Posted: 15 June
The role
Job description
Internal Communications Officer
Contract type: Fixed Term until March
Location: London or Newcastle with a minimum of 2 days per week in the office in line with our hybrid working policy. Occasional travel to Newcastle may be required.
Salary: Newcastle: Salary- c£36,; London Salary -c£42, more may be available for exceptional candidates
Role overview
As the UK’s independent public spending watchdog, the NAO plays an essential role in our democracy.
The internal communications team is a core part of our wider communications team, critical to the successful delivery of our strategy. This role will be reporting directly to the head of internal communications (HoIC) and work closely with the internal communications manager.
We want to ensure our audience are involved, informed and inspired by our communications, and proud to be part of our diverse and inclusive workplace. We have an ambitious, ongoing programme to modernise our operations and improve how we communicate and engage with our colleagues.
Main purpose of the role
It’s an exciting time to join the team and you’ll be supporting some of our frontline internal teams as well as delivering communications on a variety of change projects. You’ll play a key role in growing and developing our communities on Viva Engage and identifying and producing compelling stories that drive recognition of our people and build a sense of community at the NAO.
You will be an articulate internal communications professional, confident in building relationships with individuals and communities both on- and off-line and with experience of producing engaging and informative copy across several platforms. Comfortable with working across multiple projects to tight timescales and with limited budgets, you’ll have a proactive and innovative approach and be experienced in delivering high quality internal communications and engagement projects to support organisational success.
With strong stakeholder management skills and a proactive approach to your work, you’ll be able to build effective and collaborative relationships with internal clients, including senior staff. We have offices in London and Newcastle and work in a hybrid way with at least two days in the office.
Main responsibilities
Delivery of corporate communications:
Business partner areas of the organisation including our Facilities Team, Change and Transformation, Digital Services and the Knowledge team.
Support projects delivered by the wider communications team (including strategic communications, digital, FOI, design & publishing and the press office)
Develop robust and measurable communications plans for corporate initiatives, creating engaging communications across our internal comms channels and advising key stakeholders on communications best practice.
Support our Knowledge and Insight Hubs to deliver their communications and engagement plans and identify opportunities to develop communications from the hubs to our audiences.
Ensure intranet news is timely, up to date and responsive to the needs of the audience.
Take a leading role in developing and supporting our Viva Engage communities, generating engaging content and facilitating conversations amongst our colleagues.
Keep the NAO internal communications calendar updated, ensuring that we make best use of our communications channels to deliver appropriate messages to our people at the right time.
Supporting the delivery of organisation events, such as annual cooperate days and our programme of external speakers to the office.
Promote the use of templates, tools and channels to support colleagues with planning, implementing and evaluating their internal communications.
Support the successful delivery of the wider communications area plan and the internal communications modernisation plan.
Take a lead role in developing case studies and storytelling to support the delivery of our wider strategy and organisation development plan.
Develop a network of stakeholders and a keen sense of current events at the NAO. Attend established staff groups, meetings and networks to proactively seek out good news stories, support their communications,
Providing networks and staff groups support in their communications and provide internal communications with greater insight from our audience.
Content management:
Produce engaging and interactive content for our internal channels including, print, digital and social channels (Viva Engage).
Support engagement initiatives across the organisation, particularly facilities campaigns to promote a healthy and active workplace as well as important health and safety information.
Edit weekly internal staff newsletter and work with the internal comms team to develop and improve the channel.
Skills, experience, attributes and qualifications
The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the following:
Essential criteria
Track record of developing and delivering successful internal communication campaigns, preferably in multi-site or remote working organisations
Experience in evaluating internal communications impact
Experience using SharePoint and Viva Engage
Experience managing competing priorities
Demonstrated internal relationship management skills
Demonstrated written and editing skills
Able to use plain and concise English to get complex messages across to audiences.
Understanding of the links between organisational strategy and the role of internal communications to support successful delivery
Self-driven and proactive
Desired criteria:
An understanding of the public sector and an understanding of the NAO’s role to scrutinise public services
Video and photo editing skills, particularly with Adobe, Camtasia
Experience developing case studies and/or storytelling pieces
To apply candidates should provide:
An up-to-date CV
A covering letter outlining briefly how you meet the essential criteria and any relevant desired criteria, and why you are a good fit for the role.
The closing date for applications is 23:59 on Sunday 28th June
Selection process
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview, either in person or online on 15 or 16 July. They will be required to complete an assessment exercise in advance, which will then be discussed during the interview.
Nationality Requirements:
UK nationals
nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with (or eligible for) status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
Please note, we are not able to sponsor work visas. Please contact us at should you have any questions on your nationality eligibility.
Equal opportunities and diversity
Disability and Reasonable Adjustments: Applicants with a disability who wish their application to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme should confirm this when submitting their application. Under this scheme we guarantee an interview to an applicant with a disability who meets the minimum requirements for the role. You should also let our HR team know if you wish us to consider any Reasonable Adjustments at any stage of the process (HR Service Desk ().
Applicants will not be discriminated against on the grounds of any protected characteristic or any other extraneous factor. ResponsibilitiesSkills requiredEducational requirements
