About the job

Job summary

We recognise the challenges that people with protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.

Do you have experience of working in strategic communications?

Are you an innovative thinker who enjoys collaborating?  

Would you like to work with senior leaders to shape the narrative for the communications strategy in transport?

This could be the post for you!

Job description

The Department for Transport is looking for an exceptional senior communications professional to take on an exciting and rewarding role in its strategic communications team.

You’ll be part of a passionate team right at the heart of the nation’s transport priorities. Working in a busy, high profile and fast paced environment, you will develop and deliver impactful, long-term communications strategies and campaigns that raise awareness and drive change.

Being the communications expert in your field, you will bring together other communications experts, senior policy officials and external stakeholders and play a key role in advising and supporting ministers and special advisers.

Responsibilities

Key accountabilities of the role include:

• Working with the Heads of Strategic Comms you will develop and deliver a clear, focused and long-term communication strategies that support the delivery of Department for Transport and wider Government objectives.
• You will build and maintain virtual teams, guiding multi-disciplined comms groups including media, digital, stakeholder and visits to deliver activity and announcements that bring to life exciting developments in the transport sector.
• Champion the use of insight and evaluation across the directorate and department, ensuring communication strategies are informed by the latest insight and evaluation.
• Have oversight of the communications forward plan in your area and support the delivery of key planning and forecasting documents.
• Quickly build key relationships to advise the Secretary of State, ministers, special advisers and private office while also unlocking and driving forward activity and planning with senior policy officials.  
• Work effectively with Arms Lengths Bodies and key stakeholders in your area to plan the development and delivery of joint objectives, and manage any reputational issues.
• Be an active part of the wider strategic communications team, bringing new ideas and creativity to increase collaboration, drive high standards and encourage innovation.

For an in-depth insight into the role please refer to the Role Profile.

Person specification

As the Senior Strategic Communications Manager you will have the resilience to work in a fast paced environment and will equipped to deal with high volumes of proactive and reactive issues. You are confident working with senior leaders and senior officials to deliver successful outcomes. You are a strategic thinker and can see the big picture and will use this to factor in wider and political and economical issues when devising communication strategies. You have excellent communications skills and build positive relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders. You have the ability to work effectively in a team and during challenging periods or crises, as well as managing upwards and influencing. 

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, or carry out detached duty in another DfT workplace, will also count towards this level of attendance. 

Occasional travel to other DfT offices will be required.

Benefits

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits. We offer generous annual leave, attractive pension options, flexible working, inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance. 

Find out more about what it's like working at the Department for Transport

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

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

When considering applying please look at how your experience relates to the role, and within your CV and Personal Statement please provide detailed evidence of your experience of the following:

• Able to work effectively in a team and during challenging periods or crises, as well as managing upwards and influencing.
• Experience of developing and implementing strategic communication tools, products and strategies that are informed by insight and evaluation.
• Managing communications in complex environments alongside diverse range of internal and external stakeholders with varying priorities.
• Being able to see the bigger picture and factor in wider political or economic issues when devising comms strategies. 
• Experience of delivering complex communications projects through others and delivering strong outcomes. 

Your personal statement will be limited to a maximum of 1000 words.

The sift is due to take place from w/c 15th April 

Interviews/assessments are likely to be held w/c 29th April

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.

The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment will include:

• An interview

This interview could be conducted online via Teams or face to face at one of our offices. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

You’re encouraged to become familiar with the role profile and the Government Communications Services Framework, as you may be assessed against any of the criteria recorded within.

The Department for Transport alongside other Government Departments recruit using Success Profiles. This means for each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate in order to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

For further information on Success Profiles visit our Careers website.

Please see attached candidate notes for further information about our recruitment process.

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

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 instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Document Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email DRGComms@dft.gov.uk for assistance.

Further Information

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

Pre-employment Checking

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.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting

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.