Senior communications officer

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West London NHS Trust provides a full range of mental health, community and physical healthcare services for children, adults and older people living in the London boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow.

We also provide some specialist services that are commissioned regionally, such as our medium secure services; and nationally, such as the Cassel Hospital for people with complex and severe personality disorder and our high secure services at Broadmoor Hospital.

Job overview

We're looking for an experienced, self-motivated senior communications officer to join our busy Communications office.

The post holder will be responsible for delivering a wide range of internal and external communications activities, including planning, development, delivery and evaluation of high quality communications plans and content that promote staff engagement and the work of the Trust, for both operational day-to-day activities and key projects.

They need be capable of writing for different audiences and platforms, show creativity and initiative in their work, have an appetite for learning and demonstrate excellent time management and organisational skills to manage a varied workload.

This is an exciting opportunity for a communications all-rounder to grow in a dynamic environment, whilst using their skills to help us make a difference to the diverse communities we serve.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be expected to act as a communications generalist working across a number of disciplines: internal communications and staff engagement; external communications and stakeholder engagement; social media, event management and media relations. They will be comfortable developing and maintaining effective working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Board and senior colleagues and key partners, such as commissioning leads, NHS and local authority system partners, organisations, government departments, the voluntary sector and service users and carers.

This role offers hybrid working from Trust sites and home. While the post holder will be expected to be largely based at the Trust's HQ, there will be a requirement to travel to different Trusts sites across London and at Broadmoor Hospital to provide communications support to clinical and corporate teams across the organisation. For a more detailed job description and main responsibilities, please refer to the job description document attached to this vacancy.

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

• Relevant degree and/or relevant experience in communications, journalism, public relations or marketing

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of working in a communications role or team
• Experience of using social media channels for an organisation, including the use of analytics.
• Experience of producing a wide range of communications materials for different channels
• Evidence of design creativity both in briefing external suppliers and in developing in-house materials

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working in the NHS, wider health, public and/or charity sectors
• Experience of working with the media, including writing press releases and handling media enquiries
• Experience of effectively managing challenging issues and people

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Excellent written, verbal & presentational skills
• Excellent organisational and planning skills
• Ability to work effectively with uncertainty, manage conflicting priorities or sudden unexpected demands and adjust work as required
• Good interpersonal, negotiating and influencing skills, with the ability to work with people in a diplomatic manner and establish positive relationships

As an employee of West London NHS Trust, you have a responsibility to maintain a sound understanding of, and a commitment to uphold the National Health Service values and principles set out in the NHS Constitution.

We reserve the right to close adverts prior to the closing date stated should we receive a high volume of applications.

By applying for this post you are agreeing to West London NHS Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, you will be required to undergo a pre-employment checks which can take between 4-8 weeks . After which your information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system (ESR ).

Please ensure you include email addresses for your referees which MUST be at supervisory or managerial capacity covering the last 3 years of employment to date to avoid delay in the recruitment process.

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

West London NHS Trust is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Documents to download

• Candidate Pack (PDF, 960.2KB)