King's Maudsley Partnership Senior Communications & Engagement Manager

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South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.

We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as 'good'.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone's potential as change makers.

The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I'm going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you'll be part of something special.

As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

Are you passionate about making a lasting impact on the mental health of young people? Do you thrive in dynamic environments where groundbreaking work is the norm? The King's Maudsley Partnership for Children and Young People is on a mission to revolutionise the understanding and treatment of youth mental health-and we need a communications leader like you to help us share this vital work with the world.

The King's Maudsley Partnership brings together world-leading experts in mental health from South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN). This unprecedented collaboration unites the largest group of mental health scientists and clinical academics in Europe, aiming to predict, prevent, and treat mental health disorders in children both locally and globally.

Main duties of the job

As Senior Communications and Engagement Manager, you will be at the forefront of our efforts to raise the profile of this groundbreaking Partnership.

You will:

• Drive strategic communications: Develop and implement communications and engagement strategies that highlight our work, influence mental health policy, and foster public and professional support
• Lead high-impact projects: Oversee a variety of initiatives, ensuring they are delivered on time and to the highest standards. You'll identify opportunities for growth and work with senior leaders to expand our reach
• Build strong relationships: Use your exceptional relationship-building and negotiation skills to craft compelling stories and campaigns that resonate with stakeholders, including journalists, policymakers, third-sector partners, and the community
• Navigate complex environments: Manage internal and external communications across multiple organisations, ensuring that the Partnership's voice is consistent, clear, and impactful

What you bring:

• Versatility and expertise: A broad background in communications, with skills ranging from expert copywriting to PR and event management.
• Strategic mindset: The ability to develop and execute plans that engage diverse audiences and drive meaningful change.
• Influence and collaboration: Proven experience in working across complex, matrixed organisations, with a talent for bringing people together and aligning them with common goals

Working for our organisation

We are committed to ensuring our staff get the most out of their benefits package and understand the importance of a healthy work life balance. There is an extensive range of excellent benefits for you and your family.

We want you to feel like you are part of a close knit team at South London and Maudsley. It's important to us that you valued and appreciated and that are why we have a comprehensive benefits package on offer.

Some of our benefits include:

• Generous pay, pensions and leave, we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package, which is dependent on the role and length of service
• Work life balance, flexible working and support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing
• Career development, There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
• Car lease, our staff benefits from competitive deals to lease cars
• Accommodation, our staff benefits from key-worker housing available which is available on selected sites
• NHS discounts, with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though the Health Service Discounts website

Other benefits include:

• Counselling services
• Wellbeing events
• Long service awards
• Cycle to work scheme
• Season ticket loan
• Childcare vouchers
• Staff restaurants

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To oversee the delivery and evaluation of communications and engagement plans that support the Partnership's strategic objectives and build the Partnership's reputation as a leading organisation on children and young people's mental health, ensuring that communications and engagement activity is in line with the Trust's overall communications and engagement strategy
• To ensure that relationships with key stakeholders are maintained and proactively developed
• To oversee the development and delivery of communications and engagement plans to support clinical service development and academic research programmes, and influence children and young people mental health policy at national, regional and local level, providing leadership and expert advice, ensuring communications plans align with broader communications strategies including staff engagement and involvement programmes at both South London and Maudsley and IoPPN
• To work with senior managers to identify and develop communications campaigns to support the Partnership in meeting its strategic objectives, providing strategic advice and expertise to enable opportunities for feedback, involvement and contribution to decision-making
• To ensure that all communications materials and channels help build the Partnership's profile and influence, that they are correctly tailored for the appropriate target audiences, including hard to reach audiences, and are in line with the Trust's overall communications strategy
• To ensure the Partnership's brand and visual identity are protected, including supporting other staff in the correct application of corporate style guidelines, ensuring compliance and addressing inconsistencies
• Deputise for the King's Maudsley Partnership Programme Director where appropriate

Person specification

Training and qualifications

Essential criteria

• Educated to Masters level in relevant subject or equivalent level qualification or significant experience of working at a similar level in specialist area
• Evidence of continuing professional and personal development

Desirable criteria

• CIPR diploma or advanced certificate
• Prince 2 Practitioner
• Professional qualification in marketing, journalism or public relations (CIM, CAM, IPR or similar)
• Professional qualification in e-communications

Experience

Essential criteria

• Demonstrable experience of working in a communications/ PR/senior journalist role preferably within a large and complex organisation
• Experience of writing excellent copy for a wide range of outlets and for a wide range of target audiences
• Demonstrated experience of managing communications projects including development, planning, implementation and evaluation
• Experience of developing brand strategies and managing relationships with design and print agencies
• Experience of successfully delivering communications strategies and implementing communications programmes
• Experience of successfully operating in a politically sensitive environment
• Experience of drafting briefing papers and correspondence at senior level
• Experience of managing stakeholder events, launches and campaigns
• Managing stakeholder and public affairs projects including writing and production of communications materials
• Managing stakeholder and partner relationships and engagement, and representing organisations

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working in mental health
• Experience of working in NHS communications
• Experience of working in higher education, science or research communications

Knowledge and skills

Essential criteria

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• In-depth knowledge and understanding of current PR practice and theory
• Public Affairs and stakeholder relations campaign planning, development and implementation skills
• Ability to grasp complex issues and concepts
• Ability to prepare and produce concise yet insightful communications for dissemination to senior stakeholders and a broad range of stakeholders as required
• The ability to identify the target audience for any given issue, understand their needs and the best channels to reach them, adapting writing styles to suit and developing copy with speed and accuracy
• Experience of creating and giving presentations to a varied group of internal and external stakeholders
• Excellent report writing skills
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to prioritise workload
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Ability to think creatively and to assess the merit of design work
• Ability to demonstrate a high level of attention to detail
• Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with people at all levels
• Ability to remain calm under pressure
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a small team

Desirable criteria

• Good understanding of the national government and the NHS, how it works, the issues it faces and how to communicate within it
• Experience of communicating with diverse audiences including hard to reach groups
• Policy design, development and implementation skills

Values and behaviours

Essential criteria

• Ability to act in accordance with our values and behaviours

Other

Essential criteria

• Empathy for individuals who have experienced mental health problems

Desirable criteria

• Personal experience of mental health problems

The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by:

• Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice
• Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment
• We believe that people who use our services, their carers and our staff, should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity

Please note:

• That all applications for this post will need to be made online
• That you read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria
• That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible
• That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs
• That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
• That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
• That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
• That we are a smoke-free Trust

SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion , Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe'

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Documents to download

• King's Maudsley Partnership Senior Communications Manager job description (PDF, 472.6KB)
• SLaM Staff Benefits (PDF, 1.1MB)
• Happy to Talk Flexible Working (PDF, 680.1KB)