Deputy Director for Civil Service Communications and CO Internal Communications and Engagement
| Posting date: | 26 February 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £81,000 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 15 March 2026 |
| Location: | York, North Yorkshire |
| Remote working: | On-site only |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 448871 |
Summary
Job summary
Government Communications is the professional body for communicators across the UK government. Our mission is to deliver exceptional communications that make a difference—informing citizens, changing behaviours, and building trust in government.
By joining a communications team, you will become a member of Government Communications, a well- established profession of communicators working in government departments, agencies and arm’s length bodies. You’ll benefit from continuous professional development from our learning and development curriculum, a network of skilled communicators sharing best practice, mentoring opportunities, and much more!
Visit our Government Communications website for more information on how becoming a part of the Communications Profession can support your career and development.
Job description
This is a high profile and challenging role with three primary strategic responsibilities:
1.Leading the Strategic Narrative: Defining and communicating the Cabinet Office’s evolving identity and departmental priorities to a nationwide audience of over 550,000 civil servants, ensuring clarity of purpose across the entire organisation.
2.Driving Innovative Engagement: Developing and executing creative, high-impact internal communication programmes that utilise modern storytelling and innovative channels to engage a diverse workforce in the Civil Service’s mission.
3.Delivering Flagship Strategic Engagements: Overseeing the end-to-end delivery of high-profile events and engagements, such as Civil Service Live, to facilitate direct connection between senior ministers, leadership, and the wider Civil Service.
You will deliver a highly effective and resilient communications function, building an unrivalled insight into the work of the department and playing a key part in wider government communications as part of the Government Communications Service.
You will also have responsibility for the leadership and development of your team, overseeing their activity and performance management to ensure high standards of service to ministers and senior officials, while ensuring that they are resilient when under pressure.
Additionally, you should be able to proactively create and maintain positive, professional and trusting working relationships with a wide range of people within and outside the organisation, including the Cabinet Secretary, COO of the Civil Service and other senior stakeholders.
The successful candidate will be a team player, able to motivate and instil confidence with clear thinking, strong interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence. You will develop a strong network of contacts across Whitehall and beyond, and draw on that network to secure the necessary advice, buy-in and quick decision-making.
Key Responsibilities
As Deputy Director for Civil Service Communications and Cabinet Office Internal Communications and Engagement, your key responsibilities will include:
Lead the Communications Strategy for Civil Service Communication and Cabinet Office Internal Communication and engagement, working closely with the Cabinet Secretary, Permanent Secretary, senior officials and ExCo.
Manage a broad range of communication channels, with stimulating content which gives CO colleagues, and wider Civil Service audiences the opportunity to have their views heard and responded to.
Lead and develop a collaborative and high-performing CO internal communications, events and engagement and Civil Service communications team.
Play an active role in the leadership of the Government Communications Service across Whitehall, building partnerships with key external stakeholders.
Build strong partnerships with critical stakeholders across UKG and Devolved Administrations, both in the delivery of senior official engagement and to ensure involvement in Civil Service Live, leading ministerial engagement in CS Live programme.
Demonstrate the ability to represent the views of the Department and Functions credibly in high level meetings while building relationships across Whitehall.
Improving professional practice within the team, encouraging active participation in the GCS to build capability and networks across the team.
Person specification
It is important that, through your CV and supporting statement, that you provide evidence of the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post.
Essential Criteria:
Strategic Communication & Narrative Design - Expertise in designing and delivering strategic communications, including high-stakes speech writing for Ministers and Senior Leaders during crises or occasions of national significance.
Influential Stakeholder Engagement - A proven track record of building trust, credibility, and influence with Ministers and senior officials in complex environments, providing constructive challenge to drive effective decision-making.
Visible Leadership & Team Development - Exceptional leadership and management skills, with a focus on developing talent and maintaining cohesion across geographically dispersed teams while contributing to broader corporate goals.
Operational & Financial Oversight - Strong stakeholder and contract management skills, with experience overseeing multi-million pound budgets and managing critical third-party contracts.
Multi-Platform Event & Content Delivery - Advanced expertise in designing and executing large-scale events utilizing multimedia and cross-platform communications to reach diverse audiences.
Strategic Innovation & Problem Solving - The ability to think creatively and strategically to identify systemic improvements, working collaboratively to resolve challenging issues and implement lasting change.
Government Communications is the professional body for communicators across the UK government. Our mission is to deliver exceptional communications that make a difference—informing citizens, changing behaviours, and building trust in government.
By joining a communications team, you will become a member of Government Communications, a well- established profession of communicators working in government departments, agencies and arm’s length bodies. You’ll benefit from continuous professional development from our learning and development curriculum, a network of skilled communicators sharing best practice, mentoring opportunities, and much more!
Visit our Government Communications website for more information on how becoming a part of the Communications Profession can support your career and development.
Job description
This is a high profile and challenging role with three primary strategic responsibilities:
1.Leading the Strategic Narrative: Defining and communicating the Cabinet Office’s evolving identity and departmental priorities to a nationwide audience of over 550,000 civil servants, ensuring clarity of purpose across the entire organisation.
2.Driving Innovative Engagement: Developing and executing creative, high-impact internal communication programmes that utilise modern storytelling and innovative channels to engage a diverse workforce in the Civil Service’s mission.
3.Delivering Flagship Strategic Engagements: Overseeing the end-to-end delivery of high-profile events and engagements, such as Civil Service Live, to facilitate direct connection between senior ministers, leadership, and the wider Civil Service.
You will deliver a highly effective and resilient communications function, building an unrivalled insight into the work of the department and playing a key part in wider government communications as part of the Government Communications Service.
You will also have responsibility for the leadership and development of your team, overseeing their activity and performance management to ensure high standards of service to ministers and senior officials, while ensuring that they are resilient when under pressure.
Additionally, you should be able to proactively create and maintain positive, professional and trusting working relationships with a wide range of people within and outside the organisation, including the Cabinet Secretary, COO of the Civil Service and other senior stakeholders.
The successful candidate will be a team player, able to motivate and instil confidence with clear thinking, strong interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence. You will develop a strong network of contacts across Whitehall and beyond, and draw on that network to secure the necessary advice, buy-in and quick decision-making.
Key Responsibilities
As Deputy Director for Civil Service Communications and Cabinet Office Internal Communications and Engagement, your key responsibilities will include:
Lead the Communications Strategy for Civil Service Communication and Cabinet Office Internal Communication and engagement, working closely with the Cabinet Secretary, Permanent Secretary, senior officials and ExCo.
Manage a broad range of communication channels, with stimulating content which gives CO colleagues, and wider Civil Service audiences the opportunity to have their views heard and responded to.
Lead and develop a collaborative and high-performing CO internal communications, events and engagement and Civil Service communications team.
Play an active role in the leadership of the Government Communications Service across Whitehall, building partnerships with key external stakeholders.
Build strong partnerships with critical stakeholders across UKG and Devolved Administrations, both in the delivery of senior official engagement and to ensure involvement in Civil Service Live, leading ministerial engagement in CS Live programme.
Demonstrate the ability to represent the views of the Department and Functions credibly in high level meetings while building relationships across Whitehall.
Improving professional practice within the team, encouraging active participation in the GCS to build capability and networks across the team.
Person specification
It is important that, through your CV and supporting statement, that you provide evidence of the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post.
Essential Criteria:
Strategic Communication & Narrative Design - Expertise in designing and delivering strategic communications, including high-stakes speech writing for Ministers and Senior Leaders during crises or occasions of national significance.
Influential Stakeholder Engagement - A proven track record of building trust, credibility, and influence with Ministers and senior officials in complex environments, providing constructive challenge to drive effective decision-making.
Visible Leadership & Team Development - Exceptional leadership and management skills, with a focus on developing talent and maintaining cohesion across geographically dispersed teams while contributing to broader corporate goals.
Operational & Financial Oversight - Strong stakeholder and contract management skills, with experience overseeing multi-million pound budgets and managing critical third-party contracts.
Multi-Platform Event & Content Delivery - Advanced expertise in designing and executing large-scale events utilizing multimedia and cross-platform communications to reach diverse audiences.
Strategic Innovation & Problem Solving - The ability to think creatively and strategically to identify systemic improvements, working collaboratively to resolve challenging issues and implement lasting change.
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