About the job

Job summary

HMICFRS independently assesses the effectiveness and efficiency of police forces and fire and rescue services – in the public interest. We promote improvements in policing and fire and rescue services to make everyone safer. 

We are independent of the Government, police and fire and rescue services. We ask the questions that we believe the public wish to have answered and produce major reports that shine a light on issues at the very heart of policing and fire and rescue services.  

Our reports are widely covered by the media and help inform the public of the performance of their local police forces and fire and rescue services. You can find out more about HMICFRS on our website and see some of our recent reports. 
 
Working at HMICFRS gives you an opportunity to make a real difference to the quality of local police and fire and rescue services and the lives of the public.  

HMICFRS is a unique organisation with staff seconded or loaned from across the Civil Service, police forces and fire and rescue services. As short-term, contracted staff, our Associates work alongside these staff and play an important part in contributing to the success of our inspection programme.  

We set ourselves high standards, taking great pride in the quality of work we achieve and the opportunities we create for our staff. 

Find out more

If you would like to talk to someone about this role and what it’s like working for HMICFRS we would be pleased to hear from you.  Please contact recruitment@hmicfrs.gov.uk  and we can arrange for someone to contact you.

Job description

An exciting opportunity to join a thriving and dynamic communications team in an organisation that helps to make communities safer. Come and help us make a difference.

You will help to deliver and shape our social media strategy at a pivotal time when policing is often dominating the news agenda.

Over the past year HMICFRS has dramatically improved its social media presence and voice. You will build on this momentum, and continue to strengthen the reputation of HMICFRS as a leader among similar organisations working towards public safety.

The Social Media Manager supports the development and delivery of HMICFRS’s social media channels and its press office function, working directly with the Media Manager (SEO) and Head of Media (G7).

This includes working on proactive social media campaigns spanning a range of high-profile subjects to ensure the voice of the organisation is clearly heard and understood. This role offers the opportunity to plan and produce content for our social media channels as well as handling traditional media engagement, for example drafting press releases and responding to media enquiries. You will produce engaging graphics and video content – something we are willing to provide additional training on for you.

You will split your time between social media management and traditional press office duties, including taking part in the out-of-hours media rota (for which an additional allowance is paid).

Please note this role is a fixed term position to cover maternity leave. 

Responsibilities

Communication plays an important role in ensuring that the inspectorate’s reports and recommendations are understood by the public and acted on by the police and fire & rescue services. Your role will be to ensure that the messages from these reports reach our target audiences through social media and print, online and broadcast news.

You will be responsible for creating a range of content to support HMICFRS’s media engagement campaigns, spanning social media and press. You will also provide daily monitoring and reporting of social media and press activity relevant to the organisation’s objectives.

The role requires the ability to produce professional and engaging content for our social media channels, which are currently Twitter/X and LinkedIn. Demonstrating a keen understanding of how social media can be used to reach stakeholders and members of the public, the Social Media Manager will be able to provide creative suggestions for future content and campaigns.

For traditional media engagement, the Social Media Manager will support the Media Manager to draft press releases and organise media briefings and interviews with high-profile home affairs journalists from leading UK media outlets. You will be expected to respond to reactive media enquiries, often working to tight deadlines. This role requires a keen news sense and an individual with the ability to identify trends and issues in the media which might affect the work of HMICFRS.

Evaluation and analysis are crucial to our communications. The successful applicant will therefore be able to demonstrate an understanding of not just the method of evaluating, but also the importance of it.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Current experience of social media management, including managing corporate Twitter/X and LinkedIn channels, creating content for these channels, and ownership of the content schedule/calendar.
• Experience of planning, delivering and evaluating social media campaigns.
• Experience of social media monitoring, including identifying risks and opportunities.
• Experience of filming and editing video content for social media.
• Digital design skills to produce engaging social media content.
• An excellent understanding of social media channels, trends and audiences.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Passion for improving services that protect the public.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of drafting press releases, arranging media interviews and responding to media enquiries within tight deadlines.
• Proven ability to build and manage relationships with journalists.

Any special conditions

• To provide support for out-of-hours on call roster.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,350, His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services contributes £9,274 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.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, a Personal Statement Max Word Limit: 500 words, and a number of Behaviour examples.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

The CV is for information purposes only and will not be marked.

The first stage of the sift will be carried out on your Personal Statement which should be aligned to the Essential Criteria. If you do not meet the essential criteria, your application will not progress further.

For those who do meet the essential criteria, their application may progress to the second stage of the sift process.

The second stage of sift is based on the lead Behaviour, Communicating and Influencing. 

If your application progresses to a full sift, all listed Behaviours will then be considered.  

If successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview where you will be tested against the Success Profiles Behaviours on all listed Behaviours, and Experience based on the Essential Criteria stated in the advert.

In addition, candidates will be asked to prepare a 5-minute presentation to be delivered at interview. The presentation will be tested against the Behaviours and/or experience stated in the advert. Further details will be disclosed prior to the interviews.

Behavioural statements

You need to provide specific examples of when you have demonstrated particular skills or qualities for each of the five Civil Service behaviours listed. Your examples must also show how you meet the Essential criteria and skills listed in the job description.

We recommend that you use the Situation, Task, Action and Result (STAR) method to help make sure your examples are clear and highlight your skills and qualities. Each example should set out what you have done, how you completed the task and the results of this action to allow the panel to assess how you meet the required behaviours.

Please make sure you have provided sufficient information – it is not enough to submit a list of bullet points. Please refer to the Success Profiles (opens in a new window) to make sure you are familiar with what is required for each behaviour. You will not be expected to meet every single aspect of every behaviour but must show a good range or depth for each behaviour to be successful at the sift stage.

Sift and Interview dates

Sift will take place from 1st February 2024.

Interviews will take place week commencing 26th February 2024. Interviews will be held in person. Location to be confirmed.

Further information

For meaningful checks to be carried out, individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years if the role requires CTC clearance, 5 years for SC clearance and 10 years for DV.  A lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter

A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

We often have similar roles available at different grades. Should candidates be placed on a reserve list we may be able to offer a similar role or a lower grade role without the need for you to go through a further selection process. 

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not overseas.

If applying from another Government Department this position would be a 12 month loan and it will need to be agreed with your home department that you can be released for this period of time. At the end of the period, you will return to your home department. 

For Home Office staff on Loan: this post will be offered on level transfer or temporary cover allowance (TCA) which will be on detached duty terms. 

Every day, Home Office civil servants do brilliant work to develop and deliver policies and services that affect the lives of people across the country and beyond. To do this effectively and fairly, the Home Office is committed to representing modern Britain in all its diversity, and creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best.

We are flexible, skilled, professional and diverse. We work to recruit and retain disabled staff and area Disability Confident Leader. We are proud to be one of the most ethnically diverse departments in the civil service. We are a Social Mobility Foundation top 75 employer.

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

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.

For further information please see the attached notes for candidates which must be read before making an application.

Existing Civil Servants should note that some of the Home Office terms and conditions of employment have changed. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the Terms and Conditions they will adopt should they be successful in application and should refer to the notes for candidates for further details.

Transfer Terms: Voluntary.

If you are invited to an interview you will be required to  bring a range of documentation for the purposes of establishing identity and to aid any pre-employment checks.

Please see the attached list of Home Office acceptable ID documents.

Any move to the Home 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

Reasonable Adjustments

If a person with disabilities is 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 HOrecruitment.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

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

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist 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.