About us

We are the Equality and Human Rights Commission. We are Great Britain’s national equality body and a United Nations accredited National Human Rights Institution. We were established by the Equality Act 2006 and our role is to protect and promote equality and human rights across England, Scotland and Wales. As a statutory non-departmental public body, we are funded by HM Treasury via the Cabinet Office, but we operate independently of governments.

We pride ourselves on being a flexible and inclusive employer. We celebrate difference, embrace diversity and support all our people to thrive at work. If this sounds interesting - apply to join us!

Our Vacancy

Working in the Commission's communications team, this role will play a major part in making our voice heard, and ensuring that our work achieves impact.

You will act as the strategic communications lead for a portfolio of projects ranging for major inquiries and investigations, to private sector guidance and behavioral change campaigns.

Acting as the interface between the communications team and project specialists, you will set key messages, develop strategy, support in the production of communications materials and evaluate the impact of our work. You will have excellent forward planning and project management skills, strong interpersonal skills and be a confident communicator.

As part of a small team it will be essential that you have a good understanding of all parts of communications including media relations, stakeholder engagement, content development, digital communications and campaigns. Everything we do makes national headlines and we need a talented, passionate and enthusiastic strategist to help us reach more people.

In return, we can offer you a great place to work and a dedicated, supportive team, working with you on subjects that really matter to people. We will support you in developing professional skills and expertise, encourage you to seek out opportunities and provide opportunities for you to broaden your horizons, develop new skills, and progress your career. 

To be fully effective in this role you will be required to demonstrate our core skills of leadership, delivery management and stakeholder engagement as well as certain knowledge, skills and experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and oversee delivery of communications strategies for priority projects. This will involve strategic planning, internal and external stakeholder engagement

• Advise internal stakeholder on communications strategy, opportunities and risks and build strong internal partnerships with key teams

• Oversight of operational forward planning, budgets and tendering for external resource where necessary

• Oversight of evaluation, measurement and reporting

• Act a representative of the organisation in external meetings and at events

• Brief and advise senior spokespeople

• Produce communications materials including speeches, presentations, briefings, blogs and media assets and social media content

• Have a good understanding of communications tools and channels and invest in own development, knowledge and expertise.

What we are looking for

Essential knowledge and skills

• A good, broad understanding of communications disciplines including stakeholder engagement, media relations, digital and social, campaigns, content creation and internal communications

• Creative skills, the ability to identify new opportunities and see the bigger picture

• Confident communicator, able to advise senior colleagues and build trust with internal stakeholders

• Ability to analyse and synthesise complex information and present it clearly and precisely, both verbally and in written formats

• Excellent interpersonal skills

• Ability to manage competing deadlines.

Essential experience

• Experience of developing and delivering multi-channel, communications strategies

• Experience of partnership working, including engagement with internal and external partners

• Experience of producing engaging communications materials for a range of different audiences

• Experience of writing briefings, presentations and speeches

• Experience of planning, developing and producing engaging content for media platforms, including social media.

Desirable experience

• Experience of working in or with the public sector, or in a legal organisation

• Project management or account management experience.

Important Information

Currently we are trialling hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their EHRC office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. The number of days that anyone will be able to work at home will be determined primarily by business need. If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working, including whether a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for this role or for yourself, will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post.

Benefits

In addition to a competitive salary, we offer a range of benefits including flexible working patterns, 30 days annual leave plus 8 bank holidays (full time FTE), access to the Civil Service Pension Scheme and partnership pension schemes, and enhanced parental leave benefits. More information can be found in the candidate pack.

How to apply

If this sounds like the role for you, please review the attached Candidate Pack for more information and submit your application today!

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an accredited Disability Confident Leader and operates a Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS) for candidates with a disability.

Should you wish to apply under our Guaranteed Interview Scheme or request a reasonable adjustment, please indicate this in your application.  

If you require an alternative accessible version of the application form or wish to discuss your application or reasonable adjustment  – please contact us by email at recruitment@equalityhumanrights.com or by telephone on 0161 829 8100.

Diversity in our workforce

At the Commission, we are proud of our inclusive workplace where we celebrate difference, value everyone’s contribution and where people of all backgrounds can thrive.  We do not accept discrimination or harassment, and all our recruitment decisions are based on fair and open competition, with appointment on merit. We are committed to further growing our workplace by making sure that the talent pipelines for our most senior roles are as diverse and inclusive as they can be. We welcome applications from everyone and encourage disabled people and people from an ethnic minority background to apply. This is to ensure we are taking positive action in order to achieve our legitimate aim of a balanced representation in our workforce at senior grades.