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We encourage applications from a diverse range of candidates

At DfE, we are proud of the commitment we make to diversity and inclusion and of the progress we have made. We have active & vibrant staff networks, special leave policies and workplace adjustments put in place for those who need them. We are continuing to build a diverse DfE, in an inclusive environment which nurtures and realises potential in all, at all levels.

Equality and Diversity - Department for Education

The DfE is looking for an exceptional leader in strategic communication and marketing to help achieve its ambition to make sure every child and learner reaches their potential, whatever their background.

This is a challenging, fast-paced but hugely exciting role in which you will need to continually prioritise and lead your team to deliver results and make a demonstrable impact.

The DfE looks after a busy policy and broad delivery agenda from early years, fostering and adoption right through to adult education. It is a rewarding and unique role in that you are responsible for initial comms strategy and audience insight through to final delivery across owned, earned and paid-for channels. A proven leader, the successful candidate will need to inspire their teams to find creative and innovative solutions in-house as well as using paid for communications, working with senior policy owners, special advisers, ministers and the Secretary of State.

A senior member of the Government Communication Service (GCS) - the professional body for government communicators - you will need the confidence and capability to tackle some very knotty and complex government policy problems and translate them into deliverable communication objectives and activities.

You will be responsible for leading teams to deliver a range of flagship government multi-million pound marketing campaigns including ‘Childcare choices’ to increase take up of government’s childcare offers and our ‘Skills for Life campaigns to support young people, adults and employers to make informed choices about education and training including T levels, Apprenticeships, skills bootcamps and higher technical qualifications.

You will direct our mass audience communications to teachers, parents and young people including communications to support teacher retention and parental engagement with their child’s education.

You will also need to respond to unexpected communication challenges for the education sector which have recently included covid, cost of living and families arriving from the Ukraine needing education and training. You will need to manage your team to be agile to support delivery of new emerging policy such as encouraging more pupils to study maths to 18. You will also need to juggle resources and time to ensure your team supports communications for cross-government priorities such as the Jubilee and the forthcoming Coronation.

Reporting directly to the Director of Communication, you will be a key member of the senior leadership team alongside fellow deputy directors for Media and Social; Internal Communication and GCS Change; and Ministerial & Public Correspondence.

You will lead a team of specialists in strategy, planning, insight, evaluation, external affairs, marketing and low cost/no cost communications. You will directly line manage 4 Grade 6 civil servants and have overall responsibility for leadership of a team of around 40 staff based in London, Sheffield, Manchester and Nottingham. You will also work closely with the Deputy Director for Teacher Recruitment Marketing and Service Delivery. The teacher recruitment marketing team is embedded in the Teaching Workforce Candidates and Trainees Directorate but works closely with the Communications Directorate on the schools brief.

You will build excellent working relationships with senior policy leads across the department to ensure that communication is central to the policy, services and product development process. You will be comfortable working directly with ministers, including the Secretary of State and Special Advisers, and advising and briefing senior boards and other governance forums. You will build relationships across Whitehall and the GCS including with external stakeholders and advertising agencies and other contractors.

• Setting the annual departmental communications strategy and embedding a long-term strategic approach to communications with quarterly comms plans on key priorities for ministers;
• Management of the grid planning process with No.10 to coordinate DfE’s announcements and other external communications with other government departments and overseeing the planning team to deliver this;
• Securing advocacy and supportive voices to support DfE’s communication priorities and building partnerships to amplify our messages to target audiences and overseeing the external affairs team to delivery this;
• Ensuring our communications activities are joined up across government and we have a seat at the table and play and active and influential role in shaping cross government approach to comms;
• Ensuring our communications are insight driven, audience led and evidence based and overseeing the insight & evaluation team;
• Scrutiny of all our paid for campaigns and those delivered by our ALBs and grantees against KPIs and performance measures on outputs, outtakes, outcomes, impact and value for money;
• Oversight of the planning and delivery of all our marketing, PR and other paid for communications – including leadership of several campaign teams that work very closely with policy, service design and other teams in DfE;
• Account management of key policy teams to ensure communications is considered upstream – including managing strategic communications teams on the departments priorities for skills, schools and families;
• Managing the admin and programme budget for strategic communications and campaigns and ensuring the team is adequately resourced and has the skills and capabilities needed to deliver on agreed comms priorities;
• Embedding a culture of evaluation with a focus on outcomes not just outputs and setting clear measurable comms objectives with regular tracking to optimise impact;
• Providing leadership, direction and strategy for the department’s strategic communications team and ensuring that the team are expanding their professional skills to ensure output is excellent across the board;
• Improving standards for strategic communications and marketing in DfE in line with GCS professional standards;
• Continuing to build a diverse and inclusive team and culture – being the lead D&I champion in the Communications Directorate;
• You will be expected to play a full and active role in the ongoing improvement of Communications Directorate. You will help ensure that all communications functions are efficient and unified to provide a seamless service, which achieves outcomes which are evaluated against strategic objectives and goals. You will help further embed a culture of proactivity, flexibility and collaboration in teams across the Group to make sure we are delivering the very best communications; and
• Building close and highly effective working relationships with counterparts in Private Offices, policy teams and other Government departments, including No.10, to ensure delivery of strategy, campaigns and other communication activity is coordinated, effective and efficient.

Essential Criteria

It is important that, through your CV and Statement of Suitability, you provide evidence and examples of proven experience for each of the selection criteria detailed.

• Working extensively at a senior level within a communications function, leading teams and with strong influencing skills at the most senior levels ;
• Strong track record in the development and delivery of strategic communications plans and marketing campaigns with clear KPIs and ROI;
• Excellent relationship and interpersonal skills with strong political awareness;
• Be a visible leader who is able to welcome challenge even if uncomfortable and be able to surface tensions and resolve ambiguities;
• Good personal resilience including a positive and can-do attitude and the ability to keep a cool head and a sense of humour when under pressure or managing a crisis;
• A track record of championing diversity, inclusion and learning and development as part of supporting individuals and teams

We also expect candidates to be able to demonstrate the following desirable criteria:

• Experience of working in government or a large or complex organisation.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed in the event of a tie break situation to make an informed decision.

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances, but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

Job contact :

Name :
SCS Recruitment Team
Email :
[email protected]

Recruitment team :

Email :
[email protected]