Stakeholder Engagement and Public Affairs 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

Step into a pivotal role and drive our vision forward.As a vital member of our team, you will oversee the delivery and continuous enhancement of our Trust's stakeholder engagement plan. Utilising a range of communication channels, you will support both our short-term and long-term objectives. Your work will include managing our Trust and Reputation dashboard, conducting comprehensive stakeholder mapping across boroughs and programs/projects, and collaborating with senior colleagues to ensure all intelligence is relevant, up-to-date, and effectively shared.

In this role, you will be at the forefront of delivering impactful communications and engagement events that support the Trust's capital projects and commercial partnerships. From crafting compelling newsletters and reports to organising and hosting dynamic events and preparing insightful briefings, your contributions will be crucial.

You will work seamlessly with a diverse array of external stakeholders, ensuring proactive and effective delivery of our communications and engagement activities to support our key objectives. This includes building relationships with partner organisations such as the Maudsley Charity, IoPPN, King's College London, local authority officers, elected members, service users and community groups. Your ability to build and maintain effective relationships will be paramount.

Main duties of the job

• To deliver public affairs, communications and engagement activity which builds relationships, enhances the Trust's reputation and is in line with overall communications and engagement strategy
• To take responsibility for ensuring stakeholder relationships are maintained and proactively developed
• To produce regular stakeholder briefings working with other departments in the Trust and partners to co-ordinate content ensuring absolute accuracy
• Devise and deliver stakeholder engagement plans and strategies for key projects and/or audiences as directed
• To drive understanding and positive perception of capital projects with
  external stakeholders, staff and patients through effective engagement work.
• To establish and maintain effective co-operative working relationships with stakeholder groups, including attending meetings and presenting and discussing reports.
• Develop, write and manage new and existing stakeholder engagement products including newsletters and events (digital and face-to-face).
• Devise and deliver proactive campaigns that will improve community engagement and understanding/awareness of the Trust's mental healthcare services for local people
• To lead on key events and visits, including high profile stakeholders, working alongside partners
• To manage enquiries from stakeholders including councillors, council executives, MPs, commissioners, public, residents' associations, ensuring timely and accurate response

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 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
Communications and relations

• To oversee the implementation of the Trust's Stakeholder and Community Engagement plan
• To produce briefings / papers updating colleagues with the Associate Director of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement
• To proactively work with partners to ensure communications are consistent and timely
• To produce and/or assist in the preparation of reports; and briefings including for partners, regulatory and advisory bodies in respect of updating them on complex issues
• To establish and maintain effective co-operative working relationships with all stakeholder groups, internally and externally, at all levels
• To ensure that communications are correctly tailored for the appropriate target audiences
• To manage contracts with external suppliers ensuring value for money and working within the framework of the organisation
• Advocate on behalf of the department on the importance of good practice in communications
• To line manage junior staff as appropriate
• Commission and manage external agencies; ensuring expenditure stays within agreed budget, contracts are delivered in full and represents value for public money

Information Resources

• Maintain the Trust's Trust and Reputation dashboard, with latest annual data and provide data analysis of key metrics
• Undertake market research projects as necessary to explore, benchmark and measure levels of trust and the Trust's reputation amongst its communities and stakeholders
• Horizon scan the political landscape for opportunities for the Trust to raise its profile externally, including regional and national initiatives and events, within and beyond the sector and produce monthly reports
• To stay up to date with national policy, new health initiatives and partner organisations' strategies and plans and how these impact locally on the Trust
• To produce and/or assist in the preparation of reports and represent the Trust at meetings with internal and external stakeholders to deliver those reports and advise on public affairs
• To prepare briefings for regulatory, advisory bodies or internal stakeholders in respect of updating them on complex issues on an ad hoc basis as requested by the Associate Director of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement
• To manage and maintain stakeholder distribution lists

Person specification

Training and Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Educated to degree level or appropriate vocational experience
• Evidence of continuing professional and personal development

Desirable criteria

• Membership of CIPR or other appropriate professional body; and/or professional qualification or appropriate professional experience

Experience

Essential criteria

• Demonstrable experience of working in a Public Affairs management role
• Writing copy for a wide range of outlets and target audiences
• Managing stakeholder and public affairs projects including writing and production of communications materials
• Successfully producing strategies and implementing communications and engagement programmes
• Managing stakeholder and partner relationships and engagement, and representing organisations

Desirable criteria

• NHS, public or third sector experience
• Organising and managing events

Knowledge and skills

Essential criteria

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• In-depth knowledge and understanding of current engagement practice and theory
• Ability to grasp complex issues and concepts
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to prioritise workload
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Excellent presentation skills
• Public affairs and stakeholder relations campaign planning, development and implementation skills
• 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
• Understanding of working in a partnership environment

Desirable criteria

• Good understanding of national government and NHS (including policy), how it works, the issues it faces and how to communicate within it
• Report writing skills
• Knowledge and understanding of digital communications including public websites and intranets
• Understanding of working in an NHS environment and with the public, partners and external statutory and voluntary organisations
• Experience of communicating with diverse audiences including hard to reach groups

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

• Stakeholder Engagement and Public Affairs Manager JD (PDF, 320.6KB)
• SLaM Staff Benefits (PDF, 1.1MB)
• Happy to Talk Flexible Working (PDF, 680.1KB)