the remaining essential criteria of the role:

Essential:

• Expertise in strategic communications with a strong track record of performance and delivery (Lead criteria)
• Outstanding communication skills, both oral and written, with high levels of sensitivity and judgment and the ability to influence outcomes effectively through persuasive argument. (Lead Criteria)
• Substantial experience in planning and delivering communications strategies based on insight and evidence. Proven aptitude for leadership, with the ability to build and run inclusive teams and to motivate people, both within a team and beyond your authority.
• Significant experience leading and delivering a portfolio of work at pace including effective scoping of work and setting of clear responsibilities
• Authority and credibility to influence and engage successfully with CEO/Exco/Senior Leadership colleagues and external partners in complex or politically sensitive situations.
• Experience of working collaboratively, building effective relationships with colleagues and senior decision makers, and delivering in partnership with other organisations or departments with related goals or responsibilities.
• Experience working with complex technical content, ideally with an economic or legal basis. Ability to balance and prioritise multiple competing and changing demands whilst remaining resilient and highly motivated.

Desirable but not required: 

• Understanding of the CMA’s role and powers. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £66,705, Competition & Markets Authority contributes £18,010 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, Experience and Technical skills.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement and an online application form. Further details about application requirements are listed on the application form.

The selection process will comprise of the sift (CV & application review) and an interview. Arrangements for the interview will be enclosed in the invitation. 

Please note that interviews will be held on Microsoft Teams, or in-person at a CMA office.

Please note that it is essential that your personal statement is aligned to provide evidence that you have the knowledge and experience for each of the following selection criteria (as included on the role profile) in your application:

• Expertise in strategic communications with a strong track record of performance and delivery (Lead criteria)
• Outstanding communication skills, both oral and written, with high levels of sensitivity and judgment and the ability to influence outcomes effectively through persuasive argument. (Lead Criteria)
• Substantial experience in planning and delivering communications strategies based on insight and evidence.
• Proven aptitude for leadership, with the ability to build and run inclusive teams and to motivate people, both within a team and beyond your authority.
• Significant experience leading and delivering a portfolio of work at pace including effective scoping of work and setting of clear responsibilities.
• Authority and credibility to influence and engage successfully with CEO/Exco/Senior Leadership colleagues and external partners in complex or politically sensitive situations.
• Experience of working collaboratively, building effective relationships with colleagues and senior decision makers, and delivering in partnership with other organisations or departments with related goals or responsibilities.
• Experience working with complex technical content, ideally with an economic or legal basis. Ability to balance and prioritise multiple competing and changing demands whilst remaining resilient and highly motivated.

The role will close at 11:55pm on 4th March 2024.

The sift will take place between 5th March - 8th March 2024

We are inviting those successful from the sift, the opportunity to have an informal telephone conversation with the Director, week commencing 11th March 2024 should you wish and not an added part of our hiring process. 

If your application is successful at sift stage, you will be invited to attend an interview. You will be notified via email to log-in to your Civil Service Account and book your interview slot. You will be sent an email with full details of your arrangements for interview.

Interviews will be held week commencing 18th March 2024. There will be 1 interview stage for this role.

The first part of the interview will comprise of a 5-10 minute presentation. Details will be forwarded to you before the interview. The second part of the interview will be a 30 - 45 minute panel interview where you will be asked questions based on the Behaviours and Experience outlined in the role profile.

Reasonable Adjustments

We want to make sure no one is at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should 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.  You can also email recruitment@cma.gov.uk.

For example, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you are deaf, a Language Service Professional. You might also require additional time to complete a timed assessment or a sign language interpreter to support with the relaying of information.

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.