Overview

This is an opportunity to help tell the story of the Environment Agency. The Internal Communications and Engagement (ICE) team supports the Strategy, Transformation and Assurance (STA) Directorate across 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 ICE team builds cohesion across directorates. Each role will oversee a portfolio of work but collaborate to share insight and provide resilience. The roles will 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 and executional consistency, ensuring adherence to organisational priorities and our brand.
• Align communications and engagement with the central narrative and assure corporate discipline to improve message consistency.
• Champion high standards and help people engage with what truly matters.
• Influence the teams and departments you work with to maximise the effectiveness of the work.

The team

The business partner team is a small cross-functional group of communication and engagement experts. We are part of the Internal Communications and Engagement team within the STA Directorate, collaborating with Defra Group Communications and other colleagues to:

• Enable effective communications and engagement by ensuring the right tools, skills and ways of working.
• Plan and deliver integrated activities, continually improving 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 planning and delivering excellent communications and engagement activities that drive operational improvements.
• Ability to balance a broad understanding of EA2030 challenges with prioritisation of individual projects and programmes.
• Comfort in creating and maintaining relationships at all levels of the EA and Defra; able to work as part of a dispersed team.
• Comfortable challenging constructively 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 at the nearest Environment Agency office. Occasional travel may be required. We are committed to an inclusive, flexible workplace, including job sharing. Responding to incidents is a central part of our work and you may be required to take an incident role and be available to respond or provide support during an incident, which may attract additional payment. Training and workplace adjustments are available to support you in this role.

Interviews will take place towards the end of October. Please contact sam.elfer@environment-agency.gov.uk for further information.

Competencies

• Communicates Effectively – Listens, explains and conveys information clearly in speech and writing.
• Engages others – Plans, carries out and evaluates effective engagement with internal and external stakeholders.
• Influences and Persuades Others – Presents a convincing case and encourages follow-through of plans.
• Builds and Sustains Relationships – Develops and maintains effective working relationships.

We are committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce.

Additional notes

The Environment Agency is a non-departmental public body; guidance on AI usage applies. For more information on supplier frameworks, see the Crown Commercial Service guidance.