Job Introduction
Calling comms creatives
Are you a creative, organised communications professional with an enthusiasm for campaigns that improve lives, change minds and protect the reputation of one of the most exciting and innovative unitary councils in the country?
Do you have experience of media relations, a desire to develop your skills in a complex political environment, an interest in fine tuning your strategic skills and a positive, curious mindset?
If that’s you, we’d love to chat to you about the new Senior Communications Officer role in our friendly, inclusive Corporate Communications team on the beautiful south coast.
If you’d like a call to find out more about the role, we encourage you to get in touch for an informal chat. Just email Julia Bullas or Louise Carter, Senior Communications Managers, on julia.bullas@bcpcouncil.gov.uk or Louise.carter@bcpcouncil.gov.uk to arrange a time.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Who are we?
It’s always an exciting time to work in local government, but more so now at Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. We’re a proud, passionate, council that is winning hearts and minds. We also win awards – our team won an award from our partners at Dorset Police for our work to change perception of Bournemouth Town Centre. Our senior leadership team were also recognised in the sector by the Municipal Journal for their resilience and teamwork in delivering for residents.
We plan for communications around important junctures in our community's history, like local and national elections. We prepare compelling digital and media campaigns on issues such as sexual harassment, social housing or our seafront operations. We work with partners from the NHS to business owners and celebrities to get our message out.
We pivot to the news of the day, such as environmental disasters, public health risks or new Government bills. We manage local, national and sometimes international media to protect the council’s reputation.
We strive to try new ways to connect with our residents where they are. We challenge ourselves to think differently. We are bold and brave. We also like to have fun with regular opportunities to make the most of where we live. We invite you to be part of our story.
What is the role like?
This role would be based in our Corporate Communications service and you’ll get the chance to play an important role in interpreting rich audience insight to plan, create and deliver organic, engaging and targeted written, audio and visual content. You’ll work alongside our Press Office to identify and manage important local reputational issues and alongside our Digital teams to ensure you’re ahead of the latest trends. You’ll also have access to the latest sector best practice training.
What will you be doing?
- Attending high profile events to meet and manage internal, political and community leaders
- Creating and delivering fresh, impactful, targeted content across multiple channels
- Being at the centre of issues of local and national interest, playing a key role in protecting and enhancing the reputation of the council
- Developing and implementing effective communication strategies that align with the council’s corporate priorities, service plans and our communication objectives
- Providing advice and guidance to senior leaders on sensitive communication needs and tailoring messages for different audiences
- Account managing customers and stakeholders through campaign lifecycles
What do you need?
- An audience-first mindset, with a passion for creating original communications that engage, inform, and influence.
- Experience of creating engaging campaign content for a range of digital media including video, radio, social media
- To be curious about digital trends and emerging technologies
- Experience in media relations with confidence in talking to journalists
- Experience of campaign planning and how to meet the needs of a wide range of stakeholders
- Experience in marketing or public relations and some experience of crisis communications desirable
- Confidence and resilience to learn, adapt and be part of a continuously improving team
What do we offer?
- Working for a community-minded, forward-thinking local authority that likes to push boundaries and try new things
- Excellent salary, pension, a Car Benefit Scheme, flexible working, fantastic employee benefits and comprehensive staff health and wellbeing scheme
- A welcoming, friendly, supportive team with regular social opportunities
- A culture of professional development and training opportunities
- Hybrid working with the ability to work from home as well as from our offices in the heart of Bournemouth and satellite offices in Christchurch and Poole
- Please note that you must have the right to work in the UK
About BCP Council
BCP Council provides services to a diverse community of 400,000 residents and employs more than 5,000 people. Our area includes over 15 miles of beautiful world-renowned coastline. We can offer career defining roles to transform and improve services. By working with us, you can help deliver a vision of a thriving, word-class, prosperous and inclusive place for generations to come.
Our Benefits
We offer an excellent benefits package to colleagues. Find out more on our website.
As a result of the creation of BCP Council in 2019, we are working on simplifying our terms and conditions of service and will be creating a single pay structure which is to be applicable for all employees. It is important to us that we offer benefits that our colleagues value as part of their total employment package and we are reviewing these to make sure we have it right. We have been in a process of collective bargaining since 2019 and have positively worked forward to reach an agreed position with the unions for the new contractual offer. This has taken longer than we hoped and therefore we are having to consider all alternative avenues available to enable us to remove inequality in the organisation as a result of bringing together 3 councils.
We are in the process of establishing a timescale for implementation, and all colleagues joining us will be included in these changes. We want to reassure everyone that whichever route is taken to reach the new terms and conditions, we can honour continuous service and there will not be any job reduction as a result of the implementation of Pay and Reward. If you have any questions at all about this process, please feel free to raise this with the hiring manager.
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