Engagement and Readiness Officer

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

- 265948**Salary**:

- £30,317 - £36,606- National: £30,317- £32,803. London: £33,827- £36,606. For details of our pay on appointment policy, please see below under the heading ‘Salary’**Job grade**:

- Higher Executive Officer**Contract type**:

- Fixed Term
- Loan
- Secondment**Length of employment**:

- 18 Months**Business area**:

- DEFRA - FF&B - Biosecurity & Borders - Biosecurity, Borders and Trade Programme**Type of role**:

- Communications / Marketing**Working pattern**:

- Full-time**Number of jobs available**:

- 3Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- Bristol, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, YorkAbout the job

**Job summary**:
Defra is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people's day-to-day life, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we drink.

The Communications & Engagement function within BBTP is responsible for delivering all communications and engagements of the Target Operating Model and the future border to industry.

This role will be a part of the BBTP Design and Implementation Engagement and Communications team working alongside the Sector Engagement and Communications Manager.

**Job description**:
To support the Sector Engagement and Communications Manager to build and maintain strong relationships with UK and overseas sector stakeholders across government, devolved administrations and industry building the programmes network and providing project support across the programme.

This role will ensure that key stakeholder insight and feedback is captured to inform our projects. Co-ordinating representation at and communication of key messages at all relevant internal and external forums will be integral to the this role.

The job role will need to work flexibly across the engagement & communications team and with policy teams across HMG, gathering intelligence and feeding into discussions regarding your sector and the project more widely. There will be the responsibility to write key communications for your sector, engage with seniors in businesses outside of government and to report against all sector activity related to borders, biosecurity and trade.

**Person specification**:
**Building relationships**
- Proactively manage relationships with internal and external key stakeholders, including those across the programme, wider government and industry, ensuring appropriate ongoing two-way engagement.
- Develop knowledge and understanding of your sector in a timely manner. Understand and identify key issues and opportunities.
- Work with the SEO Sector Lead to ensure the sector stakeholder map and directory is kept up to date, so that it can be used for engagement with policy projects within BBTP, for example to support user research and engagement with projects as well as wider BBTP engagement and communications.
- Working with relevant policy teams and meet regularly with UK and overseas external stakeholders, such as trade associations, traders, and import agents.
- Ensure BBTP policy content is included on the agenda of relevant Defra external stakeholder forums and working with policy colleagues to develop and deliver presentations.

**Gathering sector insights**
- Obtain and collate actionable insights and feedback from industry to inform ongoing development and implementation of BBTP policy projects. Providing a touchpoint for stakeholders to raise concerns.
- Feed into regular reporting to BBTP colleagues, wider Defra, senior officials and ministers on stakeholder reactions and media coverage.
- Support BBTP’s engagement with strategic partners and industry by running external engagement opportunities to ensure their voices are heard.

**Communicating with the sector**
- Help prepare communications for internal and external audiences, ensuring communications are clear, concise and aligned with stakeholder and media plans and working collaboratively with the wider BBTP Engagement team. This may include reactive comms pieces that involve working directly with policy teams, as well as planned communication activities
- Be at the forefront of delivering engagement activities to the sector, using analytics and insight to build on what works and working with trade associations to develop new engagement opportunities.
- Manage facilitation and delivery of engagement activities, internal and external forums, webinars and working groups
- Measure, evaluate and iterate activities.
- Work with BBTP policy projects to define their stakeholder engagement package needs, and to support them to present information to stakeholders in a clear and concise way, and ensure messages are aligned with the wider work of BBTP.
- Work with the tools, processes and templates developed within the team, and con