External Communications Consultant

External Communications Consultant

Working hours 37 Hours per week

18 Month FTC

Salary from £34,525 to £43,156 depending on experience.

Location Hanningfield, Chelmsford, Essex.

We’re open to discussing flexible working.

Please note this role attracts a standby rota

About the role

Are you an experienced communications professional eager to make a meaningful impact?

We're expanding our Corporate Communications team and are looking for an experienced Communications Consultant to actively support and advise the capital projects team as we deliver a transformative asset investment programme.

This is your chance to play a vital role in protecting and enhancing our company's reputation throughout every phase of project delivery.

As our Communications Consultant you’ll develop and execute communication strategies that effectively connect with a variety of audiences, both internal and external. Your work will focus on engaging with;

• Local communities near our construction projects
• Political stakeholders and local authorities
• Media contacts
• Colleagues, partners, and delivery teams

Collaboration is at the heart of this role. You’ll work closely with project managers and delivery partners alongside our customer care team to ensure communication is clear, timely, and aligned with project objectives. You’ll also provide expert guidance, offer constructive challenges, and manage communication in a fast-moving environment.

Maximising the use of various channels to ensure messages reach the right people at the right time, with stories that engage in creative ways will be key to this role.

About you

You’ll bring your best, authentic self into our working environment in line with our One Team ethos, and your personal values will align with our organisational core values.

To excel in this role you’ll have proven experience in communications, ideally within or supporting construction, infrastructure or similar industries.

You will be great at building good working relationships with key regional stakeholders (local councillors and MPs) and understand the region's media outlets too.

Your writing skills will be exceptional with the ability to adapt your style for different audiences and platforms. You will be able to quickly grasp complex information and craft clear, effective messaging.

Alongside writing engaging stories you will be able to bring these to life with creative photography and produce short videos for social media.

You’ll be resourceful and resilient; able to manage multiple projects and competing demands. Being able to remain calm under pressure is essential as well as being able to prioritise your time and resources efficiently and effectively to ensure that all your activities and projects are delivered in line with our values.

This is a fantastic opportunity to use your skills to drive meaningful communication for critical infrastructure projects. If you thrive in fast-paced, dynamic environments and are passionate about connecting with people to achieve shared goals, we’d love to hear from you.

Please note due to the travel between sites for this role, the successful candidate will need a full UK driving licence.

Here at Northumbrian Water/Essex & Suffolk Water, we embrace and value Diversity, Inclusion and Equity, and encourage all colleagues to bring their most authentic self to work.

Our colleague network groups include our Rainbow Support Network (LGBTQIA+), REACH (Race, Ethnicity, and Cultural Heritage), WiSTEM (Women in STEM) and Thisability (disability and neurodiversity) networks. They provide a safe space for colleagues from diverse backgrounds, welcoming all colleagues regardless of their personal characteristics to participate in valuable conversation that improves our organisational awareness, understanding and inclusivity.

We encourage and welcome all applications, as we strive to be an equal opportunity employer, committed to having diverse communities represented within all our teams, structures, and organisation.

Please note this role may require a DBS to be completed prior to employment

NWG are an inclusive employer who support the rehabilitation of offenders, we will not, however consider candidates who have certain unspent convictions to ensure our commitment to fostering a safe and secure working environment for all OR colleagues, suppliers, customers and third parties.

About us

Here are NWG we strive to make Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) a Great Place to Work, for all. We embrace and value Diversity, Inclusion and Equity and encourage you to bring your full self to work. As an equal opportunity employer we’re committed to having a diverse community represented across our business.

We’re aware that not everyone will have every skill listed in the job description, however if you have some of the skills listed, we'd encourage you to apply

NWG at a glance:

Our purpose at NWG is caring for the essential needs of our communities and environment, now and for generations to come.

We do this by providing reliable and affordable water and wastewater services for our customers.

We make a positive difference by operating efficiently and investing prudently, to maintain a sustainable and resilient business.

Our vision is to be the national leader in the provision of sustainable water and wastewater services. To support us in achieving our vision, we have five core values which are the guiding principles, defining who we are, what we do and how we do it.

Our benefits

We’re a Great Place to Work because of the amazing people who work for us, and to say thank you we offer a range of benefits to colleagues. Our ‘Tap Into’ benefits include:

• Generous holiday entitlement starting at 26 days plus bank holidays and additional time off on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. There’s also the option to buy or sell holidays.
• Company pension scheme, where we’ll double match your contributions up to an employer contribution of 10%.
• Free access to local attractions.
• A fantastic discount scheme, with savings on days out, shopping, travel and more.
• Award winning ‘Living Well’ wellbeing support, including access to a digital GP service for you and your family members.
• Support with sustainable travel – through salary sacrifice cars and a cycle to work scheme.
• Financial wellbeing support – access our community savings scheme, financial education and low cost loans through Salary Finance. We also provide 4 x Life Assurance and an Income Protection Scheme.
• Support with your development – we offer a range of development opportunities, can support you through an interest free qualification loan and we’ll even pay for any relevant professional body subscription.

NWG (Northumbrian Water Group) provides water and sewerage services to 2.7 million people in the North East of England as Northumbrian Water, and water services to 1.5 million people in the South East of England as Essex & Suffolk Water.

We are proud to serve our customers and we're committed to delivering great service, putting our customers at the heart of everything we do.