About the job

Job summary

The Cabinet Office supports the Prime Minister. It ensures the smooth running of government from developing policy to modernising public services. Home to cross-government functions, the Cabinet Office is a vibrant, modern and exciting place to work.

The Cabinet Office Purpose is to ensure that government works together to deliver for the people of the United Kingdom.

To deliver our Purpose and help make Cabinet Office a great place to work, we all commit to our values of:

• treating everyone with respect;
• actively collaborating; and
• building trust.

Job description

Job description

We are looking for an enthusiastic Senior Internal Communication Manager to join the high-performing Cabinet Office Communications Team. This is a truly integrated role. You will work in a team with colleagues supporting engagements for Cabinet Office ministers and senior civil servants, Civil Service internal communication delivering communication products to 450,000 civil servants and in partnership with the CO Comms Press team. 

Your role supports the Head of Internal Communication for the Cabinet Office. Together, you will lead, manage and develop a best-in-class team. The team will have excellence, flexibility and innovation at its heart. It will be celebrated for delivering high-quality internal communication products that engage staff. 

You will manage and develop high-quality communication products that engage over 6,500 Cabinet Office civil servants based across the UK. 

You will ensure that our planning is proactive, our stories are coordinated and managed across all appropriate channels and that the outputs of the team meet consistently high standards. 

You will have a good understanding of how digital content is planned and produced including video production and graphic design. You are ambitious to improve, diversify and modernise our channels. 

You will work with colleagues who act as account leads for our business areas. You will identify how we engage staff in delivering government and departmental priorities. This work will include determining gaps and improvements in channels for greater participation. 

You will have excellent relationship management and influencing skills. These will complement your copywriting and editing skills and success in planning and evaluating.

Overall, the job requires strong stakeholder management skills, excellent organisation, good leadership, the ability to quickly and effectively make decisions, confident time management, and a desire to do something a little bit different every day.

Person specification

Main accountabilities include:

• Design and delivery of communication plans driven by insight. They will have key performance indicators in place for high-quality, creative and innovative communication campaigns.
• Awareness of CO business including the ministerial visits programme, the Cabinet Office and No10 grids, the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary and Directors General programmes of work and corporate change projects.
• Aligning shared messaging and overseeing all aspects of the daily editorial operations. These cover developing leads/engaging early with emerging stories, commissioning and scheduling content, reviewing and editing multimedia content (online articles, email bulletins, video and digital posters), championing corporate identity branding and writing style and making sure the team’s production of communication products keeps to schedule.
• Creating and delivering creative multimedia communication across a range of internal channels including events that staff want to engage with.
• Maintaining and continuously improving day-to-day delivery of content and channels, including planning and publishing grids and oversight of evaluation dashboards.
• Continuously evaluating multi-channel communications to deliver business outcomes and support an evidence-based, strategy and plan for Cabinet Office internal communication.
• Working at a senior level within government, building relationships and providing advice and appropriate challenge at the highest levels to deliver internal communication activity that engages staff.
• Line managing the Internal Communication Managers.
• Playing an active role in contributing to team development making sure each member of the team has a well-rounded set of skills, are excellent practitioners and have the necessary management, tools and training to deliver high-quality accessible work.

You must be able to show:

• success in organising and managing a team in producing multimedia content to strict deadlines;
• excellent creative, copywriting and editing skills;
• ability to apply evaluation and insight to drive forward engagement and product improvement;
• an in-depth understanding of channels relevant to staff engagement including the role of digital technology in communication as well as face-to-face communication;
• creative flair and sensible news judgement, with the ability to steer colleagues to deliver to a high-quality threshold;
• effective relationship management and influencing skills; and
• an understanding, and advocacy for, the principles of staff engagement.

Essential criteria

You must be able to provide evidence of relevant communications experience in a comparable role and a good knowledge of communication good practices. You should have experience working with audio and visual software.

Additional information

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. Although requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £44,500, Cabinet Office contributes £12,015 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 and Experience.

Application process

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, 750 word personal statement as well as one 250 word behaviour statement. Further details
around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead behaviour, Managing a Quality Service. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview. 

Selection process

During the blended interview you will be assessed against your experience, behaviours that are contained within this advert and strength based questions, the strength questions are ones in which we wish to gain your initial response. 

Expected timeline (subject to change)

Expected sift date – tbc
Expected interview date/s – tbc
Interview Location - 70 Whitehall

Further information

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to Cabinet 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

Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. 

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.

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

Reasonable adjustments

If a person with disabilities is put 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 cabinetofficerecruitment.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 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.