Communications Placement Student

Job summary

This twelve-month internship offers an exciting opportunity for a student aspiring to build a future career in communications. Based within the Food Standards Agency’s Northern Ireland Communications team, the role provides a chance to contribute to important work that supports public understanding of food safety, nutrition and wider consumer issues. Working as part of a supportive and collaborative team, the successful candidate will help ensure clear, engaging and trustworthy communication reaches audiences across Northern Ireland.

As a member of the Government Communications Service, the intern will gain access to a wealth of learning, development and professional insight. The role also provides exposure to cross-agency collaboration with colleagues in England and Wales, as well as partnership working with organisations across the public health landscape. This is a valuable opportunity to develop hands-on communications experience in a real-world environment while contributing to an organisation that plays a key role in protecting public health.

Job description

The successful candidate will actively support the day-to-day delivery of communications activity across Northern Ireland. This will include assisting with the management of digital channels, contributing to the planning and creation of online content, and helping to produce social media assets using tools such as Canva and Adobe applications. They will also take part in monitoring activity, preparing reports and supporting responses to public queries across shared social media rotas.

The role will involve contributing to the development of campaigns, drafting a range of written materials, and helping to coordinate marketing and media engagement. The intern will work closely with colleagues across the organisation to identify opportunities to promote key messages and ensure communications are aligned with organisational priorities. They will also support administrative tasks including inbox management, event support and participation in team meetings, gaining broad exposure to communications operations.

Working pattern guidance

If applying as a job share partnership you should both complete separate application forms on Civil Service Jobs but should make it clear that you are applying as job sharers. Further details on job sharing can be found here JSF – What is the recruitment process for job sharers? , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk)

Applicants who wish to work compressed hours are welcome to apply - however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

Please read before applying

This post is a temporary 12-month Fixed Term internship until 27/08/2027.

Person specification

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process.

We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Qualifications

Must be currently studying towards a degree in Communications or related discipline such as Marketing, PR, Journalism or Media.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Must be going into their third year studying towards a degree in Communications or related discipline such as Marketing, PR, Journalism or Media.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £25,583, Food Standards Agency contributes £7,411 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached Terms and Conditions statement.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Full details of the selection process are detailed in the attached candidate pack.

Application and shortlisting

You will be asked to provide personal details (not seen by the Panel) and to confirm your eligibility to apply for the role.

Technical: You will be asked a question to confirm that you meet the Technical requirements of the role.

• Must be going into their third year studying towards a degree in Communications or related discipline such as Marketing, PR, Journalism or Media.

If you cannot answer yes to this question – you will not be able to proceed further with your application.

You will then be asked to complete a CV, which we will ask you to demonstrate your experience of the following essential criteria.

Essential criteria

Experience

• Proven organisational skills and experience of working on multiple projects running simultaneously.

• Good interpersonal skills and a demonstrable ability to work as a team and proven experience of building effective working relationships.

• Proven experience of using own initiative and working with focus and pace to complete tasks on time and to a high standard.

• Excellent standard of written English and the ability to articulate clearly.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the minimum pass mark may be raised at shortlisting stage. Candidates who apply under the DCS, GPTW or RIS schemes and meet the minimum requirements will be unaffected by the pass mark raise.

Interview

If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to a final interview in whichwe will assess you against the following Civil Service Behaviours.

Behaviours

• Making Effective Decisions

• Delivering at Pace

• Working Together

• Managing a Quality Service

Full details of the positive indicators being assessed for each Behaviour can be found in the Candidate Pack.

Expected Timeline

Advert closes: 29th March

Sift: Expected to take place 30th March

Final panel interview: Expected to take place w/c 13th April

Interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams. (If you do not have the Microsoft Teams application installed on your computer, you can join on the web without installing the application).

Please note that indicated dates may be subject to change.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to the Food Standards Agency from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare.

Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Reserve List

A reserve list will be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that the FSA does not offer visa sponsorship and cannot provide advice on visa applications

Making a complaint

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.

If you feel your application has not been treated fairly in accordance with the principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should email the FSA’s Director of People at jo.bushnell@food.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Conor Campbell
• Email : Conor.Campbell@food.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : hr.recruitment.campaigns@food.gov.uk

Further information

If you wish to raise a complaint then please email hr.recruitment.campaigns@food.gov.uk in the first instance.

Attachments

FINAL Candidate Pack - Communications Placement Student (AO) - 452395 Opens in new window (pdf, 1186kB)Terms and Conditions as at April 2020 Opens in new window (pdf, 42kB)