Deputy External Communications Business Partner
Central Bedfordshire Council
Job Family: Providing - CBG12
Salary: £43,920 - £48,872 per annum pro rata
Hours: 37 hours per week, includes one week in four out of hours duty cover
Location: You will be expected to attend a CBC office location as often as needed to carry out your role, which will be no less than once per month
Contract Type: Hybrid - Permanent
Closing Date: 14th July 2025
Interview Date: w/c 28th July 2025
About the role:
Are you a passionate and experienced communicator looking for a role where your work can truly make a difference? We’re seeking a dynamic External Communications professional to join our Communications and Consultation team.
In this role, you'll help promote and explain our services while ensuring residents are well-informed about changes—some of which are sensitive and complex. Your work will directly shape the way we engage with the community and strengthen public trust.
You'll support the External Communications Business Partner in managing a busy, multi-channel team to develop and implement effective communication strategies to support council priorities and services.
Working within a busy multi channel team -
you will have experience of supporting and advising services, senior leaders and elected members on a range of communications activity, ensuring clarity, consistency and alignment with corporate priorities.
experience in developing and delivering effective and sometimes complex communication plans and campaigns across multiple channels, all tailored to diverse audiences.
proven experience of writing engaging, high-quality content for internal and external platforms, including press releases, web copy, social media (for business use), and staff communications.
contributing to creative input and developing digital content to ensure communications are timely, accessible, on brand, and audience-focused.
the ability to respond to media enquiries with professionalism and accuracy, helping to protect and promote the council’s reputation.
you will be able to advise on complex or sensitive issues, using sound judgement to manage reputational risks and support our senior leaders.
driven to identify and develop new communication approaches and channels to improve reach and engagement.
proven experience of building and maintaining strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, particularly when managing difficult or high-profile issues.
excellent writing and verbal communication skills, with the ability to adapt tone and style for different audiences.
a high attention to detail and sound judgement in ensuring communications are appropriate to their audience and effective.
ability to deputise for the Communications Business Partner as required, supporting team coordination and assiting with strategic priorities.
You will also lead on high-profile media relations, crisis communications, and reputation management.
It is important you are an experienced communications professional with excellent relationship management and interpersonal skills to work closely with our councillors, senior officers, and external partners.
Our Offer
We have a number of rewards and benefits available to our staff, to view these please visit our Rewards and Benefits page
Our aspiration is to be a truly flexible employer. We welcome discussion on location, hours and working pattern as part of the application process.
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You will be expected to demonstrate how you meet the key accountabilities and competencies in this Recruitment Pack.
Our Competency Framework and Qualification Guidance are to be read in conjunction with our Recruitment Pack.
For an informal discussion about this position, please contact: Karen Aspinall, Head of Communications and Consultations at karen.aspinall@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or call 0300 300 6286.
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To maintain a fair and consistent approach for applicants, it is Central Bedfordshire Council's policy to only consider applications made via our online application system and we therefore thank you for not submitting your application offline.
Our National Careers Service team offer a free weekly workshop covering CV writing and how to complete the statement sections of the Central Bedfordshire Council online application form. This MS Teams workshop is open to anyone from the UK and lasts around 1.5 hours. Please book your place here.
More information about this service can be found here: Support getting into work or learning | Central Bedfordshire Council
