Head of Communications and Engagement

Head of Communications and Engagement
c.£95,000 per annum
London
3-year fixed term contract
Hybrid Working

The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) have a unique opportunity to join their Pensions Dashboard Programme (PDP) as Head of Communications and Engagement. Reporting into the Programme Director, you will be responsible for leading the communications strategy for a revolutionary new public service. With the support of your communications, external affairs and industry engagement team, you will need to think creatively to deliver highly effective communication solutions to engage, inform and drive change. You will be the trusted voice of the programme to the entire UK pensions delivery industry and will play an active role in the Programme’s Leadership Team.

Here is an insight to the Pensions Dashboard Programme (PDP): 

Pensions dashboards will enable people to access key information about all of their UK pensions, private and State, in one place online, revolutionising how people engage with their pensions throughout their lives. Enabling the delivery of pensions dashboards will require up to 52m adults in the UK to be connected with up to 43,000 pension providers and schemes to search for their pensions.

Development work by industry has already taken place, as a concept. The goal now is to turn it into a delivery solution for the benefit of UK citizens. MaPS has created a Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) which will be responsible for delivering the digital architecture and governance framework that will allow multiple parties to be connected as part of the pension’s dashboards ecosystem. This hugely significant development has the potential to improve the financial wellbeing of millions of people.

The programme is comprised of an Industry Steering Group and a supporting Programme team within MaPS. The Programme is working in close partnership with DWP, TPR and FCA who all have related delivery responsibilities.

In this role you will be responsible for the following;

• Develop and lead the communications and engagement strategy: Lead the formulation, development and the delivery of the communications and engagement strategy. Delivering activity that (a) informs and builds confidence among key stakeholders, including Ministers, industry, delivery partners, and the media; and (b) supports the readiness objectives for industry to connect to the central digital architecture.
• Develop the brand: Own and develop the PDP brand proposition and voice, maintaining brand integrity across all channels and platforms.
• Deliver highly effective communications: In partnership with internal and external stakeholders, deliver highly effective communication solutions to engage, inform and drive change.
• Lead the team: Lead the communications and engagement team and ensure the team works very effectively with all other Programme strands.
• Harness media: Oversee press officer to manage media relations and develop contacts with media members, influencers, and community leaders.
• Impactful events: In partnership with others, lead the delivery of high impact events to support engagement with the industry.
• Measure impact: Implement measurement and reporting approaches to track and demonstrate the effectiveness of communications activity.
• Coordinate activity with MaPS corporate affairs: Work with the MaPS Director of Corporate Affairs to ensure that communications and engagement are coordinated with wider MaPS activations, engagement and campaigns.
• Relationships: Build, develop and maintain effective relationships with all relevant bodies, expert / advisory groups and organisations across the pensions industry.
• Value for Money: Be responsible for the communications and readiness budget.
• Co-lead the programme: Play an active role, in the Programme Leadership Team, to provide effective collaborative leadership of the Programme. Deputise for the programme Principle when required.
• Support Governance: Work closely with the programme’s governance committees including the Programme Board and industry groups sponsoring work.

You will need to demonstrate the following skills and experience;

• Broad experience in a range of challenging communications leadership roles.
• Leadership of change & call to action focussed communication solutions.
• Brand curation, development and management.
• Advanced personal communication skills and confidence in delivering emerging messages, working with and briefing stakeholders.
• Working with or in public sector programmes.
• Delivering in a high ambiguity, delivery focused environment. 
• Providing leadership across the programme teams.
• Ability to delivery to tight deadlines and with thorough content planning skills.
• Experience of working closely with policy teams.

• Generous Annual Leave – 30 days plus Bank Holidays
• Pension scheme – contributions matched 2 to 1 (up to 10% of your salary)
• Interest-free loan to help you buy season tickets for buses and trains
• Cycle to work Scheme
• Subsidised eye test & flu jabs
• Life assurance scheme
• Give as you earn scheme
• Employee assistance programme (EAP)
• PAM Assist and PAM Life scheme (Wellbeing)
• Enhanced family and sick pay
• Paid volunteering (2 days a year)
• Recognition Scheme
• Discounts portal to numerous retailers

At MaPS, we take pride in our flexible approach to work.  Most of our roles can operate on a hybrid basis with a minimum of 2 days in the office per week. Hybrid working is a voluntary, noncontractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. The number of days that anyone will be able to work at home will be determined primarily by business needs, but personal and other relevant circumstances will also be considered. If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working, including whether a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for you, will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post.

At the heart of the Money and Pensions Service are our values – caring, connecting and transforming, which are the foundation of our success. They permeate every area of our work and define all our business relationships and the way we work with each other. We’re not only looking for the best people in and around London to come and work for us, but we need people who align themselves to our values: –

• Caring
  We care about our colleagues and people whose lives we are here to transform.
• Connecting
  We will transform lives through our ability to make positive connections.
• Transforming
  We are committed to transforming lives and make a positive societal impact.

About MaPS

At MaPS, we help people – particularly those most in need – to improve their financial wellbeing and build a better, more confident future. Working collaboratively across the UK, we make sure customers can access high-quality money and pensions guidance and debt advice throughout their lives, however and whenever they need it.

Our inclusive working environment

By fostering our values, we are immensely proud of the inclusive working environment that we have created. The diversity of our people is a strength that we embrace and wish to build upon, so we are committed to attracting people of all backgrounds.

We work hard to ensure that we have a progressive approach to inclusion, equity and belonging.  We really do want our colleagues to “bring their whole selves to work.”

By way of brief example, we have an enviable ethnic diversity mix, equal gender balance with a zero mean gender pay gap and thriving colleague and ally networks, including LGBTQ+, neurodiversity, women’s health, men’s health, ethnicity, and diversity.

Job contact :

• Name : Hannah.Foster@reed.com
• Email : Hannah.Foster@reed.com

Recruitment team

• Email : Hannah.Foster@reed.com