The Role
Post: CPO Communications and Digital Manager
Starting salary: £45,769 per annum
Grade: FRS F
Salary range: £45,769 - £59,431 per annum
Contract type: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Application closing date: Tuesday 22 September 2020 at 16:00 GMT
About us
The National Fire Chiefs Council is a membership organisation and the professional voice of the fire and rescue service in the UK. We have ambitious strategic commitments and a substantial programme of work to deliver improvement that benefits all of our members.
Our Central Programme Office is responsible for managing our programmes in three key areas: community risk, people, and digital and data. In addition, we support the work of the Fire Standards Board. The team is hosted by London Fire Brigade.
We are looking for an experienced communications professional who is used to working as part of a team, has a flexible approach, brings lots of enthusiasm and a touch of humour too.
What you’ll be doing
This is a new role to lead the communications function for the Central Programme Office.
You will provide professional advice to enhance our communications and engagement with our stakeholders. Taking a digital first approach, you will work closely with programme and project managers, helping them to think through how to get their messages across in the most effective way.
By having an overview of the breadth of our improvement agenda and using the NFCC’s Strategy as your guide, you will be in prime position to inform and align our communications activities for greatest impact.
You will have both an internal and external communications remit. Internally, you need to make sure that the team, which is geographically disparate and extensive in its activity, is kept up to date and actively engaged in an inclusive way. Our external communications include our programmes and projects but also includes other national activity such as the Fire Standards Board and the Strategic Engagement Forum comprising our key stakeholders.
You’ll lead a team that is committed to engaging with fire and rescue services at all levels. It’s an exciting role and an equally exciting time to be working at the heart of fire and rescue.
Who are we looking for?
You should be an experienced communications manager who is driven to get the work done with a thoughtful and collaborative approach. We are running change programmes and projects as a portfolio office, so we need you to bring your experience of working in this environment and understand what is required for successful transformation.
Being good at planning is critical, particularly when it comes to events. We want someone who is methodical, but can also see the bigger picture, testing out ideas and grounding them in practical and pragmatic solutions. We need you to be a dab hand at using digital tools to get messages out; you will need to demonstrate that you are confident with a range of software to get the job done, picking up new skills along the way.
Your writing skills have to be top notch. We’ll be asking you to write for a range of media, adopting the right tone to get the message across. You should be happy to mentor your team to be able to write some great copy too.
You’ll need to have experience of managing people and developing teams to get the very best out of them. Your team is made up of staff who normally work in operational roles in fire and rescue services as well as team members who specialise in communications and engagement.
As part of our commitment to continuous professional development, we will support membership of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations along with training and development activities as appropriate.
You do not need to have any prior experience of the fire and rescue service, you will work alongside subject matter experts, many of whom are seconded to the CPO from fire and rescue services.
Assessment Overview
Stage 1
CV and cover letter (sift)
Please complete the online application and upload the following documents:
• A copy of your up-to-date CV.
• A cover letter (max. of two sided A4) clearly outlining the relevant experience, qualifications, skills and qualities you have to successfully perform this role (see the job description below). If you are unable to see the job description please visit our jobs pages at https://jobs.london-fire.gov.uk/alljobs/ to access and the full advert.
Further information about the main duties and responsibilities of the role are detailed in the job description.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to stage 2
Stage 2
Assessment for this role is due to place early/mid-October 2020. Please be advised that if you are unable to make the scheduled assessment date, we may not be able to make alternative arrangements.
Please note: Should you be shortlisted and because of the current Covid-19 situation you will need to be able to conduct an interview over a video conferencing service such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams. You will be asked to provide relevant contact details for that to take place if shortlisted.
Additional Information
What it’s like to work here
We are a friendly team based out of London Fire Brigade’s headquarters in Southwark, south London although COVID-19 has meant we have moved to working at home.
You can find out more about the work of the National Fire Chiefs Council at www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk and specifically about the Central Programme Office at www.ukfrs.com
Benefits of working for LFB
• 26 days’ holiday plus bank holidays
• Option Absence Scheme
• Flexible working including job share
• Welfare Scheme
• Use of Brigade Medical Adviser/physios
• Season ticket loans
• Equality Support Groups
• Contributory Pension Scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
Please ensure you give yourself enough time to complete and submit your application. Late or un-submitted applications will not be accepted.
Please note any correspondence received from us will be via e-mail and sent to the address you provide on your application form.
We value the diversity of our employees, and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects our diverse communities across London. The London Fire Commissioner is an Equal Opportunities Employer and we positively welcome applications from all suitably qualified individuals, irrespective of people's age, disability, gender, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances. We have guidance in place to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process, including the consideration of reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability.
In line with the Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) employment checks will be completed by successful candidates, which will include a basic criminal records check. Successful candidate will be required to declare any convictions for offences which are not spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and any offer of employment is subject to the LFC receiving a criminal records disclosure which it considers satisfactory. Successful candidates should apply to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to get a copy of their criminal record and share the original disclosure certificate with the LFC. The check will only show convictions that are not ‘spent’. It will cost the successful candidates £23 (current charge) and usually takes up to 14 days.
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