This role gives you the opportunity to work at the heart of government by liaising closely with colleagues at No10 and HM Treasury to plan announcements and activity that affects the whole of the UK and beyond.

The successful candidate will be responsible for working with colleagues across our communications directorate, the wider department and other government departments to ensure that HMRC weekly and longer term planning returns to No10 are accurate, up to date and completed on time. Through this influential role, you will help shape the government's news agenda.

Amongst other things you will also be required to work on products that evaluate and showcase the work of the Press, Digital and External Affairs team, demonstrating the added value our low cost/no cost activity produces.

We're looking for someone who is experienced in planning often complex announcements and communications packages, is skilled in producing easily understood documentation to support plans and evaluation and can turn things around very quickly.

Job holders in this grade will carry out a range of activities across communications professional disciplines to support efficient running of the directorate. This may involve being deployed to support emerging priority work.

We provide a 24/7/365 service to the media running an on call service outside of normal working hours, which are 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday. All colleagues at Higher Officer grade and above joining the press office team will be part of the on call rota.

Person specification

Responsibilities :

• Manage the press and digital communications team planning and gridding process, providing advice on the timing of HMRC announcements and publications, to internal colleagues, anticipating issues before they occur.
• Work closely with No10 and other government departments to coordinate and agree planned external communications in line with departmental priorities.
• Attend weekly grid meetings at No10 and regular HM Treasury grid meetings.
• Arrange and chair the weekly Press, Digital and External Affairs team planning meeting.
• Maintain a long term forward look for press, digital and external affairs communications activity.
• Produce weekly Forward Look and Hot Topics notes to be shared with senior officials across HMRC.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with appropriate stakeholders and HMRC and OGD officials to enable accurate, appropriate and timely delivery of HMRC key messages.
• Working with colleagues, oversee the press office evaluation system and produce regular reports covering the work of the Press, Digital and External Affairs team.
• Monitor and action Freedom of Information requests coming to the team.
• Supporting, colleagues across the Press, Digital and External Affairs team and the wider communications team to ensure delivery of priority work.
• Management of two support officers.

Essential Criteria

• Proven track record of working in a professional communication role such as a press officer, media planner, journalist, communications officer etc.
• Experience of delivering clear, accurate and effective planning products.
• Excellent written skills with the ability to take complex policy information and explain it to non-expert audiences in a straightforward way.
• Experience of working collaboratively across teams and with external stakeholders.
• Ability to work in a fast paced, demanding and unpredictable environment with the ability to prioritise work.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the confidence to push back on senior colleagues' decisions or ideas should it be necessary.
• Membership of GCS or willing to join as part of the role.

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

Technical skills

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

• Technical questions relating to the Government Communication Service (GCS) technical skills • GCS Insight - press & media • Impact - press & media

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £41,289, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £11,961 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.

We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.

• Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues' Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary.
• Family friendly policies.
• Personal support.
• Coaching and development.

To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it's really like to work for HMRC hear from our insiders or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service

Things you need to know

Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

How to Apply

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

• A name-blind CV including your job history and previous experiences.
• A 750-word personal statement. Your Personal statement should explain how you meet the essential criteria and key responsibilities of the role. This is your opportunity to demonstrate that you can do the job, so it's vital that you clearly demonstrate in your statement how you can do the things listed, using examples where you can.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

We acknowledge that AI can assist you in your application. Find our guidelines here.

Sift

In the event of a large number of applications being received, an initial sift may be held onthe Personal Statement.

At full sift your CV will be assessed, with the successful candidates being invited to interview.

We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.

Interview

Candidates will be required to complete a written exercise which will be provided on the day - no preparation is necessary.

During the panel interview, you will be assessed on the Civil Service behaviours Delivering at Pace and Working Together and GCS technical skills relating to Insight - press and media, and Impact - press and media. Please follow this link for further information of what is required Competency Framework - technical specifications - GCS

Interviews will take place face to face at 100 Parliament Street, Westminster, London, SW1A 2BQ.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Eligibility

Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days(Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, please contact us via: unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk - Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example - 'Please re-open my application - [insert vacancy ref] & vacancy closing date [insert date]'.

To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application .

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles - if this applies to you, we'll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.

Criminal Record Check

Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

Merit List

After interview, a single merit list will be created, and you will only be considered for posts in locations you have expressed a preference for. Appointments will be made in strict merit order in line with the set number of roles in each location.

Reasonable Adjustments

We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact the UBS Recruitment team via unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.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.

Additional Security Information

Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for SC is 5 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.

Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers

Please note that this role is unsuitable for contractual homeworkers due to the nature and/or requirements of the role.

Terms and Conditions

Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.

HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations .

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.

Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process.

Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.

Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

New entrants will join on the minimum of the pay band.

Please note that, if you are applying for roles on a part-time basis, the salary agreed will be pro-rata, reflective of the working hours agreed within your contract.

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

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 security 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 the Civil 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 : Clare Merrills
• Email : clare.merrills@hmrc.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk

Further information
Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel there has been a breach of the Recruitment Principles.
In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly via ubsrecruitmentcomplaints@hmrc.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their website.

Attachments
UPDATED - Combined TC and OGD Pay English - July 2024 Opens in new window (docx, 129kB)