Communications Lead for The Dispute Resolution

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 337158**Salary**:

- £35,711 - £41,567- £35,711 - £36,545 (National) and £39,209 - £41,567 (Outer London)**Job grade**:

- Higher Executive Officer**Contract type**:

- Permanent**Business area**:

- DWP - Service Excellence - Customer Experience**Type of role**:

- Operational Delivery**Working pattern**:

- Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time**Number of jobs available**:

- 1Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- Birkenhead, Birmingham, Blackpool, Cardiff, Glasgow, Inverness, Liverpool, Lowestoft, Middlesbrough, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Norwich, Sheffield, Sunderland, Watford, WorthingAbout the job

**Job summary**:
DWP is looking to fill 1 Communications Lead role within the Dispute Resolution Service (DRS) Customer Service Assurance Team (CSAT). You will have an opportunity to work for a large government department in a key leadership role, where you will lead the DRS Communications Team.

DRS is a large and diverse service of nearly 2,800 colleagues based in England, Scotland and Wales. We provide a service that allows our customers to challenge benefit decisions by asking for a Mandatory Reconsideration or to submit appeals against benefit decisions.

We work with our customers to understand their individual circumstances, collate and interpret evidence and make decisions that have real life impact. This is particularly important for our vulnerable, customers where making the right decision on a benefit entitlement can enable them and their family to participate fully in society.

The Communications Lead role is part of the wider enabling team within DRS. Our principal role is to design, develop and deliver communications through a wide range of channels, advising senior leaders and stakeholders and supporting colleagues to deliver our business within the parameters of our communications strategy.

The role is challenging and exciting and we are looking for a highly organised individual with excellent interpersonal skills and a keen eye for detail. You should be digitally competent, proactive, resilient, adaptable to last minute change and comfortable working at pace.

Our core values are - We Care, We Deliver, We Adapt, We Work Together, We Value Everybody.

We have an inclusive environment, where we want colleagues to thrive by being themselves at work. We understand the benefits of people who feel supported, empowered, valued and respected. We have development and talent programmes including specific programmes for underrepresented groups and we actively support all of our people in achieving their full potential. Our commitment is to have a workforce that truly reflects our society and the communities we serve.

**Job description**:

- In this role you will be required to work across all our business areas, carrying out a wide range of communication activities to help DRS deliver its core outcomes and to become a more digital organisation.
- Creativity, pro-activity and a can-do attitude are essential, as is the ability to work on multiple tasks simultaneously and at pace, bolstered by digital prowess and experience of working within the Government Digital Services (GDS) accessibility guidelines, to make our digital services accessible to people with disabilities (a legal requirement).
- You will need to be an experienced communicator who can build and maintain good working relationships and develop a strong understanding of all available media so you can advise on the best messages, methods and channels to reach and influence our audiences.
- You will also be responsible for developing and implementing our Digital Transformation Strategy to support our journey towards being digital by default.
- You will lead a small Communications Team, building individual and team capability by personally coaching and mentoring colleagues and developing an environment of equality, inclusivity and trust where people can be their very best.
- ** The role will involve occasional travel to other DRS locations.**

**Person specification**:

- Experience of working with digital tools across a mix of channels to communicate and engage within an organisation and across it's diverse stakeholder network.** (Lead Criteria)**:

- The ability to plan, implement and evaluate communications and to gather and use insight to inform communication approaches.
- Strong inclusive leadership and coaching skills. Able to identify and support the development needs of themselves and others to reach the standards of the Operational Delivery Profession and DRS digital capability requirements.
- Demonstrable experience of Microsoft Teams, SharePoint and other Microsoft Office products is crucial to this role, including the ability to edit, stream and create closed captions for video and to adapt documents to meet accessibility standards.
- Excellent verbal, written and interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate confidently, conci