Senior Communications Officer (External)
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service
Location: Kempston
Salary: £15,175 per annum rising to £16,604 per annum (plus an additional allowance for on-call rota)
Basis: Part time
Contractual hours: 14.8 hours per week (Thursday and Friday)
Package: 14.8 hours per week, Hybrid Working, Flexitime scheme, Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), Holiday allowance of 25 days pro rata (plus public holidays) on joining.
Job reference: REQ000339
Closing date: 18 February 2025
Attachments
Job Description - Senior Communications Officer (External).pdf
We are looking for a proactive and creative communications professional to work in a job share to lead our external communications, engaging with the public, media, and key stakeholders. Your work will play a vital role in enhancing community safety, showcasing the work of our fire service and building our reputation within the community.
You will work in a small team to help deliver the organisation’s communication and engagement strategy in support of the Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP), focusing on external communication.
About the role
This an exciting opportunity to hone your passion for all things external, with this role being responsible for its share of media engagement planning, stakeholder engagement and external affairs, and email marketing, alongside developing and delivering engaging campaigns.
You will seek out story opportunities and create engaging, innovative content across various channels and products to keep audiences engaged and support building our reputation. You will be ace at campaign planning, delivery and evaluation across a range of platforms, and will work closely with fire prevention and protection teams to help them reach their audiences.
You will be at the heart of managing media requests, horizon scanning for risks and opportunities, and supporting the Service in its crisis and incident response. You will also need to be leading our strategic external digital engagement, be that email marketing, community digital platforms, social and website channels.
Key Responsibilities
Manage media by seeking stories, creating packages, and handling requests to maximise public relations.
Support and deliver high-quality external affairs and stakeholder engagement, including monitoring activities, updating data, briefing senior staff, and coordinating engagements to position BFRS as an expert.
Manage consultations, public engagement, and community events to comply with public consultation duties and support corporate events.
Grow and manage the email marketing platform to build the subscriber base, spread safety messages, and build brand awareness.
Manage the organisation’s reputation by briefing senior managers on risks and issues, including mitigation actions.
Produce accurate communications for various audiences, including news releases, newsletters, social media posts, web content, and corporate documents.
Support the production of corporate graphics and materials, ensuring they are engaging and reflect the organisation’s brand.
Lead external campaigns by planning and developing content across channels, liaising with stakeholders, and advising on communication strategies.
Deliver training for colleagues on communication, social media, and media.
Play an active role in communication during major incidents, including media handling, social media, photography, video, website management, and stakeholder briefings.
About You
You will have:
A degree, equivalent qualification or equivalent experience in one of the following:
Public relations
Communications
Media
English
In-depth experience in media relations, public relations, email marketing, external affairs and digital communications including social media with proven experience of building trusted and professional relationships with journalists.
In-depth experience creating multi-platform content and campaigns for a range of audiences using insight, industry best practice and evaluation.
Ability to drive change and meet objectives working collaboratively with others.
Some experience of stakeholder mapping and planning external engagement opportunities to raise the brand and profile of an organisation.
Some experience using social media proficiently such as Facebook, X, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram and NextDoor.
High level of creativity and ability to demonstrate where this has been used to get messages across to different audiences, particularly external audiences.
Good time management skills and an ability to manage conflicting demands and workloads, balancing reactive and proactive work.
Good working knowledge of Microsoft 365, especially Sharepoint, Teams, Outlook, and other M365 apps that support internal communication (Viva Engage, Sway etc). Design applications such as Canva and Adobe.
Current full driving licence with no pending issues.
In this role, you will participate in an out of hours media service, dealing with requests for information from the media and advising Service personnel on communications with the media and other communications-related matters. Further details to be confirmed.
For more details on the essential criteria required for the role, please see the attached job description and person specification.
Why work with us
We recognise that you are looking for more than just a career. A few of our benefits include:
Hybrid working patterns
Flexi-time scheme including flexible start and finish times, variable lunch breaks and flexi-leave days
Local Government Pension Scheme
Holiday allowance of 25 days* (plus public holidays) on joining; increasing to 30 days* after 5 years' service and 32 days after 10 years' service (*pro rata if part time or irregular working pattern)
Free onsite parking
Instant access to ‘Lifestyle Savings’ platform includes a range of discount cards from well-known and independent retailers
Eligible to sign up to ‘Blue Light Card’ with access to thousands of amazing discounts online and on the high street.
Next steps
If this role is of interest, please visit our website https://www.bedsfire.gov.uk/careers/search for further information and to make a formal application. We ask that you include your full career history and reference your skills and experience in line with the job description and person specification within your application and supporting statement.
For an informal discussion regarding the role, please contact Leanne Ehren, Head of Communications and External Affairs via email Leanne.Ehren@bedsfire.gov.uk to arrange a time.
The interview / selection process will take place on Wednesday 26 February 2025
This is a public-facing role and it is essential to have the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English.
This post will be exempt from the provisions of Section 4 (2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2023. Therefore, applicants are not entitled to withhold information about convictions which for other purposes are ‘spent’ under the provision of the Act.
The appointment will be made subject to satisfactory pre-employment clearances, including an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance at the level required for the role.
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is an equal opportunities employer that welcomes applications from all sections of the community.
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service’s recruitment and selection procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of Adults, Children, and Young People, and all staff and volunteers are expected to share this commitment.
