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Job summary
#DSIT
The responsibilities for the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology for 2023 are as follows:
- Positioning the UK at the forefront of global scientific and technological advancement
- Driving innovations that change lives and sustain economic growth
- Delivering talent programmes, physical and digital infrastructure and regulation to support our economy, security and public services
- R&D funding
For 2023, our priorities are:
- Optimise public R&D investment to support areas of relative UK strength and increase the level of private R&D to make our economy the most innovative in the world.
- Promote a diverse research and innovation system that connects discovery to new companies, growth and jobs – including by delivering world-class physical and digital infrastructure (such as gigabit broadband), making the UK the best place to start and grow a technology business and developing and attracting top talent.
- Put our public services – including the NHS and schools – at the forefront of innovation, championing new ways of working and the development of in-house STEM capability to improve outcomes for people.
- Strengthen international collaboration on science and technology in line with the Integrated Review, and ensure our researchers are able to continue to work with leading scientists in Europe and around the world.
- Deliver key legislative and regulatory reforms to drive competition and promote innovation, including the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill and our pro-innovation approach to regulating AI.
- Pass the remaining stages of the reformed Online Safety Bill to keep British people, especially children, safe online.
Our Inclusive Environment
We are building an inclusive culture to make the Department a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves. We value difference and diversity, not only because we believe it is the right thing to do, but because it will help us be more innovative and make better decisions.
We offer first-class flexible working benefits, excellent employee well-being support and a great pension. We are fortunate to have a range of excellent staff networks and are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We will support talented people from all backgrounds to build a career and thrive.
We actively welcome applications from anyone who shares our commitment to inclusion. We will fully support candidates with a disability or long-term condition who require adjustments in our recruitment process.
Job description
We are looking for a communications professional, with good organisational and influencing skills, to join the DSIT Communications team.
This is an excellent opportunity to lead grid planning and broader strategic planning of communications across the whole DSIT policy portfolio, working with the full communications team.
The post holder will need quickly to get to grips with DSIT and government priorities, to ensure these are reflected in communications priorities.
The Senior Strategic Communications Planner must be able to see the bigger picture and bring together the needs of our audiences with those of the Department.
Excellent inter-personal skills and a confident communicator, you must be able to hold your own in conversations with all disciplines in the Directorate, across the Department and in our Partner Organisations – as well as being politically aware and astute, with a thorough grasp of the media landscape.
The post holder will have strong negotiation skills and an ability to develop trusted relationships with No10 and across Whitehall. You will be required to manage conflicting demands from within and outside the Department, and able to mitigate reputation risk when planning communications. You will be able to manage multiple competing demands, even when under considerable and repeated time pressure.
As the Department’s primary contact with the government’s central communications planning team on the weekly grid process and longer-term plans, you will obtain timely and relevant details about BEIS communications activities and announcements – building on this knowledge to ensure communications activities can be effectively positioned within wider government news agenda and ensure a high standard of scrutiny.
You will work flexibly in a fast-moving news and media context, with the ability to absorb policy information, identify the critical elements and judge whether audiences will also grasp these. You will take a pro-active continuous improvement approach in leading development of the planning process and business-critical tools which include regular Horizon Scanning.
You will provide direction and support to the Communications Planning Officer and will be responsible for day-to-day management of the process to source information and produce the planning tools.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead on the day-to-day tasks requires to compile a weekly strategic plan of all Departmental communications activity, ensuring this reflects the Secretary of State’s priorities, is insight-driven and targeted, and is underpinned by policy and funding
- Act as a key point of contact for policy officials, private offices, and the communications directorate, giving advice and support on the department’s planning function
- Manage the clearance of departmental communications plans through a full clearance process within the department and with No10 through the weekly grid process
- Work closely with the No10 grid team, demonstrating a high degree of political awareness, contributing to planning departmental activity which supports government’s priorities
- Undertake regular Horizon Scanning, to ensure external events and stakeholder activity are considered
- Make judgements on a vast amount of grid requests per month – and seeking innovations to improve processes
- Ensure the team’s written products, weekly grids, box notes for Secretary of State are accurate, timely and well written
- Manage a Communications Planning Officer (IO)
Person specification
Essential criteria
- Experience of good communications judgement
- The ability to prioritise competing tasks
- The ability to build relationships quickly and work well with senior stakeholders
- Strong negotiation skills which enable you to effectively negotiate to achieve shared objectives
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Working Together
- Developing Self and Others
- Delivering at Pace
Benefits
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including:
- A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
- Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an average employer contribution of 27%.
- A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
- An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
- Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.
- A hybrid office/home based working model where staff will spend a norm of 40-60% of their time in the office (minimum of 40%) over a month with flex dependent on balancing business and individual need.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
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.
Please use your personal statement (in no more than 750 words) to describe what you see as the challenges in this role and what skills/ experience you have that would help you address these effectively
Applications will be sifted on CV and personal statement.
In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the personal statement.
Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.
The interview will consist of behaviour and strength-based questions.
Sift and interview dates
Expected Timeline subject to change
Sift dates: w/c 07/08/2023
Interview dates: w/c 14/08/2023
Interview Location: MS Teams.
Candidates are asked to note the above timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process.
Further Information
Reasonable Adjustment
We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions.
We fully support adjustments throughout our recruitment process and we encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section.
We do not have an exhaustive list of adjustments that we support but just some examples include additional time to complete your application form, behaviour questions up to 72 hours prior to interview and having extra time at interview.
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
A location based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position.
Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
Any move to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology 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 https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).
DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service /Disclosure Scotland 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.
For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk
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.
Feedback
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
- certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals
Working for the Civil Service
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).
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