Communications Business Partner - PR and Media Strategy in Croydon

About the role

We’re looking for an experienced, forward-thinking Communications Business Partner – PR and Media Strategy to join our Communications team at a pivotal moment. This is a senior, high‑profile role in our Communications Team and at the heart of the council’s strategic direction, helping us communicate clearly, confidently and transparently with our residents, partners and colleagues.

As one of our senior communication leaders, you will design and deliver integrated communications that support our Strategic Framework and CARE values: Collaborative, Accountable, Respectful and Excellent. You’ll act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders and elected members, provide expert guidance on complex and sensitive matters, and help shape the organisation’s narrative through high‑quality, insight‑led communication.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast‑paced media environment, who enjoys balancing proactive and reactive storytelling in response to media issues. They will be passionate about shaping the organisation’s public voice while protecting its reputation. They will be ready to lead on the communication challenges and opportunities that come with major organisational change, including Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).

This is a rare opportunity to:

• Influence the strategic direction of a large, high‑profile council.
• Lead communications that genuinely improve outcomes for residents.
• Shape a modern, digital‑first approach to engagement and public service.
• Be part of a supportive, ambitious team that values innovation, learning and professional growth.

If you want a role where your expertise has real impact, we’d love to hear from you.

What will you be doing?

As our Communications Business Partner for PR & Media Strategy, you will:

• Lead our media approach and our media team, balancing proactive storytelling with robust, rapid response to emerging issues.
• Deliver forward planning as well overseeing and handling real time media handling.
• Oversee reputation management, providing strategic advice during crises and contributing to our 24/7 out‑of‑hours rota.
• Develop and deliver cross‑council communication, media and digital strategies aligned to corporate outcomes.
• Act as a strategic advisor to senior officers and elected members, ensuring communications support effective decision‑making and democratic transparency.
• Horizon scanning to protect the council’s interests and strengthen relationships with partners and government.
• Support local democracy by communicating committee policy decisions.
• Mentor and develop colleagues to create a high‑performing, innovative communications function.
• Drive creative thinking, professional standards and communication excellence across the organisation.

This role includes line management responsibilities and the expectation to lead a business unit delivering against a forward communications plan.

About you

You will be a confident, resilient communications leader with:

• Extensive experience delivering strategic communications in a complex organisational environment.
• A proven track record in media handling, crisis response and reputation management.
• Expertise in strategic planning across digital, media, campaigns and internal communications.
• Strong political awareness and an ability to advise senior stakeholders with credibility.
• Excellent writing, editing and influencing skills, with the ability to simplify complexity for diverse audiences.
• Experience of leading high‑performing teams and encouraging innovation and continuous improvement.
• Strong financial and project management skills.
• A commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and to supporting our ambition to become a Net Zero organisation by 2030.

Relevant degree‑level study is essential; CIPR/CIM or postgraduate qualifications are desirable.

Our benefits

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage:

• A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family.
• Buy up to 4 weeks additional annual leave (pro-rata) through our salary sacrifice scheme.
• Take your bank holidays flexibly to better suit your personal circumstances.
• Make Additional Voluntary Contributions (Shared AVCs) to your pension with tax and National Insurance savings.
• Access to development opportunities, apprenticeships and qualified coaches to support your personal and professional growth.
• Paid volunteering hours each year so you can make a positive impact on our community during your normal working day.
• Access to Peer Support Groups through our IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network.
• Opportunities to nominate and receive Employee Recognition Awards.
• An Our Cambs Rewards account, giving you access to in-store and online discounts as well as our Car Lease and Cycle to Work schemes.

About us

Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes. Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything we do.

We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you don’t meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please don’t be put off. We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered. We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Through a Guaranteed Interview Scheme, we will offer an interview to all applicants who disclose a disability and meet the essential criteria for a job vacancy. On your application form you can indicate you are disabled. Some examples of reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.