7988 - Senior Digital Communications and Engagement Manager

Core Purpose

The Digital Communication and Engagement team works at the heart of Digital, setting out the overall strategy and role for communications and engagement across Digital. The team develops Communications strategies channels and forward look of activities to engage stakeholder audiences with the DWP Digital story outlining what changes mean for them. The Digital Communication and Engagement Officers and Managers ensure that all engagement across Digital operates consistently and effectively.

Summary

DWP Digital is a community of tech professionals within DWP.

Over the last two years we have established the Digital Workplace service and a multi-disciplinary team that supports 84,000 colleagues at 800 UK sites.

As the largest public sector transformation project in Europe, the size and scale of Digital Workplace presents both an opportunity and a challenge. We’ve recently moved all of our systems to hybrid hosting, removed the constraints of outsourced IT contracts, modernised our legacy infrastructure and stabilised IT service performance but this is only the beginning.

Through a combination of the latest hardware and a growing mobile phone service, we are improving communication and collaboration. By upgrading our software with the latest versions of Office 365, Skype for Business and our rebooted staff intranet, we are upskilling our workforce. Our portfolio comprises 20 distinct but unified products, each one rolled-out using a test-and-learn approach and co-designed around the needs of users.

To allow us to create world-class digital solutions, we’ve also created a modern working environment for our people. Our services are delivered from one of six recently refurbished digital hubs. Each one provides a bright and flexible workspace, designed to support collaboration and creative thinking.

Digital Workplace plays a vital role in how our colleagues stay motivated, informed, and engaged in what they do. We embrace challenge, have an appetite for continuous improvement and we’re not afraid to rethink existing conventions.

In addition, we also provide a variety of training and education opportunities to improve skills and help colleagues stay up-to-date on the latest industry thinking. This year, a number of new Leadership and Management apprenticeship schemes launched across DWP Digital, supporting professional development up to a Level 7 MBA standard.

If you’re a creative leader, love to learn, and want to be part of a brilliant civil service, then a move to DWP Digital could be for you.

As a Senior Digital Communication and Engagement Manager you co-create the Digital Engagement Strategy in collaboration with senior colleagues across Digital and Strategic Communications, through audience insight, your channel expertise and your creative communications skills.

You’ll work collaboratively with a wide range of colleagues across and beyond DWP Digital to define, deliver and evaluate the DWP Digital Workplace story to internal and/or external audiences. You represent the voice of the audience within Digital Workplace, providing credible communications advice and expert delivery as the trusted senior communications lead. You’re comfortable operating at all levels of DWP, across Government and with external stakeholders, and provide effective professional leadership within your team and across the Digital Engagement community.

Responsibilities

• Leads and defines professional-standard communications and engagement strategies which are aligned to Digital strategic objectives, using a range of channels and techniques, including marketing campaigns, stakeholders, press, digital and social media, to deliver effective, innovative and measureable communications to multiple audiences;
• Provides strong professional leadership to team members, coaching and motivating them, and empowering them to be creative;
• Provides expert, strategic communications advice to colleagues across Digital Group (including at executive team level), helping the organisation translate complex issues into relevant and easy-to-understand messages;
• Builds strong partnerships across and beyond DWP (including within DWP Digital, Internal Comms, Press Office, HR, other government departments and external organisations) to create joined-up strategies and delivery plans;
• Applies strong campaign management principles and quality-control across work, using the Government Communications Service OASIS model to ensure that communications are creative, insight-driven and carefully evaluated;
• Sets team performance goals, standards and the team’s overall work programme, role-modelling collaboration to ensure alignment with wider Digital and Digital Engagement priorities, and taking into account the wider DWP, and government context;
• Takes responsibility for team delivery, including planning, prioritisation, project management and reporting. Has overall responsibility for budgets in team, responsible for defining requirements, allocation, profiling, and day-to-day management, and for upholding a strong culture of financial accountability and value for money;
• Develops the capability of self and team to build an innovative and multi-skilled function (providing strong and supportive line management where appropriate);
• Plays a leading role in the wider Digital Engagement community, providing visible and accessible leadership beyond own team, encouraging collaborative cross-team delivery, providing professional support and actively helping build capability.

Specialist Responsibilities

Campaigns, Marketing and Media Relations

• Leads on integrating activity across campaigns, ensuring consistency of messaging and that owned/ earned/bought channels work together to achieve communication goals;
• Ensures delivery of campaign plans, including deployment of resources and integrated solutions;
• Creates a strong culture of evaluation for all campaign plans, including defining clear metrics that relate to measurable communication and policy/ business outcomes;
• Builds effective strategic relationships with Press Office colleagues to maximise engagement opportunities and protect the organisation’s reputation through proactive and reactive media relations.

Service Delivery Communications

• Sets strategy and standards to help non-technical audiences understand the impact of digital changes, communicating complex issues with relevance and clarity;
• Identifying and segmenting audiences to target communication appropriately and effectively, and equipping leaders with the products and support they need to provide effective advocacy.

Social Media

• Establishes effective channel and creative strategies enabling real-time engagement with multiple audiences through a range of social media channels, using high quality content to tell our story, and maintaining a consistent tone of voice;
• Identifies and exploits opportunities to strengthen audience engagement through innovation, for example using new channels and creative formats;
• Sets direction on best use of social media analytics and other data to measure, understand and act on performance of channels and content.

Copywriting

• Sets clear standards for team and others in creation of compelling copy which brings complex issues to life for non-technical audiences, through a range of channels and products, including news stories, blogs, reports and social media posts;
• Establishes a collaborative cross-team content strategy, identifying and developing story ideas which support our core narrative;
• Takes the lead on developing resources to ensure consistent and effective copywriting across team, such as clear written communications standards and consistent style guides.

Internal Communications

• Leads strategic understanding and segmentation of internal audiences to target relevant communication effectively;
• Leads overall internal communication strategies, selecting the most appropriate channel mix and ensuring content is topical and timely;
• Creates and makes the most of two-way and face-to-face communication channels where possible to build employee engagement, reinforcing these channels during organisational change;
• Leads and co-ordinates all activity in internal communication plans, including deploying resources and managing risks;
• Provides expert support, advice and constructive challenge to senior leaders to ensure they are effective in communicating clear, confident and consistent messaging across the organisation;
• Takes responsibility for measuring the effectiveness of internal communications, acting on colleague feedback to ensure communications is timely, relevant and meets the needs of the organisation and internal audiences;
• Uses employee engagement data to set strategy for internal communication, identifying challenges and barriers and suggesting actions for improvement.

Technical Skills

Insight (GCS)

Draw on behavioural insights to provide strategic advice to ministers and policy colleagues on campaigns. Understand the extent of the role communication can play in supporting behaviour change, and the benefits/ risks of alternative approaches (such as legislation). Understand and interpret the emerging news agenda and factors which will affect this agenda. Demonstrate a deep understanding of the digital landscape and emerging trends. Apply this knowledge to lead the content development strategy and to identify and develop digital channels. Reflect user needs back to the organisation to ensure content and services are designed with a user and citizen focus. Draw on organisational insight to advise leaders on targeted employee communication strategies and actions to improve employee engagement. (Level 4)

Ideas

Lead the development and implementation of innovative communication strategies that meet objectives. Review communication strategies to ensure integration across communication channels and identify any gaps. Review communication strategies for overall context and register, to protect both Departmental reputation and establish fit with government communication priorities. (Level 4)

Implementation (GCS)

Take overall responsibility for developing and implementing communication/media strategies and campaigns from the strategic planning stage onwards. Develop strong relationships with ministers, policy colleagues and key stakeholders. Build influential networks to enable communication teams to deliver quality solutions. Demonstrate excellent written communication skills and set standards for communication. Provide overall editorial control to ensure appropriate content, messaging, tone, consistency in all communication. Continuously review and provide quality assurance for communication media campaigns. Ensure communication strategies represent value for money. Identify and act on opportunities for improvements to current activity. (Level 4)

Impact (GCS)

Assess the impact of campaigns across a range of measures including output, out take, outcome and return on investment. Identify recommendations for future campaigns. Evaluate impact to shape direction of future media campaigns and lead on the implementation of best practice across the press office. Ensure effective monitoring of, listening to and action on feedback from users, clients and partners of digital products and services. Ensure digital and social media expertise and skills are shared across the Communications team and wider Department. (Level 4)

Qualifications

Optional

• You have a Professional qualification in communications e.g. CIM, CIPR, NCTJ, IOIC or willingness to work towards it.

Experience

Mandatory

• Experience of working within an area of specialism or in an overarching communication and engagement role;
• Experience of managing diverse range of stakeholders across multiple disciplines and grades;
• Deep practical experience with the full mix of communications channels, including low cost and digital solutions;
• Experience of working on programmes that address behaviour change, helping teams understand how to achieve the desired results and measuring the impact on actual behaviour;
• Line management experience including goal setting, performance management, and training and development, to get the best out of your people;
• Experience of working flexibly and remotely;
• Experience in using Microsoft Office suite;
• Some experience of project management, in particular awareness of the key concepts and frameworks of robust project management (e.g. risk logs, plans, governance).

Desirable

• Experience of working within political, media and current affairs environment contributing to nuanced and informed political awareness;
• Experience of running a communications team including training and development and setting clear goals;
• Experience working in large, complex organisations, ideally in the public sector, either in local or central government;
• Experience of managing agencies and working with other expert partners;
• Experience of working with, influencing and briefing senior leadership.

Technical Specialisms

Digital Comms Tools – Level 4

Optional

• Production AV
• Slido
• Event Brite
• Google Docs
• DropBox
• Vimeo
• Wordpress
• Keynote
• PowerPoint

Social Media – Level 4

Optional

• Linked In
• Youtube
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Google adwords
• Twitter
  

Copywriting and editing – Level 4

Optional

• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Excel

Web Design development and Analytics – Level 4

Optional

• Google Analytics
• Data Studios
• Word press
• HTML

Photography and Creative Design – Level 4

Optional

• Photoshop
• Adobe creative Cloud
  

Key

• Level 0 - No knowledge and experience.
• Level 1 - Awareness: Has knowledge of the capability and an appreciation of how it’s applied in the environment.
• Level 2 - Working: Applies knowledge and experience of the capability, including tools and techniques, adopting those most appropriate for the environment.
• Level 3 - Practitioner: Shares knowledge and experience of the capability with others including tools and techniques, defining those most appropriate for the environment.
• Level 4 - Expert: Expert has knowledge and experience in application of this capacity, is a recognised specialist and advisor in this capability including user needs, generation of ideas, methods, tools and leading or guiding others in best practice use.
  

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