Internal Communications Manager

Reporting to the Head of Communications, the Internal Communications Manager will play a key role in the business by effectively communicating and engaging colleagues to connect them to our purpose and motivate them to do their best. They will have a major part to play in communicating the business change programme, ensuring that colleagues are informed and engaged in transformation activity. This strategic role involves working with people at every level to keep them informed on positive developments within the company, and building understanding of the business priorities and what they mean for individuals.

What you’ll be doing

• Co-creating and being responsible for the delivery of the Internal Communication Strategy to engage colleagues in their day-to-day roles and contribute to the successful delivery of our Corporate Plan.
• Working closely with the Senior Team and Business Transformation colleagues to deliver successful change comms and behaviour change activities.
• Delivering engaging internal communication across our platforms to ensure colleagues are kept informed on and engaged in what is happening at Great Places.
• Managing the Internal Communications Officer and taking responsibility for their development.
• Being lead contact for the HR/OD team to support business initiatives with people engagement activities.
• Being the lead contact for Tech Services to ensure important messages and improvements to our technology are communicated effectively with colleagues.
• Leading on all internal comms campaigns, including planning, delivery and evaluation.
• Identifying and building relationships with key stakeholders.
• Advising senior leaders and managers on visibility and effective internal communication.
• Owning and managing all internal comms channels, ensuring content is relevant, engaging, accurate, timely, and up to date.
• Regularly reviewing and providing channel performance updates for the intranet, interpreting data and identifying trends and areas for improvement.
• Designing, writing, and editing case studies, speeches, articles, blog posts, and website content.
• Enhancing our brand and external reputation by promoting internal activities that position Great Places as an employer of choice.
• Supporting day-to-day management of the wider comms team to ensure all content is to a high standard, in the right tone of voice, and shared through the right channels to maximise reach of key messages.
• Delivering intranet training to new starters at induction and taking responsibility for the comms element of the onboarding process.
• Leading the Communications Reps group.

What we need from you

• A commitment to understand the challenges and opportunities that exist in the communities in which we work. We particularly value lived experience in social housing.
• A passion to advocate on behalf of people and communities.
• A commitment to work in partnership with others for the benefit of Great Places.
• A commitment to continuous learning and improvement.
• The ability to work flexibly and when needed outside normal working hours to ensure service continuity.
• An ability to work in uncertainty.
• To be professional and work with integrity, inclusivity, and respect for diversity.

What you’ll need

• Significant experience of working in a communications environment in an internal communications role.
• Experience of leading on change communications/transformation campaigns. 
• Excellent listening skills to capture ideas that inform decision-making.
•  Excellent writing skills and the ability to write in a variety of styles for a variety of formats in a way that is engaging, grammatically correct and appropriate.
• Understanding of diverse colleague groups and cross-functional needs.
• Operates largely autonomously, within set guidelines.
• A thorough understanding of internal communications best practice, strategy, campaign planning and delivery, engagement, culture, and channel management.
• Business focus – strong understanding of the importance of aligning communication priorities to business goals.
• Excellent understanding of digital channels (and ideally, a good working knowledge of the Interact intranet platform) and how to optimise them.
•  A data-driven approach with sound understanding of the importance of measurement and evaluation in internal communication.
• Ability to develop and project a positive image of Great Places through personal, written, and oral skills.
• Ability to recognise, develop, and effectively promote new opportunities for Great Places.

What we give you in return for your hard work and commitment

• Pension ¦ DC scheme (up to 10% contribution from both colleagues and Great Places)
• WPA ¦ Healthcare scheme starts at no contribution level with £1250 of savings available per year (option to increase & add family members)
• Ways of Working¦ We offer some hybrid and flexible working
• Annual leave ¦Start at 26 days annual leave, increasing up to 30 days within 5 years + Bank Holidays
• Reward & Recognition ¦ You Count Rewards are individual reward’s for going ‘above & beyond’  
• Professional fees ¦ The business pays the cost of one professional role related membership fee for each colleague
• The Market Place ¦high street, restaurant & supermarket discounts, gym memberships, cycle to work, smart tech loans and much more
• Wage Stream ¦ You can access savings opportunities and early access to wages
• Health and Wellbeing Initiatives ¦ Our colleagues enjoy wellbeing campaigns throughout the year, with activities designed around our four pillars of wellbeing, these include career wellbeing, mental wellbeing, physical wellbeing and financial wellbeing

At Great Places we believe the wellbeing of our colleagues is vital to enable them to deliver to great services, all your benefits can be used inside and outside of work.

INDHIGH

Great Places Housing Group exists to improve the lives of the people living in our 25,000 homes across the North West and Yorkshire. We are much more than just a landlord, providing a wide-range of services and promoting partnership work to create vibrant, sustainable communities.

You can find details of our story, our vision and our values here.

At Great Places, we are committed to using inclusive hiring practices. By embracing diversity and difference, we enrich our teams with varied perspectives, drive, and innovation to create an environment in which everyone can thrive.  We welcome applications from people of all identities, backgrounds, and cultures and are committed to fostering an environment in which everyone can be their authentic self; building a workforce that truly reflects the diverse communities we serve.

We want to create a recruitment process that allows you to perform at your best! Should you need any support or information throughout the process, please reach out to our recruitment team at recruitment@greatplaces.org.uk.