Digital Lead

Job summary

This is a senior role leading digital communications for the department and its Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs). You will be responsible for how we engage with audiences across digital channels, ensuring our online presence is strategic, effective, accessible and impactful.

As Digital Lead, you will shape our approach to social media, online content, video and a range of digital platforms. You will champion direct, meaningful communication with citizens, ensuring our content is relevant, accessible and responsive to their needs. You will also build and maintain strong relationships with digital media publishers and influencers, working collaboratively to reach new audiences through their channels, communities and followers.

Using data, insight and innovation, you will drive digital performance, grow and engage audiences, and maximise the reach and impact of our communications in support of departmental and wider government priorities.

Working at the heart of the communications function, you will be the digital lead for a portfolio of work and will collaborate closely with the Grade 6 (G6) Head of Digital and Creative Content to ensure digital is fully integrated with media, marketing and campaigns. You will engage with thematic working groups, collaborating with other delivery leads to ensure digital activity supports the wider Defra group communications strategy. You will champion innovation in how we reach and engage the public online, working in close partnership with ALB communications teams to ensure a coherent digital presence across the group.

Job description

• Digital strategy and channel ownership: Develop and deliver insight-led digital communications strategies that support departmental priorities, maintaining overall responsibility for channel strategy, content planning and platform management across social media, web and emerging digital channels. Build the team's AI literacy, understanding what tools are appropriate to use and when, and knowing how to apply the Government Communication Service (GCS) ethical innovation framework.

• Content and creative direction: Lead the creation of compelling digital content that translates policy announcements and campaigns into engaging formats, working with policy, media and marketing teams and commissioning external suppliers where required. Ensure all content meets GCS accessibility standards and considers diverse audiences.

• Data and performance: Use audience insight and platform analytics to inform planning, measure impact and drive continuous improvement. Report on digital performance to senior leaders, providing actionable recommendations. Handle all data appropriately in line with GDPR obligations.

• Cross-functional collaboration: Work closely with thematic leads and delivery colleagues to ensure digital activity is integrated with wider communications planning.

• Platform expertise and innovation: Maintain knowledge of established and emerging platforms, content trends and formats. Champion innovation and build digital capability across the wider communications directorate through training, guidance and knowledge sharing, drawing on the GCS SAFE Framework and the Framework for Ethical Innovation.

• ALB digital partnership: Build and maintain effective working relationships with ALBs within Defra group, providing strategic digital expertise, sharing best practice and supporting a coherent, integrated digital presence. Work to remove duplication across ALB digital channels, identify opportunities for shared approaches, and ensure ALB digital activity is consistent with group standards and GCS professional requirements.

In addition, all Grade 7 (G7) communications professionals within Defra group Communications will be expected to:

• Provide professional leadership for their functional area, including line management, performance oversight, quality assurance and capability building. Deploy expertise collaboratively across priorities with other G7s.

• Lead and develop their team, motivating staff and embedding new ways of working across the group.

• Build strong relationships with senior leaders, Ministers, Special Advisers and stakeholders, providing trusted strategic communications advice.

• Foster a proactive, flexible and collaborative team culture, managing competing priorities and balancing reactive work with strategic goals.

• Communicate complex information clearly and persuasively, both in writing and verbally, adapting style and approach for different audiences and purposes.

• Support crisis and incident communications, working across disciplines and with partners to ensure timely, coordinated information reaches audiences. This includes out-of-hours working when required.

• Uphold GCS professional standards, ensuring compliance with the Communication Functional Standard (GovS011), propriety guidance and accessibility requirements.

Person specification

• Significant experience of leading social media teams and managing high-profile organisational channels, with strong knowledge of platforms, audiences and emerging trends.

• Experience of developing and delivering insight-led strategies across social media, web, video and emerging channels.

• Strong leadership skills, with the ability to motivate teams, manage performance and build capability.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including setting editorial standards and turning complex policies into clear, accessible content.

• Strong analytical skills, using monitoring and performance tools to understand audiences, evaluate impact and inform decisions.

• A track record of delivering high-quality communications while managing competing priorities, reactive demands and tight deadlines.

• Excellent influencing and relationship-building skills, including providing trusted advice to senior leaders and securing support for creative ideas.

• Experience of collaborating across communications disciplines and organisational boundaries to deliver integrated activity.

• Experience of leading digital communications during incidents or crises, ensuring information is timely, accurate and coordinated.

• Experience of developing digital partnerships and applying professional standards, including accessibility, data protection, propriety and the ethical use of emerging technology.

Behaviours

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

• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £64,015, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £18,545 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• 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%

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, Strengths and Experience.

Application process

As part of the application process you will be asked to submit:

• a CV. Your skills and experience should demonstrate your suitability for the role.

• a personal statement of no more than 500 words. Your personal statement should provide detailed evidence of how you meet the 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, Delivering at Pace, and Leadership.

Sift

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the CV. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Interview

If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on the following Civil Service behaviours: Changing and Improving, Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace, and Leadership. The Communicating and Influencing behaviour will be assessed via a presentation.

You will be also assessed on Civil Service strengths.

Interviews will take place online via Microsoft Teams.

Further Information

Location

As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).

Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.

Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.

The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.

Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.

Salary

New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to DEFRA 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; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

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.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

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.

Visa Sponsorship Statement

Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.

Near Miss

Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions in Defra which may be at a lower grade, but have a potential skills match.

Merit Lists

Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be appointed in merit order for each location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.

Criminal Record Check

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Internal Fraud Database Check

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

All of these posts require the successful candidate to hold basic security clearance. Candidates posted to London may be subject to a higher level of clearance because of the security requirements for that location. Job offers to these posts are made on the basis of merit. Security vetting will only take place after the receipt of a job offer.

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

Feedback

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).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 : Carolyn Thompson
• Email : carolyn.thompson3@defra.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: here