Communications Manager
Job overview
Are you a senior communications professional looking to develop your career in one of the most diverse healthcare providers in the UK?
We are looking for a Communications and Engagement Manager experienced in building trusted relationships with key partners and stakeholders and providing expert communications advice and guidance. You will lead on the development and implementation of communications strategies and plans for the Trust’s partnerships, working with clinical and corporate services to co-ordinate activity effectively.
Main duties of the job
You will support the Communications team to deliver a high quality, evidence-led service for our internal and external stakeholders. You will be able to demonstrate flexibility whilst working at both a strategic and operational level. As a line manager, you will be expected to take an active role in the learning and development of your staff.
Accustomed to working in a fast-paced environment, you will be a highly effective communicator and be capable of adapting your workload in response to the needs of your team, organisation and the external environment. The demands of the role will involve managing a varied portfolio and working with a wide range of audiences, requiring you to possess excellent time management and prioritisation skills in order to work autonomously and achieve your objectives.
This is a great opportunity to share and strengthen your experience, transform our stakeholder communications and partnership work and enhance the profile and reputation of Trust’s services.
Working for our organisation
West London NHS Trust is one of the most diverse healthcare providers in the UK, delivering a range of mental health and physical healthcare and community services. The Trust runs Broadmoor Hospital, one of three high secure hospitals in the country, with an international reputation.
Our high secure services care for patients from South of England and we provide low and medium secure services across eight London boroughs. The Trust also provides mental and physical healthcare in three London boroughs (Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham).We employ 4,500 staff, of whom 56% are BME. Our turnover for 2023-24 is £426m.
The Trust is rated as ‘Good’ overall by the Care Quality Commission. Forensic services are rated as ‘Outstanding’.
The Trust is an established partner and contributor in the development of the evolving North West London Integrated Care System and the Integrated Care Board. The Trust leads the NW London Children and Adolescent Mental Health provider collaborative.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The Candidate Pack provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. Please view as attached.
The person specification below is not the full person specification, but outlines the criteria against which your application form will be assessed.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- Educated to degree level or equivalent experience & knowledge
- Recognised qualification in communications, journalism, public relations or marketing, or equivalent experience and knowledge
- Evidence of continued professional development
Experience
Essential criteria- Experience of managing stakeholder and partner relationships and engagement, including representing organisations
- A successful track record of developing, implementing and evaluating a range of communications plans and strategies
- Experience of managing and effectively communicating complex, sensitive, and high profile issues
- Experience of organising visits and events
- Experience of delivering in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment.
- Experience of providing expert communications and engagement advice at senior levels.
- Experience of working effectively across organisational &professional boundaries.
- Strong track record of successful partnership working.
- Experience of planning & delivering projects & programmes to time and on budget, securing best value for money.
- Experience of producing briefings and reports
- Experience of communicating with diverse audiences including hard to reach groups.
- Experience of working in the NHS or public sector.
- Experience of line management, including conducting appraisals and managing performance
Skills
Essential criteria- Excellent written, verbal, editorial and presentational skills.
- Excellent negotiation, persuasion and influencing skills.
- Excellent organisational skills.
- Ability to command the confidence of colleagues and staff
- Ability to advise on communications opportunities and threats
- Ability to analyse, to understand complex subjects & make them understandable to different audiences.
- Excellent judgment, with the ability to analyse issues quickly and make decisions.
- Ability to manage complexity and unpredictability.
- Ability to work without supervision
- Resilience, with a calm, professional approach and the ability to deliver under pressure, delivering to tight and often changing deadlines
- Excellent time management skills with the ability to prioritise a varied workload and recognise and respond to conflicting priorities or sudden unexpected demands and adjust work as required
- Excellent project management skills
- Self-motivation
- Tact and diplomacy, dealing effectively with challenging issues and people
- IT literacy and competency