About the job

Job summary

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the UK's independent authority responsible for promoting competition and protecting consumers' interests. With a focus on ensuring fair and efficient markets, the CMA plays a vital role in driving economic growth and safeguarding consumer welfare.

As the CMA continues to operate in an environment of increased scrutiny, the Advocacy, Nations and External Relations (ANER) team is seeking a talented and experienced Senior External Relations Officer to enhance the organisation's stakeholder engagement efforts.

About the 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.

You can read more about working at the CMA in our candidate pack

Job description

As a Senior External Relations Officer, you will join the expanding External Relations function within the ANER team. Your primary responsibility will be to provide expert advice to individual case teams working across the full range of tools employed by the CMA. You will play a pivotal role in effectively communicating the work of these teams to stakeholders, contributing to the development of communication plans, stakeholder mapping, and reviewing relevant parliamentary correspondence.

Collaboration will be a key aspect of this role, as you will work closely with colleagues from the Strategy, Communications, and Advocacy directorate, including Media Relations, Digital Communications, and Devolved Nations teams. You will also monitor stakeholder sentiment and will share this with case teams and with senior leaders across the CMA. Additionally, you will build relationships with key stakeholders such as business groups, trade associations, consumer bodies, and staff supporting parliamentarians in Westminster.

Some of your key responsibilities will include:

• Provide high-quality advice to case teams on stakeholder management through the life-cycle of cases including stakeholder mapping, creation of compliance comms content and engagement.
• Lead on the production of key management information on external speaking events, announcements and ensuring that CMA senior leadership are made aware of key stakeholder sentiment.
• Build trusted and productive working-level relationships with key counterparts, in trade bodies, consumer organisations, and other relevant bodies.

Person specification

It is essential that you can provide evidence and examples for each of the following selection criteria in your application. For tips on how to make the most your application, please have a look at our guidance document.

• Experience in planning and delivering effective external engagement for a large and/or complex organisation. [Lead criteria]
• Strong understanding of the political and policy landscape, and its relevance to the CMA’s work and external engagement priorities. [Lead criteria]
• Excellent written communication skills, including experience in conveying complex issues through clear, succinct, and persuasive content in a variety of forms.
• Ability to rapidly develop effective working relationships with a wide range of internal and external partners, with different roles and perspectives.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £46,000, Competition & Markets Authority contributes £12,000 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.

The selection process will comprise of the sift (CV & application review) and interview.

An initial sift based on lead criteria 1 and 2 may be held if a large number of applications are received.

If your application then progresses to a full sift, all elements of the essential criteria listed under Person Specification of the role profile will then be considered.

The sifting dates are Tuesday 14 May to Tuesday 21 May.

If your application is successful, you will be invited to attend an interview.

This will be a 45-60 minute panel interview, where you will be asked behaviour-based questions based on the behaviours and experience specified in the role profile.

Interviews will be held on MS Teams.

You will also be asked to either prepare a presentation to deliver at the start of the panel interview or undertake a work based task in advance of your interview.

You will be notified via email to log-in to your Civil Service Account to book your interview slot. You will then be sent an email with full details of your arrangements for interview.

Interviews will be held between Tuesday 28 May and Friday 31 May.

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.

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. 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.