Contents Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information Location London. Regular travel to sites within the UK and occasionally internationally will be required. About the job Job summary The Communications Directorate at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero delivers communications to engage wide audiences, build trust, change behaviour and deliver outcomes. The Directorate strives to deliver world class communications to support Departmental priorities, including creative use of digital media and a strong understanding of the news agenda, leading on the most important challenges facing our country. Our work is helping ensure clean energy for all, keep bills down and seize the opportunities to lead the world in new green industries, taking back control of our energy with Great British Energy and encouraging greater energy efficiency across the UK. The work of the Department has never been more timely or relevant, and by joining us you will be part of making that difference. Our work is varied, interesting and most importantly it's impactful. Our DESNZ Values are interwoven into everything we do; we are bold, we are collaborative, we are inclusive, and we learn. As a Department we are committed to these values to build a culture where everyone can thrive. As Communications Director for DESNZ, you will be instrumental in promoting and supporting the governments mission. You will act as lead adviser to the Department and its Ministers on all aspects of communications activities, providing high quality professional advice, communications expertise and judgement to help deliver the Departments key business priorities in the UK and internationally. As group head of the communications profession, you will be instrumental in ensuring alignment and focus in the Departments messaging around the mission and accountability for communications strategy, spend and professional standards across the Departments network of agencies and other bodies. You will also be responsible for aligning the Departments communications strategy with a rapidly changing media and news landscape. This is a fantastic opportunity to work at the centre of the Department, as its Director of Communications, offering challenging work on some of the biggest issues facing the country. Communications has a pivotal role to play in engaging the public to understand the work of the government, building trust including through partnerships and collaboration, and changing behaviour through targeted marketing campaigns. Job description Your Key Responsibilities will include: Setting strategic direction. You will lead the communications strategy, aligning activity to departmental and cross government priorities and ensure it is firmly based on audience insight. You will relentlessly drive public understanding and support for the governments mission, display judgement and political acumen, articulate a clear plan of action, spot and manage reputational risk, and provide calm and authoritative leadership for your team. Deploying campaign communication in a new media environment. You will align communication delivery to secure departmental objectives, using media and marketing strategy, internal communication and stakeholder engagement to inform the public, create understanding and change behaviour for the public good in support of policy and service goals. You will drive the Departments adaptation to a rapidly changing media landscape, navigating the decline of traditional media, the rise of social media, podcasts, influencers, into a coherent communications strategy, which communicates with the public via the mediums that people use to consume news and entertainment. Trusted advisor fostering collaboration and influence. As the most senior communications adviser at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero you will lead your team in providing expert communications advice to Ministers, CEOs, Permanent Secretaries, officials and Special Advisers. You are expected to lead communications at a system-wide level. You will build effective relationships with senior figures across the sector, with policy and operations counterparts in the Civil Service, and with political colleagues. Understanding context. You will understand the political and cultural operating context inside and outside the Civil Service to help inform your advice and lead your teams. This includes understanding the environment and the sector in which the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero operates. You will be responsible for leading the Governments response to consistent campaigns of disinformation in traditional and new media against the Governments net zero agenda. Building capability. You will role model continuous professional development and make sure the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero communications function has the capability and skills it needs to deliver the communications strategy. As a leader within GCS you will play an active role in raising professional standards and improving efficiency more broadly, including by leading continuous improvement projects. You will need budget, planning and forecasting skills and the ability to manage complex change programmes. Leading beyond the function. As a senior leader within the Department, you will sit on the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero executive committee and play your part in leading the organisation, including taking on corporate roles and projects which support the GCS and Civil Services corporate agenda. You will work to improve diversity and inclusion in your department and across the profession, and create an environment where everyone can flourish. Person specification You will need to be able to show, through your application, that you have the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post, as well as the leadership skills to succeed at Director level in the Senior Civil Service. The Government Communication Service is determined to ensure that the profession is representative of modern Britain and welcomes applications from the widest range of people of different backgrounds, cultures and experiences. You can find out more by visiting https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/ Essential Criteria Proven success in developing and implementing compelling and creative communication strategies in a large and complex organisation and the ability to enable and drive organisational priorities. An outstanding track record of setting direction and leading major change and delivery programmes with excellent judgement and political acumen to understand the changing context, to manage risk and to reach sound judgements on a range of strategic and reputational issues; Evidence of a broad range of communication skills and leadership across media relations, reputation management, corporate and internal communications; An awareness of the changing media and news landscape, with experience in recent years of engaging social media and alternative media strategies. Highly developed interpersonal and influencing skills, with the ability to establish credibility quickly with a diverse network of stakeholders up to Board and Ministerial (or equivalent) level, and to present complex issues simply and effectively; Experience of acting as a thought-leader and source of expertise and innovation to set professional standards, future capabilities, strategies and driving continuous improvement in communication delivery; A track record of inspiring leadership, in particular evidence of creating an inclusive environment and developing a high-performing diverse team where all staff can progress and develop; Proven sound management of resources and large budgets, including identifying and realising no- and low-cost ways of delivering communications. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Leadership Seeing the Big Picture Delivering at Pace Communicating and Influencing Managing a Quality Service Benefits Alongside your salary of £98,000, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero contributes £28,390 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero 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 employer contribution of 28.97%. 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. Office attendance The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period. Senior Civil Servant (SCS) staff are expected to aim for closer to 60% of the time at an office or non-home based location over the accounting period. 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. Please follow the Job Advert instructions on the Civil Service Jobs website to apply online, no later than 23:55, Wednesday 19th February 2025. Application process To apply for this post please submit the following documents no later than 23:55, Wednesday 19th February 2025. A CV (which is for information purposes only) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years. A Statement of Suitability (no more than 1000 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role. Selection Process Paul Kernaghan - a Civil Service Commissioner, will chair the process. The Civil Service Commission has two primary functions: Providing assurance that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. For the most senior posts in the Civil Service, the Commission discharges its responsibilities directly by overseeing the recruitment process and by a Commissioner chairing the selection panel. Hearing and determining appeals made by civil servants under the Civil Service Code which sets out the Civil Service values Impartiality, Objectivity, Integrity and Honesty and forms part of the relationship between civil servants and their employer. More detailed information can be found on the Civil Service Commission website. Other Panel Members Will Include: Clive Maxwell, (Second Permanent Secretary) Simon Baugh (Chief Executive, Government Communication Service, Cabinet Office) Alice Hurrell (Chief People Officer) Candidates considered to have the necessary skills and competence for the position prior to the interview may be asked to meet the Secretary of State and Permanent Secretary before a final decision is made. Contact point for applicants For information on the role itself and working in the Department please contact SCSCandidate.grscabinetoffice.gov.uk Shortlist You will receive an acknowledgement of your application through the online process. The panel will select a shortlist of candidates whose applications best demonstrate suitability for the role, by considering the evidence provided against the essential criteria set out in the Person Specification. Shortlisted candidates may also be invited to an informal discussion with the Secretary of State and /or the Permanent Secretary for the Department of Energy, Security and Net Zero (which will be observed by a representative of the Civil Service Commission) prior to the panel interviews. Assessment If you are shortlisted, you will be asked to take part in a series of assessments which will include a staff engagement exercise. These assessments will not result in a pass or fail decision. Rather, they are designed to support the panels decision making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview. Interview You will be asked to attend a panel interview to discuss your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification earlier in this pack. Shortlisted candidates may be asked to prepare a 5-minute presentation at interview on a scenario issued to them 30 minutes ahead of their panel interview. Full details will be provided prior to interview. Interviews are expected to take place in person in London. 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. I nformation about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our DESNZ Candidate Guidance. A DESNZ Plain Text Version of the guidance is also available. We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section. 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. This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise. As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above. 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. Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). Apply and further information This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative. The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window). Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Contact point for applicants Job contact : Name : SCS Recruitment Team Email : scscandidate.grscabinetoffice.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : scscandidate.grscabinetoffice.gov.uk Further information Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commissions Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance scscandidate.grscabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/contact-us/ Attachments Energy_Security_Net_Zero_Communications_Director. Candidate Information Pack pdf 2025.01.28 Opens in new window (pdf, 10MB) Director of Communications - Accessibility Pack Opens in new window (docx, 32kB) Share this page Print Email Gmail Facebook LinkedIn