The Role

Education, Information and Support Deputy Director (SCS) role within the Individuals Customer Unit

About the job

EIS has been identified as a high priority area for HMRC in helping customers understand what they need to do and being able to get it right first time. Given the increasing understanding of the benefits to both the customer and HMRC of improving EIS, a specific team within the Individual Customer Unit has been set up to deal with EIS issues.

The Deputy Director EIS will be responsible for understanding customer needs in relation to EIS and using that understanding to both specify communications requirements and establish mechanisms for assuring their delivery.

This is a new post located within the Individuals Customer Unit but with a dotted reporting line to the Director of Benefits and Credits and the Communications and Marketing team.

The role will span both strategy and coordination of delivery, and the emphasis is very much on cross functional working. Delivering the new business approach will require working with people from IT, policy areas, call centres, a specialist forms unit, and a host of other disciplines.

Main responsibilities

You will be responsible for:

• Developing an overarching EIS strategy for Individuals Customer Unit and agreeing that strategy in consultation with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Developing delivery strategies for specific customer groups based on thorough research to understand the EIS needs of each customer group and agreeing the delivery plan for those strategies with business areas.
• Establishing and agreeing standards for key communications/guidance products, evaluation criteria and processes for measurement against the standards
• A transformation delivery plan for Tax Credits EIS including agreed customer communications strategy and specification of communications products
• Identification and scoping into delivery of quick wins for Tax Credits communications
• Evolving current work to understand the benefits of EIS into a full and agreed business case to demonstrate the costs and benefits of a customer-centric approach to communications.

Tax Credits Communications

You will have particular responsibility for communications in the area of tax credits.

Tax Credits is one of the Government’s flagship policies and a key HMRC product. Recently an exhaustive review of all the customer touch points has been carried out to see if the way in which we communicate with our customers could be improved.

Having completed the review, we are keen to achieve greater co-ordination, in terms of both overall strategy and consistency of messaging, branding and tone of voice. We are also working within a cross functional team on ways of providing a more tailored service that better meets individual customer needs.

Stakeholder relationships

You will need to develop close working relationships with key internal stakeholders, especially Communications and Marketing, both the Tax Credits and Channel Strategy teams in Individuals Customer Unit, Policy areas and the Tax Credits Transformation Programme.

Management

You will be responsible for managing a team of seven people.

Skills and experience

The core skill required for the post is marketing communications.

It is also likely that the role will include commenting on communications and correspondence with Ministers and stakeholders.

You need to have experience of:

• creating communications strategies
• delivering communications and managing direct customer-facing communications teams
• handling marketing and communications in an organisation with a large customer base
• overseeing the outputs of a wide range of departments

You need to have:

• an innovative approach that helps others to see new ways of communicating with our customers and the proactivity to initiate changes
• high standards in order to provide effective quality control
• the ability to engage (and keep engaged) a wide variety of stakeholders

You are a self-starter, practical and results-driven. You enjoy motivating and empowering your team in order to achieve the best result for the organisation. You feel comfortable working in a highly complex organisation.

You will have private sector marketing experience, probably in a large customer-facing organisation, with experience of developing marketing communications strategies against clear business objectives, and overseeing their delivery.

You have significant experience in communications and you are looking for the next big challenge.

The suitable candidate for this post will be a highly personally effective individual with strong influencing skills who has the following proven competences:

Thinking Strategically

• Communicates ideas clearly and persuasively
• Sensitive to wider political and organisational priorities
• Finds new ways of looking at issues

Giving Purpose and Direction

• Communicates a compelling view of the future
• Sets clear short and long term objectives
• Agrees clear responsibilities and objectives to deliver results

Getting the best from people

• Adapts leadership style to different people, cultures and situations
• Knows when to step in and when not to
• Tackles poor performance or inappropriate behaviour

Team Structure

To view the team structure click - here

Terms and conditions

This is a new fixed-term post located within the Individuals Customer Unit, but with a dotted reporting line to the Director of Benefits and Credits and the Communications and Marketing team given their key interests in this area.

The post will require regular travel.

Recruitment process

The recruitment process is being run jointly by the Director, Individuals Customer Unit and the Director, Benefits and Credits as well as a member of the HR team. It will be taken forward in three stages:

• shortlist of candidates
• informal interview with retained consultants Hays Executive which will provide an opportunity to find out more detail about the role
• formal panel interview.

Closing date

The closing date for this role is 26th May 2008

Information Pack

To Download the full information pack click - here