Job summary
The Elections Directorate is a welcoming and inclusive team. We are responsible for a challenging and dynamic policy landscape, always in the public eye, covering electoral policy and law. This includes how elections are run, who can participate and how elections and campaigning are regulated.
We are at the start of an exciting new programme of work to implement key manifesto commitments set out by the new Government, through primary and secondary legislation, and digital and operational delivery.
The commitments include:
1. Increasing engagement of young people by enfranchising 16 and 17 year olds
2. Encouraging participation by improving voter registration
3. Reforming voter identification rules to improve accessibility for all electors
4. Strengthening the political finance framework
We are looking for a Head of Communications & Engagement to design and deliver stakeholder engagement and external communications; crafting a narrative, getting the right input from practitioners, academia, civil society and the electorate and landing the resulting reforms in Parliament and the sector. This is an exciting time to join our team, shaping a high profile and ambitious programme of work that continues to draw significant attention within Parliament, across the media and from a wide variety of commentators interested in how our democracy works.
Job description
The Elections Directorate works with a range of stakeholders including local government elections teams, the Electoral Commission, ministers, parliamentarians, the devolved administrations, civil society organisations and other government departments.
The Head of Communications & Engagement will:
5. Design and deliver the overarching strategy for stakeholder engagement across the Directorate�s work, across policy development, digital service design and delivery, and operational implementation of the reforms by local authority election teams
6. Work closely with the elections sector, managing the stakeholder governance framework and ensuring the necessary strategic and detailed input from the sector to support policy and planning
7. As the work moves into delivery, design and deliver the change programme, working across each project to identify the sector requirements to support change delivery (such as training, funding, etc) and managing delivery against plan
8. Lead on external communications and handling, including with press office and on Parliamentary and wider publications
9. Manage the Directorate�s presence at external events and conferences, including Ministerial speeches and interventions, to drive engagement
10. Manage the cross-Directorate briefing and correspondence function, including Ministerial briefing for stakeholder engagement. Ensure consistency of message as well as timely responses to correspondence and PQs
11. Lead and manage the high-performing team of around 10-12 FTE
Person specification
12. Proven leadership and management skills, ability to set the agenda and prioritise for a busy engagement team, and quality assure briefings and communications
13. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience of translating complex messages into quality written products for a range of audiences, and the ability to write succinct, clear advice and briefings
14. Significant experience of stakeholder management and/or communications
15. Strong planning and project management skills, including in delivering products and announcements at pace in a sensitive environment
16. Excellent relationship management skills and the ability to build productive working relationships with internal and external stakeholders
17. The ability to work under pressure to urgent or shifting deadlines, including the ability to work flexibly on quickly changing or multiple priorities
18. Experience and confidence in working with ministers or senior leaders, specifically in communications in government
19. Experience in working with digital services and/or teams
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
20. Leadership
21. Working Together
22. Delivering at Pace
Benefits
Alongside your salary of �61,599, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes �17,845 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
23. Learning and development tailored to your role
24. An environment with flexible working options
25. A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
26. A with an employer contribution of