Head of Engagement and Communications, Better Futures Fund

Job summary

The role we are recruiting for sits within the Impact Economy Teamin the Civil Society and Youth directorate. The team has a responsibility for mobilising innovative sources of philanthropic and private capital alongside government spending. This has primarily been in support of encouraging a financially sustainable Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector.

The team is driven by a commitment to improving outcomes for communities, increasing the impact of the sector through innovation and championing what works, improving civil society access to funding, and unlocking and growing non-government sources of finance. It is home to a diverse set of innovative and dynamic policy areas seeking to tackle to some of society's toughest challenges.

We are firmly committed to our people, and this is reflected in our values. We work hard to build an environment that is diverse and inclusive, as well as warm, friendly and collaborative; where each member of staff can flourish, feel comfortable being themselves at work, develop their skills and move their career forward.

Job description

This is an exciting and stretching role, offering a unique opportunity to lead the engagement and communications strategy for the landmark £500 million Better Futures Fund (BFF). Over the next decade, this flagship initiative aims to leverage up to £1bn in total funding to tackle the root causes of child poverty across England, improving life chances for up to 200,000 children and families through innovative Social Outcomes Partnerships. Due to its scale, the programme holds significant visibility across Whitehall and generates wide external interest.

This role suits a collaborative and innovative individual who is keen to work on a new complex programme that is not the usual way government does business. As the Engagement and Communications Lead, you will own the cross-government narrative and external communications strategy, working alongside our core policy and delivery teams. This will involve working with internal DCMS teams on government comms moments and identifying external opportunities to promote the programme. You will coordinate all briefings and commissions relating to BFF and lead on all ministerial and parliamentary engagement. You will also be responsible for supporting cross-government engagement, managing key stakeholder relationships and co-ordinating inputs to support the design and delivery of funding rounds. You will manage one Senior Policy Advisor (SEO) to support the delivery of these objectives. The successful candidate will also need to be flexible to evolving needs of the programme as it transitions through the project life cycle and be willing to adapt roles and responsibilities as required.

Success in this post means establishing trusted relationships with Ministers, departments and senior stakeholders and translating complex policy milestones into clear briefings and compelling comms moments. This position provides significant exposure to senior HMG leadership and the opportunity to shape a major government programme from its early stages, making it an excellent platform for career progression within the civil service.

Person specification

The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience, please note that desirable skills will only be considered in the event of tied candidates.

Essential requirements:

• Stakeholder management skills - confident working with and leading relationships with senior stakeholders. Proven ability to build trust and credibility.
• Effective working together behaviours - able to collaborate with and motivate a range of colleagues and bring internal and external stakeholders along with you.
• High quality written and oral communication - ability to succinctly explain complex issues to a diverse range of audiences, and develop briefs and arguments at pace.
• Delivering at pace - taking responsibility for delivering high-quality, timely results, even when facing pressure or changing priorities. Able to work well under own initiative, tracking and completing tasks with limited supervision.
• Seeing the Big Picture - ability to connect issues to wider strategic context and describe how it all fits together.

Desirable skills:

• Experience working directly with Ministers and/or senior political or government leaders.
• Experience of working in a policy environment and/or grant delivery.
• Knowledge of impact capital and/or Social Outcome Partnerships.

We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Aimee Hardy, and will take place on: Wednesday 26th August, 13:00-13:30

The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.

Please register your interest by filling out this Registration form and you will be sent an invitation. Invites will only be sent after this deadline has passed.

Please note that the session will not be recorded and will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process - please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) to [email removed]

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £54,582, Department for Culture, Media and Sport contributes £15,812 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

DCMS values its staff and offers a wide range of benefits to everyone who works here. We’re committed to developing talent, and supporting colleagues to have great careers in our department. To support with that, some of the benefits we offer include:

• Flexible working arrangements and hybrid working - DCMS staff work on a flexible basis with time spent in offices, and time spent working from home

• 26.5 days annual leave on entry, increasing to 31.5 days after 5 years’ service

• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

• Access to the Edenred employee benefits system which offers discounts to popular retailers and access to various useful resources such as financial and savings advice

• 3 days of paid volunteering leave

• Up to 9 months maternity leave on full pay + generous paternity and adoption leave

• Staff reward and recognition bonuses that operate throughout the year

• Occupational sick pay

• Access to the Employee Assistance Programme which offers staff 24/7 confidential support and resources such as counselling, debt guidance and management advice

• Active and engaged staff networks to join including the LGBT+, Ethnic Diversity, Mental Health and Wellbeing and Gender Equality Networks

• Exceptional learning and development opportunities that you can explore alongside your day to day work

• Season ticket lo