Police AI - Senior Engagement, Internal Comms & Public Affairs Manager

Remote working (anywhere in the UK); however, regular travel will be required.

​​This post is open to applicants who can meet the College’s nationality, UK residency and vetting requirements.​

Police AI is a nationally significant technology and transformation programme in UK policing. Backed by central government investment and positioned at the heart of the police reform agenda, Police AI is the new National Centre for AI in Policing, helping to shape how policing uses data, technology and artificial intelligence to tackle crime, protect the public and modernise frontline operations.

We bring together operational policing, technical expertise, product delivery, assurance and the responsible use of AI to develop and scale capabilities that improve public safety outcomes. Our work helps forces respond more effectively to demand, strengthen investigations, identify risk and harm earlier, and free up frontline time for the activities that matter most to communities.

This is an opportunity to contribute to a programme with national reach and meaningful public service impact, helping to define how AI is developed, governed and adopted across one of the UK’s most important public services. The work is varied and complex, moves at pace, and has the potential to deliver better tools for policing, better outcomes for the public, and stronger foundations for the responsible use of AI.

Police AI is hosted within the College of Policing.

Our mission is: Leadership, Standards, Performance. This guides our work with individuals, forces, and policing partners towards our vision. We exist to support police officers, police staff and volunteers to deliver the best service to the public. Only through high quality leadership, consistent standards and continual performance improvement can everyone in policing reach their full potential. Our mission guides our work with individual, forces and partners towards our vision.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles.

Due to our status as Public Servants, we are not eligible to participate in the Civil Service transfer process. Therefore, while successful candidates can transfer in on their existing terms and conditions, any subsequent transfer out of the College to the Civil Service cannot be guaranteed on existing terms and conditions, and new starter/modernised terms may apply.

The College embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we comply with the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and apply the minimum selection criteria at sift stage of the recruitment process.

We are looking for people who are motivated by public service, interested in responsible innovation, and comfortable working collaboratively across organisational, operational and technical boundaries. Joining Police AI means contributing to a supportive, multidisciplinary team that is helping to shape the future of policing and ensure AI is used in ways that are effective, responsible, operationally useful and worthy of public trust.

Police AI is at the forefront of one of the most significant modernisation programmes in policing, helping forces across England and Wales adopt artificial intelligence responsibly, effectively and with public trust at its core. As our Senior Engagement, Internal Communications & Public Affairs Manager, you will lead the way we engage with policing leaders, government stakeholders and our own workforce, ensuring our communications and engagement activity supports the successful delivery of organisational priorities and strengthens our national influence.

We're looking for an experienced communications and engagement professional who can build credible relationships with senior stakeholders, provide trusted advice to leaders and navigate complex, high-profile environments with confidence. You'll bring strong strategic thinking, excellent influencing skills and the ability to turn insight into action, while balancing long-term planning with hands-on delivery. If you're motivated by shaping meaningful change across policing and public services, this is an opportunity to play a key role in a nationally important programme.

Please Note:

• Application

As part of the application process, you will be required to complete the following:

Personal Statement (750 words maximum)

Your personal statement should address your experience to date and the following two elements:

• Provide an example of a communications or engagement strategy you developed and implemented to support organisational priorities or change. What did you do and what impact did it have?
• Describe a time when you advised senior leaders on a complex or sensitive issue involving external stakeholders, public affairs, communications or organisational reputation. What advice did you provide and how did it influence the outcome?

Behaviour – Communicating and Influencing (250 words maximum)

You will be required to submit a 250-word statement demonstrating the Behaviour Communicating and Influencing in response to the following:

Describe a situation where you led a strategic stakeholder engagement programme involving senior external stakeholders. What was your role, what approach did you take, and what outcomes were achieved?

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 and Experience.

​​This post is open to applicants who can meet the College’s nationality, UK residency and vetting requirements.​

Vacancy Reference: 7253

• Application

As part of the application process, you will be required to complete the following:

1) Personal Statement (750 words maximum)

Your personal statement should address your experience to date and the following two elements:

• Provide an example of a communications or engagement strategy you developed and implemented to support organisational priorities or change. What did you do and what impact did it have?
• Describe a time when you advised senior leaders on a complex or sensitive issue involving external stakeholders, public affairs, communications or organisational reputation. What advice did you provide and how did it influence the outcome?

2) Behaviour – Communicating and Influencing (250 words maximum)

You will be required to submit a 250-word statement demonstrating the Behaviour Communicating and Influencing in response to the following:

Describe a situation where you led a strategic stakeholder engagement programme involving senior external stakeholders. What was your role, what approach did you take, and what outcomes were achieved?

• Sift – Date to be Confirmed

An initial sift will be undertaken against the Personal Statement.

Candidates who are successful at the initial sift stage will progress to a full sift, where the remaining assessment element (Behaviour) will be reviewed and scored.

Candidates who do not achieve the minimum pass mark at the initial sift stage will not have their Behaviour statement assessed and will receive a score only for the element assessed at the initial sift.

• Interview – Date to be Confirmed

If you are successful at the sift stage, you will be invited to attend an interview.

The interview will assess all three Behaviours outlined in the advert.

Interviews will be conducted via Microsoft Teams.

This role is available for 24 months as a fixed term appointment and a secondment opportunity to:

• colleagues employed directly by the College or the Civil Service. Please note you will be required to obtain the written support of your line manager prior to submitting your application.
• serving police officers substantive in the rank of Chief Inspector, or those officers suitably qualified for temporary promotion in the rank of Inspector. All applicants must have the support of their Chief Officer which must be of NPCC rank, i.e., CC, ACC or DCC and this must accompany an application.
• serving police staff at the equivalent rank of Chief Inspector who have their chief officer's approval. Chief Officer’s approval must be of NPCC rank, i.e., CC, ACC or DCC. Approval for a secondment must accompany an application.

Central service conditions may apply.

Please ensure you return the attached secondment approval form either as an attachment when submitting your application or via email to recruitment@college.police.uk.

For further information on applying for a secondment please visit the “Secondments into the College” page.

For fixed Term contracts:

Whilst this fixed term contract is offered on the understanding that it will only last as long as the stated contract length, there could be a possibility that it could be extended or made permanent should circumstances allow.

Internal College applicants who are at risk of redundancy or in need of redeployment and pass the recruitment process, will be given priority over other applicants.

Our vetting

If you are successful at interview, you will be required to undertake pre-employment security checks. You will be sent a security questionnaire which must be accessed within 24 hours.

Please note, these checks can take up to 10 weeks. You will only be offered a start date after the checks have been completed. If the outcome of these checks is not satisfactory, your recommendation for employment will be withdrawn

Internal College applicants who are at risk of redundancy or in need of redeployment and pass the recruitment process, will be given priority over other applicants.

How to apply and contact information:

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, and as Public Servants we follow the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

We embrace diversity and promote equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

For further information visit our ‘Work for us’ page.

What it's like working at the College of Policing

• If you would like to discuss the role in more detail please contact Kat Kinloch , Kat.Kinloch@college.police.uk , Head of Comms and Engagement

We believe that a diverse workforce brings many benefits to the organisation including diversity of thought and improvements to the way we work internally and with partners and communities. We strive to be fully inclusive but we know there is more to do. We genuinely encourage people from all backgrounds and underrepresented groups to apply for this role.

We want to continually improve our recruitment processes and to remove any barriers to equal opportunities that could disadvantage those from particular backgrounds. In order for us to have the information to do this, we ask you to please complete the diversity section of the online application process. We use a “blind” shortlisting process and we hope that by using this method we will be able to promote greater diversity in our workforce and remove any subconscious decisions based on biases.

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