Director of Communication and Engagement

In recognition of the hurt caused by the infected blood scandal and highlighted by the Infected Blood Inquiry (IBI), the government has accepted the moral case for a compensation scheme to pay compensation to those infected and affected.

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority will ensure payment is made in recognition of the wrongs experienced by those who have been infected by HIV, Hepatitis B or C, as well as those who love and care for them. They have been frustrated and distressed by the delays in achieving proper recognition, and we must help put this right.

Opportunities to move to the new Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). At the moment all IBCA roles are hosted by Cabinet Office within the Civil Service. However, once IBCA becomes operational, it is anticipated that most of these roles will transfer to IBCA, which is a new Arms Length Body (ALB) separate from the Cabinet Office. Roles that transfer to IBCA from Cabinet Office will maintain the same or substantially the same terms and conditions of employment that are overall no less favourable. It is anticipated that employees who move from Cabinet Office to IBCA will be able to continue to participate in the Civil Service Pension arrangements with no break in their pensionable service. Roles commencing after IBCA has become operational will be with IBCA itself on similar terms and conditions. All successful candidates will receive full details of the terms and conditions of employment for their role with their formal job offer.

Please note that the mission of IBCA means that it is likely to be fully operational for a period of approximately 5-7 years, after which IBCA will become a smaller residual service. When IBCA’s work begins to wind down, IBCA employees will receive support and practical guidance to find a new role, whether in the Civil Service, another Arms Length Body (ALB), or an external employer.

Job description

The Communications Directorate

Central to the success of this mission is building and maintaining trust.

To remain effective, open and transparent in all we do, the Director of Communication and Engagement will ensure all those impacted by infected blood are aware of, understand and feel part of IBCA’s work.

The role will not only be responsible for setting the communication and engagement strategy, but also guiding both the external and internal voice of the organisation, acting as its spokesperson where necessary. Managing high volumes of challenging external interest and scrutiny – from community groups and national media to the Public Accounts Committee and National Audit Office, parliamentarians, stakeholder bodies and the general public – the Director will build strong professional relationships so that all voices can be heard, while explaining IBCA’s approach.

This will include developing channels, content and narrative and delivering proactive digital comms and guidance to ensure transparency and build trust in the IBCA. They will also need to recruit, train and lead a team of skilled communication and engagement professionals, in addition to managing external agencies and ensure multi-million pound budgets are scrutinised and provide value for money. The communication and engagement team will need to be stood up and wound down within 5-7 years, with associated challenges in team morale and performance.

This role is also a key member of Exco, ensuring that community and colleague voices are always heard, and collectively steering on the design and delivery of a multi-billion pound budget and service.

As a senior leader in the Government Communications function, you will champion and implement the Government Communications functional strategy to improve join-up, build trust across and beyond government and lead a modern, expert profession. As a Director of Communication, you are responsible for growing the communications skills of your team, maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards and fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration across government.

Key Responsibilities:

• Leadership and Strategy: Provide visionary leadership across all communication and engagement initiatives, developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy that aligns with IBCA’s objectives and promotes transparency.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Cultivate and maintain robust relationships with diverse stakeholders, including community groups, national media, policymakers, and the general public, ensuring that the voices of those affected by the infected blood scandal are heard.
• Media and Public Relations: Act as the organisational spokesperson, managing high volumes of external interest and scrutiny, and proactively addressing reputational risks with sound judgement and political acumen.
• Team Development: Recruit, train, and lead a skilled communication and engagement team, fostering a culture of continuous professional development, collaboration, and innovation.
• Budget Management: Oversee a substantial communication budget, ensuring effective allocation of resources and demonstrating value for money.
• Advocacy and Representation: Represent IBCA at high-level meetings, providing expert advice on communication strategies to the Executive Committee and Board, ensuring alignment with the organisation’s goals.
• Crisis Management: Develop and implement crisis communication strategies to effectively manage sensitive issues that may arise, ensuring a planned and coherent organisational response.
• Monitoring and Evaluation: Assess the effectiveness of communication strategies and campaigns, preparing insights and recommendations for senior leadership to enhance future initiatives.

Person specification

It is important that, through your CV and supporting statement, that you provide evidence of the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post.

Essential Criteria:

• Proven success in developing and implementing compelling communication strategies with the ability to enable and drive organisational priorities whilst delivering sound management of resources and budgets to achieve value for money.
• Excellent judgement, political and sensitivity to the vulnerabilities of affected communities, with an ability to manage risk and reach sound judgements in an environment that is subject to media attention and public scrutiny
• Strong leadership qualities with the ability to inspire and motivate a diverse team, championing inclusivity and encouraging professional development.
• Highly developed interpersonal and influencing skills, with the ability to establish credibility quickly with a diverse network of stakeholders internally and externally including up to Board and Ministerial (or equivalent) level, and to effectively challenge and manage conflict and negotiate.
• Evidence balancing strategic and reactive communications, using data-driven, measurement-led techniques to inform end-to-end communications activities.
• Evidence of a broad range of communication skills and leadership across media relations, reputation management, corporate and internal communications and digital.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £98,000, Cabinet Office contributes £28,390 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Benefits

Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really successful career within the Department and wider Civil Service. It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead, and you’ll benefit from regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits.

This includes:

• 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. This is in addition to 8 public holidays.
• This will be complimented by one further day paid privilege entitlement to mark the King’s Birthday;
• A competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension; where your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken; and where your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire;
• Generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers;
• Childcare benefits (policy for new employees as of 5 April 2018): The government has introduced the Tax- Free Childcare (TFC) scheme. Working parents can open an online childcare account and for every £8 they pay in, the government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2000 a year for each child or £4000 for a disabled child. Parents then use the funds to pay for registered childcare. Existing employees may be able to continue to claim childcare vouchers, so please check how the policy would work for you here;
• Interest-free loans allowing you to spread the cost of an annual travel season ticket or a new bicycle;
• The opportunity to use onsite facilities including fitness centres and staff canteens (where applicable); and occupational sick pay.