Strategic and Change Communications Advisor Remote
Job description
Join Police Digital Service as Strategic and Change Communications Advisor
About Police Digital Service
To protect people from harm in our rapidly changing world, police services must not only keep up with technology and business changes but develop capabilities and ways of working that will enable them to adapt to and deal with the complexity of modern criminality.
Police Digital Service strives to be the go-to partner for technology developments and programmes across UK policing. Our team provides technical advice and delivers services to help policing and law enforcement organisations across the UK prioritise and focus on technology efforts.
Our vision is to support UK policing to keep people safe, get more from technology investments and make better use of public money, and we’re always on the lookout for great talent to help us achieve this.
Role Summary
The Strategic and Change Communications Advisor is responsible for leading communications strategy, planning, and delivery for an assigned portfolio, working with Corporate Affairs colleagues to reach internal and external audiences.
The Corporate Affairs function is a centre of excellence for communications and engagement, providing a professional shared service to support PDS functions, projects, programmes, and people, that deliver digital services and solutions to policing. The core pillars of corporate communications and public affairs, internal communications and engagement, and events and brand partnerships, work with business aligned strategic and change communications specialists to meet tactical and strategic goals.?
Key Responsibilities
Communications
- Lead communication strategy, planning, and delivery for an assigned portfolio.
- Work with Corporate Affairs colleagues to reach internal and external audiences and meet assigned portfolios’ communications objectives.
- Develop communication plans using the OASIS model.
- Ensure that business benefits and achievements are communicated across functional boundaries.
- Lead on originating copy and creating digital content.
- Lead on preparing slide decks and event briefings for senior colleagues presenting at events.
- Contribute to key corporate comms products, including the Annual Report.
- Inform functionality and content for PDS website.
- Coordinate the responses to consultations and FOIs relevant to portfolio area.
- Keep up to date with the news agenda impacting portfolio area and identify opportunities to issue proactive releases or statements to support goals and objectives.
- Maintain processes to ensure GDPR compliance at all times.
- Ensure that all content is security marked and published appropriately for its classification and intended audience.
- Contribute towards delivery of the PDS Communications Strategy.
Stakeholder Management
- Provide expertise to inform, influence, advise and engage stakeholders, and support business readiness for change.
- Develop and maintain a Stakeholder Map for assigned area.
- Develop a Stakeholder Plan outlining the approach to communications and engagement.
- Work with stakeholder relationship managers to ensure that correct and consistent messaging is shared externally.
- Manage information flow between assigned business areas and the Corporate Affairs function.
Brand Management
- Act as brand champion, supporting delivery of the PDS Brand Strategy.
- Promote brand compliance.
- Work with senior colleagues to advise on the approach to crisis comms.
What you need to succeed in the role
- 3+ years’ experience delivering and managing communications in a complex organisation.
- 1+ years’ experience operating in a change or project-based environment, ideally in law enforcement or the public sector.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to translate business goals into comms objectives.
- In-depth understanding of B2B comms channels and platforms.
- Experience working with stakeholders to grow advocacy and protect brand and reputation.
- Strong content creation skills with an understanding of best practice.
- Experience using software to create and disseminate multi-channel content.
- Experience managing programmes, projects and comms activity and using insight to inform outcome focused comms.
- Strategic thinking, creative thinking and problem solving skills.
- Excellent organisational skills.
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills.
- Politically astute with an understanding of UK policing.
- Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team.
Why Join us?
- Balance is important and we want you to take time off to recharge – we offer 28 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays, rising to 30 days after 5 years of service. Holiday Purchase also available.
- Flexible working hours - We trust you to do your job and we appreciate that life doesn’t always fit around a 9 to 5 workday. We operate core hours of 10 to 4, Monday to Friday (37hr week)
- We care about your well-being – we have an EAP that offers remote GP, mental health and physiotherapy appointments, plus retail discounts
- Plan for the future – we offer an excellent pension scheme and life assurance cover
- Family - Enhanced maternity and paternity pay along with a flexible return to work
- Community - one paid day off per year for volunteering
You can find out more here:
Benefits – Police Digital Service (pds.police.uk)
Diversity, equity and inclusion
We are committed to equal opportunity for all and will not discriminate on any grounds. We encourage applications from people from the widest possible span of experience. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates and people with disabilities.
Working Arrangements
This is a remote role.
