Internal Communications Officer

​Working for City Hall makes a difference to the lives of Londoners. Our staff are at the centre of long-term planning and development for our great city.
 

Strategy and Communications

Strategy and Communications sits at the centre of the organisation, bringing together several teams with organisation-wide remits and mutual collaboration opportunities. The work of the directorate’s teams includes delivery of major events, designing and leading public affairs or marketing campaigns, providing data, evidence and analysis, leading cross-organisational programmes, to making sure we plan for and can respond to emerging events or emergencies in our city.

About the team

The Internal Communications team helps colleagues to understand the organisation’s priorities so that they have the information they need to do their jobs, and to help them feel inspired and motivated to deliver for London. We do this through developing communications plans around our biggest priorities, working with senior leaders, and running a range of channels including leadership and staff events, email newsletters, and intranet news and blogs.

About the role

This role is a one-year maternity cover.

Key responsibilities include:

• Supporting the delivery of our internal communications and engagement strategy
• Creating and delivering high-quality, engaging content for various internal communication channels, including newsletters, intranet, emails, and digital signage
• Contributing to the delivery of staff engagement events including staff briefings, conferences, and workshops
• Providing advice and recommendations to stakeholders to deliver effective internal communications
• Providing day-to-day support for our intranet
• Responsible for maintaining Internal Communications planning and schedules 

What your day will look like 

1. Plan, edit and produce regular internal communications including our staff e-newsletters. This involves planning content, liaising with and interviewing colleagues to source content, writing and editing articles, photography and video, distribution and measurement.
2. Plan, write and edit content for the intranet
3. Organise regular staff presentations and coordinate other large staff briefings, including planning and sourcing topics, liaising with speakers, organising logistics and promoting events through internal communications.
4. Provide support and encouragement for teams and network groups in engaging GLA staff including advising on tailored communication campaigns.
5. Coordinate communications including announcements, briefings, cascade messages and senior leadership meetings.
6. Provide support developing a flexible, motivated and responsive workforce, liaising with organisational development colleagues.
7. Realise the benefits of London’s diversity by promoting and enabling equality of opportunities and promoting the diverse needs and aspirations of London’s communities.
8. Realise the benefits of a flexible approach to work in undertaking the duties and responsibilities of this job and participating in multi-disciplinary cross-department and cross-organisational groups and task teams.

Skills, knowledge and experience

1. Knowledge and experience of producing engaging communications.

• experience of writing and editing for an internal staff audience 
• experience of providing advice and support to staff to help them in communicating their priorities
• a proven track record of organising staff events and engaging and coordinating volunteers

2. Evidence of using innovation and creativity and understanding of current communications best practice to disseminate information and engage people.
3. Ability to use a range of standard and specific ICT systems, including

• Microsoft Office 365 (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Forms, Teams etc)
• Drupal (or similar Content Management Systems)

4. Competence in photography, filming, video and photo editing, and design would be desirable.
5. Awareness of working in a political context
6. Key behavioural competencies for this role are Communicating and influencing, responding to pressure and change, stakeholder focus, problem solving, planning and organising 

The GLA Competency Framework Guidelines further detailing each competency and the different level indicators can be found here: GLA Competency Framework

How to apply

If you would like to apply for the role you will need to submit the following:

• Up to date CV
• Personal statement with a maximum of 1500 words. Please ensure you address how you demonstrate the essential criteria outlined above in the advert.

Please ensure your CV and Personal Statement have a maximum file size of 1.5MB each and upload your Personal Statement to the ‘CV and Cover Letters’ section’ of the form, ensuring you address the technical requirements and competencies in your Personal Statement.

Word or PDF format preferred and do not include any photographs or images. Please ensure your CV and Personal Statement are saved with the job reference number as part of the naming convention (E.g., “CV – applicant name - 012345)

As part of GLA’s continuing commitment to be an inclusive and equal opportunity employer we will be removing personal identifiable information from CVs and Personal Statements that could cause discrimination. 

If you have questions about the role

If you wish to talk to someone about the role, the hiring manager Alice Young would be happy to speak to you. Please contact them at alice.young@london.gov.uk.

If you have any questions about the recruitment process, contact the glaopdcrecruitment@tfl.gov.uk who support the GLA with recruitment.

Assessment process

Once you have submitted an application, your details will be reviewed by a panel.

If shortlisted, you’ll be invited to an interview/assessment.

The interview/assessment date is: wc 4 August (may be subject to change)

Equality, diversity and inclusion

London's diversity is its biggest asset, and we strive to ensure our workforce reflects London's diversity at all levels. We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability.

We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic candidates and disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and we are happy to consider flexible working arrangements. We would welcome applications from candidates who are seeking part time work as this role is open to job share. 

Please note we are a Disability Confident Employer so for candidates who wish to be considered under the scheme and meet the essential criteria, they will automatically be invited to interview. Please note, should you require any adjustments through the process, we will accommodate as much as possible. Please contact the recruitment team for further information if required.

Benefits

GLA staff are hybrid working up to 3 days a week in our offices and remotely depending on their role. As part of this, you will need to split your time between home working and coming into the office.

In addition to a good salary package, you will be paid every four weeks, providing frequent salary payments. We also offer an attractive range of benefits including 30 days’ annual leave, interest free season ticket loan, interest free bicycle loan and a career average pension scheme.

Additional Information

Please note, all candidates will need to confirm that the information provided in this application form is true and correct. Should a candidate deliberately give false information, including the use of AI software, they understand that this would disqualify them from consideration.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record (DBS) check but some roles may require additional security screening. 

Find out which DBS check is right for your employee - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Secondment Opportunity

If you are a GLA employee applying for an internal fixed-term position, as an internal secondment opportunity, you must ensure you satisfy the following secondment policy criteria listed below before applying 

• On a permanent contract or a fixed term contract where the time left on the contract at the point at which you apply for secondment is longer than the secondment period;
• successfully completed your probation period and are performing to the required standard for your current role; and
• at least 18 months service with the GLA 

If you do meet the criteria listed above, you will need to complete the Approval for secondment application form and gain line manager approval, before emailing the fully completed form to the Resourcing Assistant who is managing the vacancy. This form must be received by the closing date of the vacancy. Failure to provide this form will mean your application cannot be progressed.

If you are unable to satisfy all of the criteria, unfortunately, you are not eligible to apply for this vacancy as an internal secondment.  For further information, please see Secondment Policy and Procedure.

IMPORTANT: If you are a current GLA employee on a fixed-term contract, which is due to end BEFORE the end date of this vacancy, you DO NOT NEED to complete the Approval for secondment application form as it is not a secondment.

If you are successful in securing this secondment opportunity, you will need to be released from your existing role, so please ensure that you make your line manager aware of your application

More Support

If you have a disability which makes submitting an online application form difficult, please contact resourcingteam@london.gov.uk.

The GLA is proud to be a Level 2: Disability Confident employer. We are committed to becoming a more inclusive and accessible organisation, and creating a truly inclusive and accessible workplace and culture for our disabled staff. We have named Disability Equality as a key corporate priority within our EDI Strategy. We welcome and encourage applications from disabled applicants. Should you wish to opt into the scheme, please let us know during your application.

Please note all applications for this vacancy must be submitted via our online recruitment system. We do not accept CVs alone for this role. Please upload a personal statement with a maximum of 1500 words to the ‘Additional Documents’ section of the form, ensuring you address the following technical requirements and competencies in your personal statement. Word or PDF format preferred and do not include any photographs or images.
 
The GLA Competency Framework Guidelines further detailing each competency and the different level indicators can be found here: GLA competency framework.

GLA staff are hybrid working up to 3 days a week in our offices and remotely depending on their role. As part of this, you will need to split your time between home working and coming into the office.

London's diversity is its biggest asset, and we strive to ensure our workforce reflects London's diversity at all levels. We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith, or disability. 

We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic candidates and disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. We are a disability confident employer who guarantee an interview to any disabled candidate who meets all of the essential criteria.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and we are happy to consider flexible working arrangements. We would welcome applications from candidates who are seeking part time work as this role is open to job share. 

In addition to a good salary package, we offer an attractive range of benefits including 30 days’ annual leave, interest free season ticket loan, interest free bicycle loan and a career average pension scheme.