Details
Reference number
427755
Salary
£34,765 - £41,375
National: £34,765-£37,080.
London: £38,795-£41,375.
For details of our pay on appointment policy, please see below under the heading 'Salary'.
A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
GBP
Job grade
Higher Executive Officer
Contract type
Permanent
Business area
DEFRA - Strategy - Communications
Type of role
Communications / Marketing
Working pattern
Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time
Number of jobs available
1
Contents
* Location
* About the job
* Benefits
* Things you need to know
* Apply and further information
Location
Bristol, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, York
About the job
Job summary
Everyone is affected by the work that Defra does. We deal with a vast range of issues that profoundly impact people's lives. We are responsible for England's environment, our countryside and rural economy, the food and farming sectors and have lead responsibility for protection from a wide range of natural threats and hazards. This is a particularly exciting time to work in Defra and this role will touch on a huge sweep of national policy.
Cultivating and maintaining strong relationships with our wide range of stakeholder groups will play a crucial role in delivering on the department's ambitious objectives.
We are therefore delighted to offer an exciting opportunity for an ambitious and proven communications professional to support Defra's creative and highly-respected Events and Visits team. The postholder will oversee the continued delivery of high-profile events and visits linked to the Secretary of State's key policy areas.
This role requires travel around the UK, occasionally at short notice and overnight.
Job description
* Work as part of a talented team of people overseeing external engagement activity and Secretary of State visits and events.
* Work collaboratively with other comms and policy teams to ensure that there is a consistent approach to all stakeholder events and visits.
* Collaborate and build relationships with our external partners to facilitate high quality visits and events including agencies, photographers, businesses and other government departments.
* Build strong relationships with special advisers and Ministerial Private Offices and become a trusted adviser of outreach activity.
* Draft detailed itineraries and produce high quality briefings for events and visits.
Person specification
* Proficient in advising on stakeholder engagement and communications.
* Confident in building relationships with a range of internal and external partners.
* Experience working with communications teams to deliver high quality work, often at pace.
* A collaborative approach to communications delivery.
* Ability to think strategically and identify opportunities to communicate effectively across a variety of audiences including the media, stakeholders and the public.
* Ability to work at pace and to adapt to changing scenarios.
* The ability to write clearly and to contribute to strong communications and stakeholder engagement plans, email updates, meeting notes and presentations.
* Excellent planning, management and organisational ability.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
* Communicating and Influencing
* Delivering at Pace
* Working Together
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
* Communicating and Influencing
* Delivering at Pace
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
* Government Communication Service (GCS) Competency: Implementation
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £34,765, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £10,071 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
* Learning and development tailored to your role
* An environment with flexible working options
* A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
* A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
Application Process
As part of the application process you will be asked to submit a CV, personal statement and Civil Service Behaviour statements.
Your personal statement should provide detailed evidence of how you meet the essential criteria as noted in the person specification section of the job advert.
Sift
Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the personal statement and the 'Communicating and Influencing' Behaviour statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.
Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
Interview
If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on Civil Service Behaviours (Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace and Working Together), as well as the following technical skill: Government Communication Service (GCS) Competency: Implementation (IO level).
A presentation or additional exercise may also be assessed.
Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview.
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application. However, all examples and statements must be truthful, factually accurate, and based on your own experience. Plagiarism—including presenting others' ideas or AI-generated content as your own—may result in withdrawal of applications or disciplinary action for internal candidates. Please refer to our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use."
Location
As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).
Where the location is 'National' the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra's location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.
Successful applicants currently employed by the hiring Defra organisation for this post may choose to remain in their current contractual location or may choose to change contractual location to one of those listed above. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.
The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.
Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.
The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.
Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.
Salary
New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.
Reserve List
A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.
Childcare Vouchers
Any move to DEFRA 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; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.
Reasonable Adjustment
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
Contact Government Recruitment Service via as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Complete the 'Assistance required' section in the 'Additional requirements' page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a Language Service Professional.
Accessibility
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
Visa Sponsorship Statement
Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.
Merit Lists
Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be appointed in merit order for each location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.
Criminal Record Check
If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service 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- stating the job reference number in the subject heading.
Higher Security Clearance
For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.
Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter
Internal Fraud Database Check
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 will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
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 counter-terrorist check .
See our vetting charter .
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)
* 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
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code 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 .
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 and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .
Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans 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 : Kathie Coad
* Email :
* Telephone :
Recruitment team
* Email :
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email:
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: here