Head of External Affairs | NHS England
We are seeking an experienced communications professional specialising in public affairs and stakeholder engagement to work as Head of External Affairs for one year, as part of a one of the nation’s busiest communications teams.
The successful candidate will be a proven self-starter responsible for delivering an effective government, parliamentary and stakeholder relations service supporting managers and staff across NHS England at a critical time for the NHS – including developing a 10-year plan for health - while also overseeing the work of the FOI and parliamentary teams.
Working with the Deputy Director of Communications, they will be responsible for protecting and promoting the reputation of NHS England in parliament and with key stakeholder groups including Royal Colleges, Think Tanks, the Third Sector, statutory partners and other major national organisations.
Our Head of External Affairs must have an excellent knowledge of current affairs, parliament, legislation and government. An understanding of the NHS landscape is desirable, but not essential.
The role requires planning and co-ordinating NHS England engagement with key parliamentary, government, local government individuals and stakeholder groups, ensuring these audiences are informed and where necessary, involved in the work of NHS England to deliver high quality care for all.
The post-holder will also oversee the work of the freedom of information team and the parliamentary briefing team, ensuring timely and accurate responses and ensuring effective use of resources across an extremely busy and high profile function.
The NHS England board have set out the top-level purpose for the new organisation to lead the NHS in England to deliver high-quality services for all, which will inform the detailed design work and we will achieve this purpose by:- Enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities.
- Making the NHS a great place to work, where our people can make a difference and achieve their potential.
- Working collaboratively to ensure our healthcare workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care
- Optimising the use of digital technology, research, and innovation
- Delivering value for money.
If you would like to know more or require further information, please visit https://www.england.nhs.uk/.
Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in-person.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.
NHS England hold a Sponsor Licence; this means that we may be able to sponsor you providing the Home Office requirements are met. To be eligible for sponsorship through the Skilled Worker route you’ll usually need to be paid the ‘standard’ salary rate of at least £38,700 per year, or the ‘going rate’ for your job, whichever is higher.You can find more information on theGovernment website.
Other key responsibilities include:- Ensure effective channels with government and parliamentary stakeholders are established and are used to effectively disseminate co-ordinated communications messages and conduct engagement activity
- Work with teams across NHS England to coordinate and capture relevant activity and messages and ensure these are effectively disseminated to relevant stakeholders
- Establish and develop links with policy think-tanks and other related organisations to ensure they are informed about relevant activity of NHS England and its impact
- Represent NHS England at key stakeholder meetings, and supporting the senior leadership team in some of their main engagement with national stakeholders
- Provide key intelligence from parliament and stakeholders to inform media strategy and to inform the work of the senior leadership team
- Provide up-to-date briefing materials for parliamentarians and stakeholders to ensure they are informed about NHS England policy. And then cascading these central resources to teams across NHS England.
- Support appearances of senior NHS England leaders at parliamentary committees
- Take a lead in the coordination of training and development and recruitment activity within parliamentary and government relations
Secondments
Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only, agreement should be obtained from their employer prior to submitting the application.
This advert closes on Sunday 10 Nov 2024