Assistant Communications & Engagement Officer

We value diverse perspectives and experiences and are striving to create a workplace culture that is inclusive, is accepting of all and is free from discrimination and bias.

The Communications Team is at the heart of Council work, helping to promote decisions, publicise events and keep everyone informed and up to date.

The team works closely with councillors and senior managers to ensure all areas of the Council’s work get the publicity they need to help residents in their daily lives – from bin collections to staging the Godiva Festival and roadworks to fostering and adoption.

It works with local and national media organisations and across a broad range of communications tools to promote the Council’s work, including social media, digital and photography, as well as being responsible for areas such as internal marketing and graphic design.

The City Council provides vital services to thousands of residents and needs to make sure they know exactly what’s being planned and why. The Communications Team makes sure that happens, as well as keeping staff across the authority informed and able to carry out their roles equipped with the latest knowledge.

Our Values

In line with our One Coventry Values, we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applicants from minority ethnic, LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our residents so that equity and respect remains at the heart of everything we do.

Our Values are:

• Open and fair: We are fair, open, and transparent.
• Nurture and develop: We help and encourage everyone to be their best and do their best.
• Engage and empower: We talk and listen to others, working together as one.
• Create and innovate: We embrace new ways of working to continuously improve.
• Own and be accountable: We work together to deliver the best services for our residents.
• Value and respect: We put diversity and inclusion at the heart of all we do.

What is the job role?

Assistant  Communications and Engagement Officer (Coventry Very Light Rail and Transport Innovation)  (Two year fixed term initially, with salary review ongoing and possible extension)

We’re looking for an experienced, enthusiastic Assistant Communications and Engagement Officer to join a team right at the heart of a Council and a city at very exciting times.

We are home to amazing events like the Godiva Festival, MotoFest and Pride; top professional sport; and a thriving arts, leisure and cultural scene that is growing all the time.

Our city centre is undergoing major improvements; we have two award-winning universities that attract the best students from around the world; and we are famous as a city of peace and reconciliation.

And the Council is changing too, with new offices, hot-desking, flexible working and the systems and equipment to back it up.

We are the very heart of innovation in the green industrial revolution and initiatives like Coventry Very Light Rail, the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre and innovations in autonomous vehicles and transport infrastructure means there has never been a better time to be in Coventry.

This is a great opportunity for an Assistant Communications and Engagement Officer to be a part of it all. The Communications Team includes PR and engagement professionals, marketing experts, web team and a graphic design unit.

Our city has been transformed in recent years – with narrower roads and widened pavements we are changing the way people move about the city.

Famous as the city at the heart of the motoring revolution we are now leading the way to a greener future. We are working with a number of innovative partners to create a new very light rail (CVLR) system that could transform travel in smaller towns and cities.

CVLR is an innovative, affordable battery operated rail based system due to start testing in the city centre next year, but it is only part of the story. We are innovating with new road resurfacing materials and we are looking at helping to manage congestion with traffic lights that communicate with vehicles, we will be the UK’s first all electric bus city and we have more on street charge points than anywhere outside London.

Who are we looking for?

This is a great role that needs someone with experience of the worlds of communications and engagement, marketing and local government, and the skills, enthusiasm and drive to get the job done.  

The role needs someone who can work with elected Members, managers, colleagues, residents and partner organisations to build awareness and get excited about what’s to come

We are looking for someone who can:

• create and develop content about a range of schemes to help inform and engage local people
• provide support to teams to set up face-to-face meetings and to provide opportunities for local people to be involved
• design, create and send e-newsletters as well as growing databases so more local people are informed and engaged.
• monitor and improve our extensive social media channels
• draft surveys and consultation and engagement materials
• work effectively with stakeholders and partners to support co-creation

And as a member of the Communications Team, you be involved in lots more as well, supporting colleagues and working on exciting projects from developing our use of social media to running campaigns and staging major events and festivals.

So if you are ready for the challenge – come and join us!

If you need help or support to complete your application, please visit our accessibility page to see how we can assist you.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme - As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'. If there is any evidence of a candidate using AI to complete their application, then the application will be rejected unless the candidate can provide a justification which the Council considers to be reasonable.

Interview date(s): TBC

About Coventry

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse.

At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 5100 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.

If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies