About the job

Job summary

About the Role

We are looking for a Senior Communications Manager to join the Trade Remedies Authority’s small but friendly communications team. This key role involves working collaboratively to plan and deliver the TRA’s communication strategy to help explain our work and services to both internal and external audiences.   

Role Purpose 

The TRA Communications Team delivers the organisation’s strategic goal to make the TRA well known, understood and respected. We deliver the TRA’s mission to defend the UK’s economic interests against unfair trading practices and in line with the vision to be a globally respected trade remedies body. 

As a Senior Communications Manager, you’ll work across the communications mix, but with a core focus on handling both proactive and reactive stakeholder and media activity, making sure we are represented fairly in media coverage and external stakeholder channels. You will take an active role in communications planning and relations with other government departments including the Department for Business and Trade. We are a relatively new body, and you will help to build strong and wide ranging networks while developing an in-depth understanding of our work. 

You’ll help to plan, coordinate and implement our stakeholder strategy to ensure that the TRA engages effectively with key stakeholders, from industry, legal sector, the Devolved Administrations, academia, trade policy influencers and parliamentarians who are impacted by our work. 

There is the opportunity to support and widen other communications skills by working with the wider communications team, for example, on events, digital marketing. You will directly manage an apprentice in the team.  

As part of the Government Communication Service (GCS) we adhere to its professional standards and have access to the wider training and future career opportunities open to all government communication specialists.  

Job description

Key Accountabilities

• Manage our annual reputational research project and supplier, providing analysis and recommendations to the wider organisation, Executive Team and Board members on insight gathered. 

• Working with TRA case teams to develop communications plans to launch our trade remedy investigations and other trade policy related projects, stay abreast of developments and forecast potential media interest. 

• Oversee the TRA’s stakeholder management system, ensuring TRA-wide buy-in to engagement and intelligence gathering and to plan external engagement opportunities. 

• Lead a business engagement campaign with supporting online marketing to ensure industry understand how they can work with the TRA to bring a case.  

• Evaluate the TRA’s reputation and its work to be a globally respected trade remedies body by monitoring our performance and impact against agreed business objectives and targets. 

• Build up effective relationships with TRA teams,  our parent Department for Business & Trade and across government. 

• Build positive relationships with relevant trade expert influencers, business representative groups, trade associations, journalists and media outlets, managing our contact database and taking a strategic approach to planning media coverage of our work. 

• Build and maintain strong links with parliamentary stakeholders and Devolved Administrations. 

• Provide a professional response to media enquiries, knowing how and when to escalate and what sign-off is required. 

• Help to manage fast-moving news stories, taking a calm, realistic and professional approach. 

• Option to take part in the out-of-hours duty press rota, which attracts an additional allowance. 

Person specification

Essential Skills

• Previous experience working in communications, in particular media and stakeholder handling. 
• Strong verbal and written language skills.
• Project management skills and use of digital support tools.

Desirable Skills

• Experience working on website or intranet content management systems.
• Experience working with social media channels.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £40,952, Trade Remedies Authority contributes £11,057 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, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

How to Apply

Application:

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement of no more than 750 words demonstrating how your experience, skills and attributes meet the requirements for the role.

Shortlist:

The Panel will shortlist applications based on CV and Personal Statement.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the Lead Behaviour: Seeing the Big picture.

Interview:

The interview assessment will consist of a Presentation exercise followed by a Behaviour, Experience and Strength-based interview.

The behaviours that you will be assessed against at the interview are Seeing the Big Picture, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace and Changing and Improving. 

Expected Timeline:

Closing Date: 04 Aug 2024. 

Shortlist: Week commencing 05 Aug 2024. 

Interviews: Week commencing 19 Aug 2024. 

Offer: Week commencing 26 Aug 2024.

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.