Head of External Affairs

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 234333**Salary**:

- £65,311 - £75,411**Grade**:

- Grade 6**Contract type**:

- Permanent**Type of role**:

- Administration / Corporate Support
- Communications / Marketing**Working pattern**:

- Flexible working, Full-time, Homeworking, Part-time, Compressed Hours**Number of posts**:

- 1Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- LondonAbout the job

**Summary**:
The Head of External Affairs is responsible for establishing and embedding UKHSA’s approach to stakeholder engagement and partnership working.

The postholder leads a team covering External Affairs, Conferences and Events and is responsible for the development/delivery of the external affairs strategy.

They are responsible for building 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, developing engagement channels and supporting the CEO and other prominent ExCo members with conference presentations, and briefing notes.

They will also lead the Conference and Events function, including delivering UKHSA’s flagship annual stakeholder conference and a comprehensive programme of external conferences for ExCo members to speak at.

**Job description**:

- Develop and implement an over-arching External Affairs strategy
- Conduct stakeholder mapping, with a detailed two-way engagement plan for each stakeholder group
- Work with senior stakeholders across Arm’s Length Bodies and Other Government Departments to establish good relationships
- Provide strategic advice to ExCo and the Chief Executive Officer on stakeholder engagement and handling
- Develop stakeholder handling and engagement strategies for high profile and often controversial issues
- Produce briefings, newsletters and other communications material for key stakeholders
- Produce presentations, speeches and briefings for the CEO and other ExCo members
- Conduct horizon scanning and intelligence to track upcoming risks, issues and opportunities
- Oversee the Conferences and Events function and provide strategic leadership to the development of the UKHSA’s annual conference as well as an UKHSA-wide event strategy
- Participate in the communication team’s out of hours rota, as required

**Responsibilities**:
**Essential Criteria**:

- A strong track record in External Affairs/Government Relations.
- Proven experience of developing and executing effective external affairs strategies, including stakeholder mapping, insight gathering and evaluation.
- Proven experience of managing large-scale stakeholder conferences, as well as stakeholder webinars and roundtables.
- Broad knowledge of the live and online event delivery landscape, with experience of delivering events in commercially and politically sensitive environments.
- Proven experience of providing robust and deliverable communication and engagement advice to the Chief Executive and other senior management and policy colleagues.
- Proven experience of building trusted ongoing two-way engagement with key stakeholders, including developing influential networks and partnerships with external organisations.
- Strong influencing skills.
- 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 of producing 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.
- Strong evidence of effectively leading a team.
- Excellent working knowledge of the public health sector, central and local government and the NHS and a proven track record of delivery of communications activity at a senior level in these sectors.
- 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.
- Proven ability to set evaluation criteria for all significant projects and experience of evaluating the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement against those criteria.

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.

**Benefits**:

- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with