Communications Officer

The starting salary for this role is GBP31,273 per annum, working 36 hours per week.

The River Thames Scheme is a major project which will offer protection to homes and businesses in one of the largest areas of undefended, developed floodplain in England.

Being jointly managed by Surrey County Council and the Environment Agency, it is the first Nationally Significant Infrastructure Scheme to cover flooding. This makes communication with residents, businesses and stakeholders vital - particularly as we prepare for a Development Consent Order (DCO) application. That's why we're scaling up the scheme's communications and engagement team.

Based within Surrey County Council's communications service but working across the partnership, we're looking for two people to join us on 24-month contracts who can bring their experience of working on similar projects and can turn technical reports into engaging content to help us consult, engage and communicate with our stakeholders.

Maybe you've worked on a major consultation, or you've engaged communities to help a project clear planning hurdles. We're looking for candidates who can bring their experience in areas such as stakeholder engagement, digital and staff communications, social media and community engagement. You might not have all of these skills but if you think you've got something to offer we would love to hear from you.

We're looking for two PS8 Communications Officers. While these roles are based in Woodhatch Place in Reigate, post holders will divide their time between working from home and our co-location offices in Surrey and central London. These are two year fixed-term contracts, with the intention of extending.

These two roles will be great for creative people who have a flair for social media and a passion to reach as many people in our target audiences as possible.

One of these roles will be focused on managing our digital output and internal staff communications. That means creating engaging content for our social media channels - including producing films - and ensuring they reach target audiences. That will be alongside ensuring that staff working on the scheme are kept informed - whether they work for the main project partners, or our technical consultants.

The other role will focus on community engagement. Working with our engagement colleagues internally as well as our DCO consultant, this role will ensure that positive conversations with our communities continue from the planning right through to construction.

To be shortlisted to interview for this position your application will clearly evidence the following:

• Experience of working within transport/infrastructure communications.
• An ability to create engaging content - whether it's a video, social media post or newsletter article, or to communicate clearly with different communities.
• Flexibility to work across different projects.
• A communications, marketing or journalism degree / qualification / registration.

At Surrey, our values and behaviours are just as important as our skills and abilities. They shape who we are as an organisation. Find out more about the values we follow.

Additional Information

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 12/06/2022.

Interview dates to be advised.

This is a 24-month fixed term contract/ secondment opportunity.

Contact Details

For more information, please email Victoria Shepherd or Ben Funning.

We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.

Benefits

From flexible working to job sharing (where possible) we are committed to providing a healthy work life balance. A laptop and mobile will be supplied if applicable to your role. You will benefit from 26 days annual leave, rising to 28 days after 2 years' service, a generous local government salary related pension, as well as the option to join our car lease scheme. For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit MyBenefits for Surrey County Council staff.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer of first choice reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all under represented groups.