About the job

Job summary

The Royal Air Force (RAF) is an iconic brand. Air Media & Communications (Air M&C) is responsible for the delivery of communications that increase understanding of role the RAF plays in protecting the nation now and in the future. We maintain, protect and enhance the reputation of the RAF, also creating a foundation for recruitment and retention. We achieve this by continuously raising our standards with new and engaging ways to grow our audience, demonstrating communications leadership and expertise as the subject matter experts for media and communications.

Air M&C covers the full spectrum of communication disciplines, from internal and external communications including digital, news and PR. Air M&C is cohered around the RAF Communications Strategy, with communication specialists who deliver effective and engaging content for campaigns and events.

We work closely and collaboratively with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) communications team, other communications teams across the Armed Forces, and the wider RAF Family of organisations that support our outputs.  Air M&C is part of the Government Communication Service (GCS) and includes a mix of GCS professional, civil servants, RAF Regulars and Reservists. We use the OASIS framework[1] for strategic communications and the four communication competences of Insight, Ideas, Implementation, and Impact.

We share one purpose: to tell the RAF story by finding the right medium, for the right message, to get to the right audience at the right time.

[1] Guide to campaign planning: OASIS - GCS (civilservice.gov.uk)

This post is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

The Strategy and Planning teams set direction to enable long-range, proactive, integrated multichannel/multimedia RAF communications aimed at positively influencing target audiences. These include international, national and regional levels, in support of military operations and Ministerial and departmental priorities. Close working with creative content specialists, internal and external stakeholders, and with MOD communications will be required.

Reporting into the B1 Head of Strategy and Planning, the C1 strategy and campaigns lead has an important role to play in ensuring all RAF communications are objective-driven and fulfil strategic priorities for the RAF and MOD. This role will have line management of an IDEA SO2 post, ensuring that ‘Insight, Data, Evaluation and Analysis’ are brought into the campaign planning process at every point. 

Person specification

RAF Communications Strategy

Support the development, delivery and advocacy of the RAF Communications Strategy based on priorities from RAF Strategy, direction set in the Defence Communications Strategy and the current HMG Communications Plan. This is likely to be on an annual basis, except when significant events necessitate a change in communications strategy.

Key tasks include:

• Understand Chief of the Air Staff priorities, Defence Communications Strategy and the current HMG Communications Plan. Liaise with DDC Strategy to maintain overall strategic coherence.
• Support RAF Head of Communications in developing and refining the RAF Communications Strategy by using audience segmentation and targeting, setting key themes and messages, horizon scanning for opportunities, all informed by research, insight and evaluation.
• Define the overall evaluation criteria of RAF Communications Strategy activities.

Campaigns and Communications plans:

The strategy and campaigns lead also plays a role in developing enduring campaigns and communications plans in support of delivering the RAF Communications Strategy. Key tasks include

• Work closely with the Campaign owners to jointly develop plans for enduring campaigns and ‘critical moment’ handling, such as fiscal announcements.
• Work in partnership with Planning leads to understand internal and external priorities and stakeholder requirements, advising on when these require ad hoc or longer-term support and cohering Air M&C to deliver against strategic themes.
• Establish where a plan is required to support a communication request or activity, and develop the plan following the OASIS approach with input from across RAF M&C, DDC and the relevant TLBs.
• Follow OASIS to confirm campaign objective, audience target, then develop campaign idea, plan implementation activities and agree evaluation criteria. Use industry standard tools and approaches to plan campaign activities.
• Create supporting measures and tools internals to help develop strategic capability across all communications roles, including channel mapping and user journey mapping.
• Build campaign team with appropriate roles, experience and expertise to deliver the campaign. Where required, include appropriate members of other FLCs, TLBs and DDC.

Experience - Essential

• Developing effective communications strategies for delivery through multi-disciplinary teams

Experience - Desirable

• Understanding of the Government Communications Service operating models and principles.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £43,080, Ministry of Defence contributes £11,631 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.

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include: job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience.

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, and Experience.

To apply for this position please complete the online application form. Your application will be assessed based on the following areas of the Civil Service success profile model https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles

You will be assessed against the following behaviours at Application and Interview:

The following Civil Service Success Profiles are essential to the role at SIO (MOD C1) level:

Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Delivering at Pace 

Behaviours will be assessed through application and interview.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk 

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical.

The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

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.