Speechwriter to the Secretary of State in London

We are looking for an ambitious, talented and motivated Speechwriter to join our busy team at the heart of Government. Whether it’s actions to enhance and improve the environment, protecting the nation from flooding and animal disease outbreaks, or preparing new approaches to farming and fishing, the work of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and its Arm's-Length Bodies is of huge public interest. We are therefore delighted to offer an exciting opportunity for an outstanding communicator to join our fast-paced and high-performing team to create exciting written materials for our Secretary of State.

Cultivating and maintaining strong relationships with our wide range of stakeholder groups, policy teams and across the communications directorate will play a crucial role in delivering on the department's ambitious objectives. A strong track record of producing high quality speeches, forewords and statements, as well as working at pace, will be essential. It should also be noted that successful candidates will be able to pivot to support across a wide range of policy areas as required. This means that wherever you find your focus, you’ll be working on priority pieces from across the Defra portfolio.

Job Description

• Writing for the Secretary of State as the priority, alongside supporting the wider ministerial team.
• Devising, developing and delivering inspiring, informative and engaging external and internal communication products across the breadth of Defra's remit.
• Producing products including speeches, statements, parliamentary materials and forewords aligned with departmental objectives and the wider governmental agenda.
• Working closely with the department's communication teams to plan and deliver effective communication products ensuring they reflect the 'voice' and priorities of ministers and there is coherence between communication, parliamentary, correspondence and other stakeholder products.
• Overseeing a dynamic speech strategy for the Secretary of State, proactively looking for new and innovative opportunities and platforms to communicate policy/operational announcements.

Person specification

• Working with Ministers and Special Advisers - critically you will need to develop strong relationships with the Secretary of State and the Ministerial team, identify and refine their 'voice' and secure their trust in drafting speeches and editorials.
• You will work closely with colleagues across Private Office to deliver a pipeline of speeches and comms products.
• You will be a team player across a range of policy, delivery and comms teams - you will need to embed yourself in a collaborative way across a range of teams to plan and deliver creative and compelling content across a range of products, working particularly closely with the comms team.
• You will build relationships with external stakeholders to gain audience insight and material to inform your written materials.
• You will have excellent drafting and editorial skills to develop expert written/verbal products for both external and internal audiences at pace.

Behaviours

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

Technical skills

• Government Communication Service (GCS) Competency 1: Insight

Alongside your salary of £62,000, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £17,961 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

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%.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

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. Your personal statement should provide detailed evidence of how you meet the essential criteria in the person specification section of the job advert.
• Statements (no more than 250 words per statement) for the following Civil Service Behaviours: Communicating and Influencing and Delivering at Pace.

Interview

If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on:

• the following Civil Service Behaviours: Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace and Working Together.
• the following technical skill: Government Communication Service (GCS) Competency 1: Insight.

Location

This role will be based at the Marsham Street, London office which will be the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate.

Salary

New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band.

Full Time Only

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

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)

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found.