About the job

Summary

Defra group is looking for a talented digital communications professional to play a crucial role in optimising our creative content and maximising our engagement on social media - ensuring that digital is at the heart of our communications.

Your leadership and advice will help take our digital communications offer to the next level, seeking to innovate and adopt best practice to ensure the team and the wider Communications Directorate delivers compelling work, which makes a real difference. You will have extensive experience of managing channels and content day-to-day as well as the strategic vision for them.

You’ll lead a high performing team focused on developing digital and creative content, making sure we take a data-driven approach and put our audiences at the heart of what we do. You’ll be responsible for the evaluation and continuous improvement of performance of our content. You will build strong relationships that help us to produce and distribute targeted and effective content for our audiences.

Job description

• Be responsible for the strategy, planning and execution of digital channels and creative content to help deliver Defra group’s policy priorities.

• Lead the planning and production of Defra’s creative content for our channels and help build capacity to create high quality, innovative and shareable content.

• Oversee and quality control the use of Defra group’s social media platforms by Communications staff including Press Officers and Defra Policy staff to engage with our audiences through the use of compelling copy, pictures and videos.

• Support and advise the rest of Defra group Communications, using digital best practice to help shape campaign work and broader communications work. Ensure that digital content and digital insight is optimised.

• Explore new ways to engage our social media audiences.

• Identify and build relationships to improve the distribution and targeting of content to our audiences.

• Lead a team of content creators and social media and digital engagement specialists, ensuring its overall strategic direction is embedded and its contribution to the business is optimised.

• Nurture and support team members’ professional development.

• Represent for Defra and/or for Digital Communications on cross-government and Departmental digital programme boards, steering groups and committees.

• Actively support Defra’s wider digital services and digital strategy.

• Lead on processes, digital tools, equipment and licence procurement for the Digital Engagement and Creative Content team

• Advocate effective digital engagement across Defra group and its arms length bodies.

• Horizon-scan internally and externally for opportunities, tools, innovations, trends and best practice as well as risks.

• Partner with digital teams – including Government Digital Service – and communicators across Whitehall to share, co-create and cross-promote digital content.

• Champion digital insight and evaluation to ensure campaigns activity is evidence-based.

• Evaluate the impact of digital engagement activity (qualitative and quantitative), sharing lessons learned and using those insights to inform future work.

Responsibilities

•First class leadership and management skills combined with influencing and relationship-building ability.

•Success in managing and driving delivery and high performance across the communications mix to secure outcomes.

•Effective influencing skills; is able to ‘make the case’ for creative ideas and communications plans to both secure buy in and/or sustain delivery from others.

•Excellent planning, management and organisational ability.

•The ability to work well under pressure and manage multiple priorities and tight deadlines and carry others with them under such circumstances.

•Experience of leading digital communications during incident and crisis.

•Current experience of leading social media channel management, including professional tools as well as using systems to provide issue monitoring, reporting, rebuttal advice and evaluation for the business.

•Proven experience of identifying and managing social media collaborations and partnerships.

•Excellent written and oral communications skills reflecting the need to set standards for communication and provide editorial control to ensure appropriate content, messaging, tone and consistency in all communications.

Behaviours

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

• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

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

• Ideas (digital)
• Insight (digital)
• impact (digital)

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

• Ideas (digital)
• impact (digital)

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role

• An environment with flexible working options

• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

• A Civil Service pension