External Affairs Officer

The External Affairs Officer is responsible for supporting and embedding UKHSA’s approach to stakeholder engagement and partnership working.

The postholder supports the development and delivery of an External Affairs strategy, though research, advice and development and management of organisational tools.

They are responsible for researching and maintaining strong and productive relationships with key stakeholders from a range of sectors linked to UKHSA’s agenda, including under-represented communities, business groups, local government and public health system partners. This includes stakeholder mapping, maintaining engagement channels and supporting the CEO and other prominent ExCo members with conference presentations, speaking and briefing notes.

The successful candidate will be a communications professional with an interest in developing and maintaining public affairs, stakeholder engagement and strategic communication. They will have the ability to manage competing demands and a proven record of supporting senior colleagues on controversial and challenging reputational issues.

The post holder will support the development of research, channels, team tools, briefs, and day to day communication and cascades.

The Communications directorate supports and protects UKHSA's reputation as a trusted, reliable and independent source of expert health information and advice for the public, the media, health professionals and the government.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Support to the Senior External Affairs Officer in the delivery of an External Affairs strategy for the agency, aligned to the Corporate Strategy, to ensure UKHSA engages effectively with global, regional and local stakeholders ranging from the public health system through to local government, business groups and under-represented communities.
• Build effective and proactive relationships with key organisations and team members to support the department’s objectives.
• Work pro-actively with other Communications colleagues to ensure that stakeholders are well represented and effectively briefed during emerging and ongoing health security incidents and outbreaks, for high profile and often controversial issues at pace.
• Build peer relationships with civil service colleagues both across the organisation and across other government department and arm’s length bodies.
• Research and report on opportunities and risks for our relationships with key external stakeholders.
• Contribute to the development of stakeholder mapping, and development of a detailed two-way engagement plan for each stakeholder group.
• Contribute to the effective evaluations of activities against the External Affairs strategy, and assist in the preparation of reports, lessons learned and learning tools for improved delivery.
• Gather regular feedback, from stakeholders, from a variety of public channels and via direct engagement.
• Assist in the production of briefings, newsletters and other communications material for key stakeholders to promote better understanding of key issues and initiatives.
• Support the Senior External Affairs Officer and the Head of External Affairs in the development of presentations, speeches and some briefings for the CEO and other prominent ExCo members to deliver at conferences, roundtables and webinars.

The list above is not exhaustive; the job holder may be required to carry out additional duties according to business need.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

The successful candidate will have:

• Experience in External Affairs/Government Relations.
• Experience in supporting effective communications strategies, including stakeholder mapping, insight gathering and evaluation.
• Experience of maintaining working level relationships with stakeholders from a wide range of sectors.
• Willingness to develop policy-specific knowledge in order to effectively understand the potential for new and existing stakeholder development.
• The ability to prioritise and manage competing demands.
• Proven experience assisting in the production of and co-ordinating high-quality presentations, speaking notes and briefing materials for high profile UKHSA speakers for conferences, webinars, roundtables etc.
• A commitment to delivering world-class communications and championing best practice stakeholder engagement.
• An interest in the public health sector, central and local government and the NHS, and experience of delivering stakeholder communications in a political environment.

Skills and capabilities

• Lead by example, communicate in a truthful, straightforward manner with integrity, impartiality and promoting a working environment that supports the Civil Service values and code.
• Demonstrate excellent oral and written communication skills and set standards for communication.
• Analytical skills, including effective use of insight and evaluation data.
• Ability to recognise emerging issues and trends which might impact or benefit our work. Previous experience in working with the media would be helpful.

Values

• An understanding of and commitment to UKHSA’s values: Impactful, Insightful, Inclusive, including the need to listen to a range of stakeholder voices and to work in partnership with our people, our partners and across communities.

Equality and diversity

• An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships, both in terms of day-to-day working practices, but also in relation to management systems

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Job contact :

Name :
recruitment team 3
Email :
recruitmentteam3@ukhsa.gov.uk

Recruitment team :

Email :
recruitmentteam3@ukhsa.gov.uk