Description Are you interested in an exciting opportunity where you can apply your skills delivering high quality communication strategies and strengthening external engagement activity here at the SPPA? The External Communications Manager role sits within the SPPA Communications team, part of the Strategy, Governance and Communications division. The team is responsible for managing communications and engagement across the SPPA including internal, external, employer, and pension scheme member communications. The team manages a range of key channels including the website, the staff intranet (Saltire), events, public relations, stakeholder engagement and social media. Its aim is to inform and engage key audiences in way which has a demonstrable impact on the strategic priorities of the SPPA. The External Communications Manager is a key role for someone to shape and lead on strengthening and improving the Agency’s external communications activity, ensuring it is based on audience insight and research, integrates analysis and evaluation to ensure continuous improvement and uses innovation to establish new and effective ways of working. Responsibilities Deliver communications plans that will effectively support and drive the successful implementation of our SPPA Communications and Engagement Strategy. Manage key stakeholders across the business to influence, shape, plan, and deliver key communications projects that make a measurable difference to our audiences in understanding our work and their pension schemes. Produce excellent and clear communications that will support our vision and priorities and inform, involve, and increase the knowledge and awareness of our audiences. Develop and deliver engaging content suitable for a variety of channels and platforms, particularly digital. Be a communications ambassador for the Agency – ensuring our work meets best practice in terms of accessibility and promoting this approach with wider colleagues. Be a key part of the Communications and Engagement Team, providing a leadership role and collaborating effectively to build confidence in our business, while working flexibly to perform other duties as required. Use evaluation and analysis to promote a culture of continuous communications improvement, and taking a flexible approach to implement changes which will provide a better communications service. Responsibilities Success Profile Success profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of skills, experience and behaviours candidates will be assessed on. Experience: Demonstrable experience of working in a busy, communications-focused environment with experience of developing and delivering engaging outcome-focused campaigns and content for various channels and platforms, particularly digital. Experience of using evaluation and analytics to inform your approach, set appropriate targets and to support continuous improvement. Strong writing and editing skills, including a good news sense, and the ability to distil down complex information into clear and accessible plain English for different channels and audiences. Behaviours: Communicating and Influencing – Level 3 Working Together – Level 3 Delivering at Pace – Level 3 Seeing the Big Picture – Level 3 You can find out more about Success Profiles Behaviours, here: Behaviour levels - Success profiles: candidate guide - gov.scot How to apply Apply online, providing a CV and Supporting Statement (of no more than 1000 words) which provides evidence of how you meet the skills, experience and behaviours listed in the Success Profile above. If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an interview and a presentation. Assessments are scheduled for w/c 19th May however this may be subject to change. Interview and assessment are expected to take place in person on site at SPPA, 7 Tweedside Park, Tweedbank, Galashiels, TD1 3TE. Qualifications About Us The Scottish Public Pensions Agency is an Agency of the Scottish Government. Our principal role is to administer the pensions for employees in the National Health Service, Teachers’, Police and Fire-fighters’ pension schemes in Scotland for over 600,000 key workers. The Agency administers these public service pension schemes on behalf of Scottish Ministers with an annual pension spend to over 200,000 pensioners to the value of more than £3 billion. SPPA Careers | SPPA (pensions.gov.scot ) Civil Service Nationality Rules Working Pattern Our standard hours are 35 hours per week. We offer a range of flexible and hybrid working options, with two days minimum working on site at SPPA in the Tweedbank Office. If you have specific questions about the role you are applying for, please contact us. Equality Statement We are committed to equality and inclusion, and we aim to recruit a diverse workforce that reflects the population of our nation. Find out more about our commitment to diversity and how we offer and support recruitment adjustments for anyone who needs them. Further information Find out more about our organisation, what we offer staff members and how to apply on our Careers Website. Read our Candidate Guide for further information on our recruitment and application processes. For further information on this post please contact Erlend Barclay by email at erlend.barclaygov.scot Apply Before: 28th April (23:59)