74532 - HMCTS Communications Manager (internal or external)

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Up to three roles available across the HMCTS Communications & Engagement Directorate, to cover Internal Communications, External Communications and Stakeholder Engagement posts. A summary of the role is below, if you would like to know more about the role, the full Role Profile is attached as PDF.

Role Purpose

The role of the HMCTS Communications & Engagement Directorate is to:

• enhance and protect our reputation

• facilitate corporate communication and engagement with internal and external stakeholders and court users

• advise, challenge, and support the organisation to communicate and engage effectively

As a manager in the team, reporting to a Senior Communications Manager, you will help the team to fulfil its purpose, with specific oversight (strategically and operationally) of either internal or external communications.

You will understand our stakeholders and design, deliver and support communications plans – in partnership with subject matter experts - that ensure our messages reach our audiences and support the organisation to meet its our corporate objectives.

You will be a trusted advisor to jurisdictional leads and support them to be visible and engaged with our people and stakeholders.

Key Accountabilities 

For your jurisdiction, you will help to:

• foster strong working relationships with officials, providing them with communications advice and support to help them meet their business objectives

• support the development and of communications and engagement strategies and handling plans.

• tell our story by drafting content, key messages and narratives including case studies, key facts and statistics, presentations, news stories, media lines and lines to take to maintain and promote the organisation’s reputation.

• create content, products and briefing material, including planning and organising events.

• map stakeholders and gather insight about them.

• support and service relationships with comms and engagement counterparts in partner organisations.

• identify the best channels and mechanisms to reach and engage with target audiences.

• support evaluation and reporting of communications and engagement activity in your area.

• advise internal ‘clients’ on best practice, emerging issues, risks, opportunities, stakeholder intelligence.

• support crisis communications.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

This is a specialist Communications role that is required to demonstrate capability across the four competency areas – Insight, Ideas, Implementation, Impact - identified in the Government Communications Service competency framework.

Essential

• experience of internal and/or external communications - both developing plans and operational implementation.

• good written and verbal communications skills.

• good copywriter, able to adapt writing style for different audiences and channels, with robust editorial skills.

• strong relationship skills, effective at negotiating and influencing. Confident giving presentations, leading meetings and workshops, and credible when speaking with the Senior Management Team or locally based operational colleagues.

• strong planning, organisational and people skills, including delivering communication products to tight deadlines.

• experience supporting the generation of insights from available data.

• can work quickly and effectively under pressure and through ambiguity, managing competing priorities and changing deadlines.

• good knowledge of the communications landscape.

Desirable

• knowledge of change and stakeholder communication and engagement models, and how to put these into practice.

• experience of delivering internal communications to a diverse and dispersed workforce, the majority of which is not desk based/ stakeholder communications to a diverse and demanding range of stakeholders. Good understanding of the challenges this poses.

• sound understanding of the link between corporate strategy and internal communications/stakeholder strategy and external communications, and the practical implications of this.

• effective networker and influencer with a strong track record of influencing change.

• familiar with using content management systems and managing intranets/internets.

Other duties:

The post holder is required to work in a flexible way and undertake any other duties reasonably requested by line management which are commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility of this post.

Problem Solving and Decision Making

You will be expected to:

•    advise colleagues about communications and engagement best practice.
•    collaborate with subject matter experts to deliver effective communications and engagement activities that meet the needs of specific audiences.
•    facilitate interactive sessions with our stakeholders (for example, in webinars, workshops and meetings).
•    support products from inception to completion including commissioning content, drafting copy, clearing, project managing, scheduling, co-ordinating the execution of activities. This includes jointly supporting planning communications objectives and setting evaluation methods.
•    prioritise and work under pressure.
•    demonstrate resilience, perseverance, and adaptability to achieve our objectives.
•    record keep so that we can track, monitor, evaluate and report on what we deliver.
•    act quickly to assess a situation, escalate a concern or seize an opportunity.
•    Consider the bigger picture when making decisions about communications activity, ensuring the wider political and internal landscapes are factored in.

Management of Resources

•    co-ordinating delivery of comms and engagement activities across the team, HMCTS and the wider MoJ.
•    we are a highly interdependent team and the postholder will be expected to work flexibly and undertake any other duties reasonably requested which are commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility of this post.

Autonomy
You will
•    confidently deputise for the SEO in meetings or in tasks, and cover other Band C (HEO) roles within the team, as required
•    play an active part in the Government Communications Service, contributing to and learning from its expertise
•    building trusted relationships within HMCTS, the MoJ and with counterpart comms teams in partner organisations.
•    managing difficult relationships and conversations when stakeholders challenge us.
•    use initiative, using own judgement where appropriate
•    be responsible for your own personal development plan and have the freedom to seek out opportunities to expand yours and your team’s knowledge.

Key Relationships and Contacts

You will:

•    be part of a wider network of communications and design professionals across government, connected through the Government Communications Service. You will be expected to play an active part in these networks, contributing to and learning from its expertise.
•    play an active part in internal and external networks, contributing to and learning from expertise for your team and the wider organisation.
•    responsible for supporting relationships with the following groups about communications and engagement activity in your area:
o    HMCTS officials: service owners, reform leads, operations leads, key HQ functions leads, SMT, CEO office
o    MoJ officials: press office, external affairs, private offices, policy officials, Parliamentary Branch, MOJ Comms team (press, digital & external affairs)
o    Judicial Office officials: communications team and private office
o    Media enquiries
o    Communications and engagement teams in partner and stakeholder organisations
o    Professional and public users
o    Government Communications Service (GCS)
o    Government Digital Service (GDS)
•    provide advice, guidance and briefing to the above groups
•    be expected to take part in networking to build capability and share skills across professional development groups