Senior External Affairs Manager

Job summary

The Home Office works to build a safe, fair and prosperous UK. We achieve this through our work on counter-terrorism, policing, crime, drugs policy, immigration and passports.

The Communications Directorate is a multi-disciplinary team delivering the Home Office’s communications strategy. We are insight-led and results-driven, and our marketing campaigns support strategic objectives using a wide range of channels. We seek to provide high quality media, rebuttal and social media services. Our Internal Communications team supports employee engagement and business transformation.

As a member of the Communications Directorate, you’ll be supporting our mission to deliver outstanding public services that work for everyone.

You will join a multi-disciplinary team with colleagues based across the UK, working together to deliver the Home Office’s communications strategy.

We believe a positive, open and supportive culture is essential to help everyone deliver their best work. We value diversity and provide an inclusive and encouraging environment for our team members. We nurture our talent and offer a broad range of learning and development opportunities to help you fulfil your potential.

Job description

Working as a Senior External Affairs Manager for Government Communications is an exciting, inspiring opportunity that will challenge and develop you as a professional communicator. You will be working on impactful initiatives, helping to shape communications on issues that directly influence communities and everyday lives across the country.

We are looking for a proactive and skilled individual to drive the delivery of high-quality stakeholder engagement across the department’s entire policy portfolio. In this role you will build, develop and maintain effective relationships with a diverse range of key stakeholders, contribute to strategic communications planning, and build public advocacy for the department’s work.

You will work within a fast-paced environment, responding quickly to changing priorities while maintaining strategic focus, and whilst always safeguarding the department’s reputation. This role requires excellent judgement, strong interpersonal skills, and the ability to navigate complex policy landscapes while building trusted relationships with diverse stakeholders.

As part of the External Affairs team, you will contribute to an integrated approach to stakeholder management, ensuring consistent messaging and maximising the impact of our engagement activities.

Key Responsibilities

• Own a segment of the department’s stakeholder base; build trusted relationships, harness their insight, build advocacy for the department’s work and identify opportunities for collaboration.
• Develop and implement comprehensive External Affairs stakeholder handling plans that align with departmental announcements and priorities.
• Identify influential stakeholders, monitoring their positions on key issues, and develop advice and recommendations for senior leaders based on that insight.
• Coordinate with colleagues across the department and across government to ensure a joined-up approach to external engagement.
• Work collaboratively with Communications colleagues, including media and campaigns specialists, to incorporate stakeholder voices into comms delivery plans.
• Evaluate the impact of your work with stakeholders to demonstrate the impact on the public narrative and to inform future approaches.

Working Pattern

Due to the business requirements of this role, it is only available on a full-time basis.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Experience in stakeholder engagement, external affairs or public relations, with proven ability to build and maintain strategic relationships at all levels.
• Understanding of the political landscape and the media cycle, and the role of stakeholders within both.
• Experience in navigating complex or sensitive policies and stakeholders.
• Strong influencing skills, both within the department and outside of it, and the ability to build credibility and trust with a variety of people from different backgrounds.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to write clearly and concisely for a diverse range of stakeholders and audiences.
• A strong sense of prioritisation, with experience of managing multiple projects, adapting to a developing situation, and managing sensitive information.
• Good understanding of strategic communications and stakeholder management principles.
• A proactive team player with sound problem solving abilities.

Desirable Criteria

• Leadership capabilities, including setting clear direction, supporting team members, and adopting an inclusive leadership style that values diversity and inclusion.
• Experience in other communications disciplines such as media or campaigns.

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Working Together

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

• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

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

• Ideas
• Impact

Benefits

In addition to your salary, a career with the Home Office offers a range of benefits, including:

• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• In-year reward scheme for one-off or sustained exceptional personal or team achievements.
• 25 days annual leave on appointment, rising with service to 30 days.
• Eight days of public holidays, plus one additional privilege day.
• Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office.
• Successful candidates will be given an additional Recruitment and Retention Allowance (RRA) of £3,800, which will be added to the base salary e.g. £47,200+ £3,800, totalling £51,000 (National) or £55,000 (London). Please note, the allowance is subject to regular review and could be changed or withdrawn at any time.
• See more of our benefits on our careers website.

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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.

This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

We will endeavour to conduct the selection process in line with the dates indicated below, but cannot guarantee that these will not, where necessary, be revised.

1. Application – by Friday 5th June 2026.

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

• CV
• Personal Statement (maximum 500 words).
• Evidence of the Lead Behaviour 'Communicating and Influencing' (maximum of 250 words).

Your CV should consist of your career history, qualifications and skills/experience, including any key achievements in each role. Your CV will be scored against the experience required for the role as noted within the essential criteria.

The Personal Statement should be aligned to and demonstrate how you meet the skills and experience set out in the essential criteria, detailed in the job description.

For guidance and information on how to construct your application (CV, Personal Statement and Behaviours), you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers website.

2. Sift – Tuesday 9th June 2026.

The sift will be held on the Personal Statement and Lead Behaviour, as listed in the advert.

Should a high volume of applications be received, an initial sift will be conducted on the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift will then be progressed to a full sift that will consist of all the remaining elements submitted (CV / Lead Behaviour). Candidates who fail to meet the minimum pass score for the initial sift will not have their remaining submitted elements scored and will only receive a sift score for that assessed at the initial sift.

3. Interview – Tuesday 30th June 2026.

If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview that will be Behaviours (as listed in the job advert) and Technical Skills based questions. All Behaviours listed in the selection process will be scored at the interview.

For guidance on the Technical skills, please refer to the Competency Framework - technical specifications - GCS

The interview will take place via Teams. Candidates will be required to have access to:

• A laptop (personal or work) with a working webcam
• Good internet connection
• Microsoft Teams

For guidance and information on what to expect and how to prepare for an interview, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers.

Problems during the application process

If you experience problems accessing this advert, or you think you’ve made a mistake on an initial application, please contact hocandidates.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk, including the vacancy reference, at least two working days before the vacancy closes. Further information can be found on our website.

Do not create or attempt to submit another application, online test or use a different Civil Service Jobs account to proceed as this would be in violation of the candidate declaration.

Location Preference

You can select up to twolocations in order of preference. Please ensure that these are locations you are prepared to travel to. If you are offered a role at one of your preferred location(s) and you decline, your application will be withdrawn.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made. There is no guarantee that being held on a reserve list will lead to a job offer. Further information can be found on our website.

Breaking Tied Scores

The behaviours, technical skills, experience, and strengths have been ranked in order of importance to enable us to differentiate between candidates with tied interview scores.

Reserve lists will be held for each location. Candidates will be appointed in merit order by location.

Standards

All Civil Servants are expected to comply with the Civil Service Code, and its core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.

Additional Security Checks

As well as successfully obtaining UK Security Vetting clearance, candidates will be subject to a range of additional checks. The range of checks carried out will depend on whether you are a current Home Office employee, existing civil servant or an external new entrant as well as the role requirements. The level of Criminal Record Check required for this role is Basic. Further details are included in the Notes to Candidates.

Further Information

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.

Reasonable Adjustments

If a person with disabilities is 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 HOrecruitment.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

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.

Feedback

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a 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.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 : Home Office Resourcing Centre
• Email : horccampaignteamcorporateenablers@homeoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

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

Further information

If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. and you wish to make a complaint, then contact the Government Recruitment Service via HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

Attachments

Candidate_Information_v17_April_2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 207kB)2025-11-17 Pre-employment Checking - Document Requirements (V17) Opens in new window (pdf, 231kB)