Overview

This is an opportunity to help tell the story of the Environment Agency. The Internal Communications and Engagement Business Partner roles support the Strategy, Transformation and Assurance (STA) Directorate across several high-profile areas as the organisation evolves to respond to environmental challenges, set out in our corporate strategy, EA2030. This is a new way of working as the Internal Communications and Engagement (ICE) team builds cohesion across directorates. Each role will oversee a portfolio of work but collaborate to share insight and provide resilience. The roles involve planning and coordinating activity across STA, ensuring our people receive the right information, in the right format, at the right time. Transformation: includes working with the Director for Service Transformation to understand the totality of change programmes across the EA, and help describe the narrative for change. People – includes working with the People and Inclusion directorate to understand themes such as our People Plan and Health, Safety and Wellbeing. Strategy – working across the organisation to help colleagues understand their role in delivering our corporate strategy, business plan, and the STA Leadership Team’s role in leading the organisation.

Responsibilities

• Work across a portfolio of themes, acting as a vital link between the directorate and the wider ICE team.
• Interact widely and develop effective relationships with stakeholders and customers across the organisation.
• Plan strategy, share and drive best practice, set editorial standards, executional consistency, ensure adherence to organisational priorities and our brand.
• Align communications and engagement with the central narrative and assure corporate discipline to improve the consistency of messages.
• Champion the highest standards and help our people engage with the things that truly matter.
• Influence the teams and departments you work with to maximise the effectiveness of our work.

The Team

The business partner team is a small cross-functional team of communication and engagement experts. We are part of the Internal Communications and Engagement team, which sits within the Strategy, Transformation and Assurance Directorate. We collaborate with Defra Group Communications and other colleagues to enable effective communications and engagement, plan and deliver integrated activities, and continually improve how we engage with our people.

Experience/Skills Required

• Your ability to persuade, influence and reason with others will be vital in this role.
• Experience and understanding of how planning and delivering excellent communications and engagement activities can bring operational improvements.
• Ability to balance a broad understanding of the challenges facing the Environment Agency in delivering EA2030 with prioritisation of individual projects and programmes.
• Comfort in creating and maintaining relationships at all levels of the EA and Defra. Ability to work as part of a dispersed team.
• Comfort in constructively challenging and driving high standards for all communications and engagement activities.

Contact and Additional Information

This is a hybrid role with flexible working from home and an Environment Agency office. Occasional travel may be required. We are committed to being an inclusive employer and welcome flexible working patterns, including job share. Responding to incidents is a central part of our work; you may be required to have an incident role and be available to respond or provide support during an incident (this may attract additional payment). Training and workplace adjustments will be provided to support this role. Interviews will take place towards the end of October. For further information, please contact sam.elfer@environment-agency.gov.uk.

Competencies

• Communicates Effectively
• Engages others
• Influences and Persuades Others
• Builds and Sustains Relationships

Additional Information

We are committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce and welcome flexible working patterns, including job share. The Environment Agency is not part of HM Civil Service. If you are applying from local government or other eligible bodies, you may qualify for continuous service for redundancy purposes depending on the order. We guarantee interview to applicants with a disability whose application meets minimum criteria. The Environment Agency collaborates with Defra and uses Central Government frameworks for recruitment.