Communications Officer

What you’ll do…

We're looking for an experienced Communications Officer to lead and deliver communications across the Forest of Dean, helping tell the story of one of England's oldest and most unique forests.

We are looking for someone who has a strong communications background and a love for the Forest of Dean to continue the positive work of telling the rich story of the Forest. You will be responsible for developing and delivering proactive and reactive communications that support organisational objectives, promote Forestry England's work, and help build public understanding of how we manage the nation's forests sustainably.

The role involves working closely with our wider marketing and communications team, colleagues in operational roles and a range of partners to identify opportunities, develop content, manage media relations, and ensure consistent messaging across a range of channels.

Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.

Where you’ll work…

This role will be based in our office in Coleford, Gloucestershire.

Some home working would be considered but you will need to spend the majority of time in the office or on-site.

Benefits…

Alongside your salary, Forestry England contributes an average of 28.97% towards your pension. You will become a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension Scheme.

• 25 days holiday a year, raising by one day every year’s service, up to 30 days (pro-rated for part time employees) plus additional days off such as bank holidays.
• STaR is our employee benefits scheme offering discounts on everyday supermarket shopping, as well as other things such as hotel stays clothes, mobile phones, other electrical items, medical and car insurance, holidays, gym discounts, household bills, Headspace wellbeing app.
• free parking at Forestry England sites and free entry to our National Arboretums at Westonbirt and Bedgebury.
• a commitment to lifelong learning through career development. Forestry England will support your career development in a variety of ways, including continual professional development, support for individual learning plans and sponsored membership of professional bodies.

Read more about the benefits on the Forestry England website.

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

• Develop and deliver compelling content to tell the story of sustainable forest management, and our work for wildlife, for people, and for the climate
• Promote good news stories and support key projects with activity including press releases, website updates, social media content, and internal communications
• Lead reactive communications for emerging issues, ensuring messaging is timely, accurate and consistent
• Design and implement communications around forest operations and other works taking place within the forest
• Plan and develop interpretative signage, working with our design team
• Collaboratively manage social media channels, creating content and responding to messages
• Oversee the content and quality of relevant pages of the Forestry England website
• Develop and maintain relationships with external partners, e.g. Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, RSPB
• Track and measure the impact and effectiveness of our communications, in line with team KPIs
• Respond efficiently and effectively to emergency situations as they arise, providing crisis management communications support to front-line staff
• Plan work and deliver according to a yearly budget
• Work with the wider district engagement team to plan campaigns and initiatives collaboratively
• Actively engage with local delivery team meetings and build positive working relationships with colleagues in a range of different job roles
• Support internal communications by supplying engaging stories for the district’s intranet and monthly newsletter

And any other task reasonably requested by your line manager.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours.

How to apply…

We cannot accept applications via email. Please follow the steps outlined below. Any CVs and/or personal statements sent outside the system will not be considered for shortlisting.

You will be asked to write a 200 word statement on your relevant experience and career history, along with a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You will be assessed on both during sifting. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Communicating and influencing
• Working together
• Delivering at pace
• Seeing the big picture

You will be assessed on you experience and a technical skill at the interview. The technical element could include a presentation or written task.

Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.

If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk.

If you're planning to use AI to support your application, please ensure you've read our guidelines here first.

Read more about our application process and working with us on the Forestry England website.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.