Job responsibilities
The Head of Strategic Communications, Campaigns and Content is a pivotal role within UKHSAs Communications Directorate, overseeing our strategic communications and planning function, as well as our in-house team of highly skilled creative professionals.
The post holder will play a central part in developing UKHSAs communications strategy, and ensuring we have the right KPIs in place to demonstrate impact against our plans on an ongoing basis.
Overseeing a small, newly formed team of strategic communications professionals, you will act as a communications advisor to senior colleagues within UKHSA, enabling your team to build strong, trusted relationships with key officials, scientists and public health leads across the Agency.
You will support and guide the strategic communications team to develop insight-based communications plans, supporting delivery of some of UKHSAs most high-profile topics, ranging from increasing vaccine uptake, to combating antimicrobial resistance and tackling health threats related to our changing climate. You will play a critical role within the Communications Directorate senior management team, encouraging collaboration between teams to enable effective virtual team working on top priority topics.
You will lead our in-house content team of designers, videographers and writers, to support the development of a wide range of creative content, to support both effective incident response work and proactive low and no-cost campaigns.
You will have excellent presentation skills and written skills and use these to create presentations to demonstrate the impact of the Directorates work, as well as to author blogs, film scrips and a wide variety of written content for external audiences.
The content team supports the full breadth of the Agency work. They flex their focus and skills to inform and guide the public at times of risk, as well as in support of longer-term behavioral change campaigns, and creative corporate content to promote corporate priorities as well as our science, research and surveillance work. We have unique studio facilities in our new Canary Wharf office and are looking to maximise the potential of these over the coming months.
The content team also oversees the development and curation of our social media channels and social media strategy. Over the next year, we are looking to put a more targeted approach in place to build the reach of each of our core channels and increase the impact of our social media activity as a whole and you will be responsible for overseeing this work.
Your key responsibilities will include:
- Leading a team of 12, and line managing five senior colleagues within the team, including strategic communications professionals, writers, graphic designers, videographers.
- Playing a major role in creating and overseeing the delivery of UKHSAs communications plan, aligned to the organisations 3-year Strategic Plan
- Identifying opportunities for communications to enable successful delivery of our Strategic Plan and Science Strategy, based on a comprehensive understanding of UKHSAs goals, priorities, mission and vision.
- Writing insight-based communications strategies and plans
- Creating and delivering presentations to a high standard to - or for - senior colleagues and stakeholders, on the Directorates strategic priorities.
- Building productive relationships with senior colleagues in pivotal roles throughout the agency, to identify and shape our communications plans.
- Create a strong network of peers across partner agencies and Government Departments, identifying opportunities for collaboration and/or amplifying messages.
- Embedding a culture of planning, insight and evaluation within the communications directorate, drawing on best practise standards, including GCS.
- Where appropriate, identifying opportunities for paid communications to enhance successful delivery, whether as part of a proactive campaign strategy or to warn and inform the public as part of our incident response work.
- Ensuring the content team is well supported so that they can manage a sizeable and highly varied programme of work including appropriate briefing and work management processes.
- Writing content to an excellent standard for any of our priority audience groups, including blogs and scripts.
- Overseeing the development of high priority creative content, including films.
- Developing our social media strategy to grow and expand the impact of our channels
- Playing a visible, important role within the Directorates Senior Management Team and contributing towards the Directorates success and wellbeing
Essential Criteria
- Post graduate qualification in communications, public relations or journalism or equivalent level of experience
- Excellent understanding of established, best practise approaches to communications strategy development and evaluation, including GCS standards - and the ability to train and guide others
- Experience of working in a senior communications role in national or local government or NHS communications
- Established credibility and authority and experience of gaining the confidence of very senior colleagues
- Experience of working across all communications disciplines with a strong background in strategic communications
- Excellent oral and written communication skills and ability to develop presentations and written content to an extremely high standard
- Strong leadership and management skills and experience of achieving results through a multi-disciplinary communications team
- The ability to quickly grasp complex issues and to be able to distil these for others is critical.
- The ability to work at pace, under pressure and to guide your team to priorities and do the same where needed
- An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships
Selection Process Details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the above listed essential criteria, and this will be in the form of a:
- Application form (Employer/ Activity history section on the application)
- 1000 word Statement of Suitability.
This should outline how your skills, experience, and knowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.
The Application form and Statement of Suitability will be marked separately, and you must pass both to move forward to interview.
If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview and assessment.
Please do not exceed 1000 words. We will not consider any words over and above this number.
Feedback will not be provided at this stage.
Stage 2: Interview (Success Profiles)
You will be invited to a face-to-face interview. In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to offer a remote interview.
Behaviours and experience will be tested at interview.
You will be asked to prepare and present a 5-minute presentation. The subject of this will be sent to you prior to interview.
The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be:
- Seeing the big picture
- Changing and improving
- Leadership
- Communicating and influencing
- Developing self and others
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Location
This role is being offered as hybrid working based at our offices in Canary Wharf. We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, (averaged over a month).
Our core HQ offices are modern and newly refurbished with excellent city centre transport link and benefit from benefit from co-location with other government departments such as the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Eligibility Criteria
This vacancy is open to all Civil Service employees and employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) who were appointed on merit following a fair and open competition; or were appointed to a permanent post through an exception in the Civil Service Commissioners' rules. Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.
Security Clearance Level Requirement
Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard.
