Senior Communications Business Partner

VMA GROUP is thrilled to partner exclusively with Prostate Cancer UK to recruit a Senior Communications Business Partner (Health Services, Equity and Improvement and Research) for their Communications directorate. This is a 6 month FTC to start in January 2025.

As part of the Strategic Communications, Campaigns & Brand team, you will support the Head of Strategic Communications, Campaigns & Branding by leading the Business Partnering team, and developing and embedding our Business Partnering model. You will partner with senior leaders and product owners to act as a supportive enabler of their communications objectives, and ensuring they are actively engaged in the development of communications strategies, objectives and plans. A major part of the role will be enabling the integration of activity into the wider communications plan to enhance results from our communications.

Key skills/responsibilities:

• Lead a new team of Business Partners and Communications Planning Manager to ensure Prostate Cancer UK’s communications requirements are well planned, integrated (where appropriate), and effective.
• Work with your fellow business partners to provide the joined-up view of communications needs across Prostate Cancer UK to colleagues in the communications team and to other stakeholders.
• Partner with Health Services, Equity and Improvement and Research directorates to ensure Prostate Cancer UK’s work is communicated effectively to specialist audiences (researchers and healthcare professionals) and to men (and family members) accessing their services.
• Effectively integrate Health Services, Equity and Improvement and Research activity into wider communications planning, brand moments and strategic campaigns to drive consistency and synergy across our communications plan.
• Collaborate with product owners to develop innovative and inspiring marketing plans, ensuring effective use of PR tactics to meet product objectives.
• Coordinate with communications delivery teams on planning, resourcing and delivery of effective and on-brand moments and campaigns, bringing together specialist expertise and ensuring planning is effective, deliverable, and comprehensive.
• Ensure alignment with public affairs activity where needed, to ensure our research, health influencing and parliamentary work is connected and fully joined up.
• Provide support and guidance to allocated Head of Department in business planning, and responsibility for tactical oversight and alignment of relevant business plans.
• Advise Product Owners on paid media strategy in line with agreed approaches and principles.

What you will bring to the role:

• Familiar with the operation of an effective, high impact communications business partnering and planning function, using an agile, flexible and fast-paced approach.
• Experience of successfully building trust and connection with community groups, ideally including knowledge of reaching, engaging and activating high risk communities.
• Prior experience devising and delivering big multi-channel campaigns – including PR, social media, communications and marketing.
• Expertise and experience of communicating to specialist and non-specialist audiences about research or about healthcare.
• Solid understanding of how to use strategic and tactical communications to increase engagement
• Advanced knowledge of communication industry practices and upcoming trends
• A strategic influencer who understands how positive, coordinated relationship management drives performance
• An excellent communicator – who’s confident and good at communicating complex technical information to general audiences. Credible building trusted relationships at senior levels and with external stakeholders including journalists.
• A strong people leader with experience in motivating, coaching and developing team members acting as a positive role model.
• Prior experience in a public health organisation would be helpful.

What’s in it for You?

This is your chance to join a purpose-driven organisation making a real difference in people’s lives. Prostate Cancer UK offers a supportive and flexible working environment, valuing work-life balance while promoting growth and development opportunities.

We offer a competitive benefits package, including:

• Generous leave entitlements that increase with service
• Hybrid working approach – combining the best of flexible working.
• One ‘development day’ a month to use for training or personal development
• Enhanced contributory pension scheme
• Life insurance and group income protection
• Health Cash Plan
• Life and wellbeing advice and support via our Employee Assistance Programme
• Discounted gym membership and high street shopping discounts
• Loans for season tickets or cycles

Equity, diversity and inclusion

Prostate Cancer UK believes that equity, diversity and inclusion are essential to building a strong and innovative workplace, that represents and can advocate for the communities they support. Standing against discrimination and prejudice, and championing tolerance, fairness and equality in everything they do. This makes them stronger and helps them reach more people. The team is here for the same reason: to give every man the power to navigate prostate cancer.

Fully committed to righting health inequalities across the UK, starting with those faced by Black men who are at double risk of prostate cancer. This includes ground-breaking research into Black men's risk and working with communities directly to overcome barriers to the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.

Therefore, we’re particularly interested in applications from those from marginalised and vulnerable communities to support an environment of inclusion where everyone can bring their authentic selves to work, where personal qualities are as important as professional experience, and our people feel seen and heard.

Apply Now

If you’re ready to apply your expertise in an impactful environment, we’d love to hear from you

Due to a high volume of applicants, we are unable to respond to everyone. We will get in touch if you are successful in your application.

VMA GROUP is a leading international interim, contract, temporary and permanent recruitment and executive search specialist. We are specifically focused on providing support to the communications, marketing, digital and change communities.

Our specialist practice areas cover: communications, corporate communications, internal communications, change communications, PR, media relations, financial communications, CSR, public affairs, investor relations, marketing, brand, digital marketing and agency services.

We have a reputation for providing expert consultancy services and advice, supported by in-depth knowledge of the professions we recruit for. Our thought leadership and benchmarking studies have become go-to resources for the communications, marketing, digital and change industries, supporting planning and decision-making for organisations of all shapes and sizes.

In the UK, VMA GROUP has offices in London, Bristol and Manchester and in Europe, VMA GROUP has offices in Amsterdam and Brussels, but we work with organisations and individuals on a global basis.

VMA GROUP is committed to equal opportunities and is an Inclusive+ Recruiter.