Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Visits and Events Specialist
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Job Summary
A role supporting the planning and delivery of ministerial visits and events for Defra group Communications. Working with the Visits and Events Lead, the postholder will help to ensure ministers are supported with well-organised, high-quality activity that communicates departmental priorities and creates meaningful engagement opportunities, managing logistics and coordination from initial scoping through to on-the-day delivery.
Job Description
- Support development and maintenance of the visits and events programme, working with private offices, Special Advisers (SpAds), policy teams and thematic leads to identify opportunities, scope suitable venues and participants, and define clear objectives using the OASIS framework.
- Lead end-to-end logistics for ministerial visits and events, including site reconnaissance, scheduling, travel, security coordination, venue management, catering, branding and on-the-day delivery, escalating issues to the Visits and Events Lead as needed.
- Prepare logistical briefing materials for ministers and senior officials ahead of visits and events, coordinating with press office and digital teams to maximise communications opportunities and ensure activity is integrated with wider campaigns and announcements.
- Evaluate visits and events activity against objectives, capturing learning to inform future planning and contributing to cross-functional reporting on the communications forward look.
In addition, all Senior Executive Officer (SEO) communications professionals within Defra group Communications will:
- Act as a trusted strategic communications adviser to senior leaders and stakeholders, translating business objectives into clear communications plans and providing confident, expert guidance.
- Plan, deliver and evaluate high-quality communications activity, using insight and data to inform decisions, optimise approaches and demonstrate impact and value for money.
- Build and maintain effective working relationships across internal teams, partner organisations and external stakeholders, working collaboratively to ensure communications are joined-up and aligned to wider organisational and government priorities.
- Identify and manage risks to reputation and communications objectives, reacting quickly to changes in the political or policy landscape.
- Play an active role in incident communications, helping to ensure that partners and the public receive up-to-date and accurate information at pace. The post holder may be required to participate in an out-of-hours duty rota, for which additional pay is provided.
- Line manage and provide professional development support to direct reports, fostering a positive, inclusive team culture and contributing to building capability across the wider communications function.
- Ensure all communications activity adheres to government propriety, accessibility and data protection standards, upholding the standards set out in the Civil Service Code and Government Communication Service (GCS) guidance.
- Contribute to cross-government and cross-Defra group working, sharing insight, best practice and lessons learned to continuously improve the quality and effectiveness of communications.
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Person Specification
- Skilled at building excellent stakeholder networks.
- Experience of working with other communications partners such as press office, digital and strategic communications to deliver high quality work, often at pace.
- Ability to work closely with senior officials and external partners.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to stay cool under pressure, work to tight deadlines and manage multiple priorities.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Delivering at Pace
- Communicating and Influencing
- Working Together
- Seeing the Big Picture
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
- Delivering at Pace
- Communicating and Influencing
Technical Skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Government Communication Service (GCS) Competency: Implementation
Salary
Alongside your salary of £44,052, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £12,761 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
Application Process
As part of the application process you will be asked to submit:
- a CV
- a personal statement of no more than 500 words
- Statements (no more than 250 words per statement) for the following Civil Service Behaviours: Communicating and Influencing and Delivering at Pace.
Selection Process Details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
Interviews will take place online via Microsoft Teams.
Location
As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert.
Further Information
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
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Nationality Requirements
This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in a new window).
Contact Point for Applicants
Job Contact
- Name: Kathie Coad
- Email: Kathie.Coad@defra.gov.uk
- Telephone: 07876 841339
Recruitment team
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: here
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