Senior Communications Officer- Strategic Communications

Job content

Job Summary

About us

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the independent regulator of information rights. In a data-driven world, we provide advice, guidance, and support to organisations enabling compliance with their obligations, as well as protecting individuals and their personal data.

As an employer, we are passionate about making a positive difference to the lives and careers of our people, and we empower you to be curious, impactful, collaborative and respectful.

About The Role

The Senior Communications Officer for Strategic Comms plays a key role in planning and delivering communications that support our most important strategic aims. The focus is on objectives, audiences and communicating for impact – helping us tell compelling stories that consistently demonstrate the value of the ICO’s work.

You will work closely with our Communications Business Partners to ensure effective collaboration and coordination between Corporate Communications and the wider organisation, providing high-quality communications advice, challenge and support.

The postholder will develop communications strategies, plans and campaigns that enhance the delivery of business objectives over the longer term, and work with colleagues to deliver our communications activities across a range of channels.

You’ll have experience in a range of communications disciplines and a record of delivering impactful, high-quality communications in a fast-moving environment.

You will have a strong news sense and good understanding of the ICO’s operating environment, enabling you to identify opportunities and risks and inform decision-making.

You’ll be able to demonstrate the excellent written communications skills needed to turn complex subject matter into engaging content, and an understanding of how to choose and apply different communication tools and channels.

You will also have excellent relationship-building and stakeholder management skills, including with media organisations and other public and private sector partners.

You can read more about our Communications team and the work we do here.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain strong working relationships with colleagues across the Comms directorate, including Communications Business Partners and Strategic Planning Manager, and in the wider ICO.
• Develop effective communication strategies, plans and integrated campaigns to support our priority objectives; use insight and research, including intelligence gathered from the wider ICO, to inform your communications approach.
• Account-manage communications projects, including liaising with operational and policy leads internally.
• Effectively commission and support delivery of communications activities across channels including media, website, social media and events – getting hands-on during busy periods.
• Confidently present ideas, plans and updates to departmental, senior executive, corporate and external audiences.
• Evaluate strategies, plans and campaigns to drive the future effectiveness of communication activities; support Comms’ projects more widely by making a creative contribution to their planning, design and implementation.
• Deliver effective partnership working by fostering good working relationships with all stakeholders, including media and other public and private sector organisations.
• Contribute to longer-term horizon scanning and support the development of the ICO strategic communication plan.
  

Person specification

About You

• Experience relevant to the role requirements, as described in the role responsibilities and person specification, and accumulated through any combination of academic or vocational qualifications or experience.
• Ability to deal with a demanding workload and to switch priorities at short notice
• Up-to-date practical knowledge of a range of communication tools and channels and how to apply them
• Excellent news sense and political awareness
• Experience of developing impactful communication strategies, plans and campaigns to support business objectives
• Creativity and problem-solving, including experience of using research and evaluation to inform decisions
• Ability to account-manage communications projects that involve partnership working with senior colleagues and external stakeholders
• Experience of commissioning and supporting delivery of communications activities across channels such as media, website, social media and events
• Excellent writing ability with style adaptable to suit different communications tools, channels and audiences
• Strong interpersonal skills: confident and persuasive, with ability to build relationships and present material effectively at different levels in an organisation
• Ability to use standard office IT packages
  

Please ensure that the information in your CV demonstrates how you meet the criteria in the key responsibilities and about you sections of the job description. Include relevant examples where possible.

Alongside your salary of £40,565, Information Commissioner’s Office contributes £10,952 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Please visit ico.jobs for full details, including salary and benefits.

Selection process details

About You

• Experience relevant to the role requirements, as described in the role responsibilities and person specification, and accumulated through any combination of academic or vocational qualifications or experience.
• Ability to deal with a demanding workload and to switch priorities at short notice
• Up-to-date practical knowledge of a range of communication tools and channels and how to apply them
• Excellent news sense and political awareness
• Experience of developing impactful communication strategies, plans and campaigns to support business objectives
• Creativity and problem-solving, including experience of using research and evaluation to inform decisions
• Ability to account-manage communications projects that involve partnership working with senior colleagues and external stakeholders
• Experience of commissioning and supporting delivery of communications activities across channels such as media, website, social media and events
• Excellent writing ability with style adaptable to suit different communications tools, channels and audiences
• Strong interpersonal skills: confident and persuasive, with ability to build relationships and present material effectively at different levels in an organisation
• Ability to use standard office IT packages
  

Please ensure that the information in your CV demonstrates how you meet the criteria in the key responsibilities and about you sections of the job description. Include relevant examples where possible.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

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.

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 : recruitment@ico.org.uk
• Email : recruitment@ico.org.uk
  

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@ico.org.uk
  

Further information

https://ico.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/ICO/details/Senior-Communications-Officer_JR154