Senior Public Health Engagement Manager

**About Us**

West Sussex County Council is a diverse organisation that provides services to more than 850,000 residents every day. Our teams use their experience to enable and challenge the Council to deliver improved efficiency and effectiveness.

**About The Job**

Based within the Adult Services and Health Directorate, the Senior Public Health Engagement Manager will lead the planning, delivery and evaluation of the Public Health department's dissemination, behaviour change / influencing and engagement strategy. Thepostholder will act as a public health ambassador, working within and across directorates within West Sussex County Council and partner organisations across the system to promote the public health agenda.

The postholder will work collaboratively with the Director of Public Health and Public Health Consultants to identify proactive and timely engagement opportunities. As well as effectively manage available budget, ensuring best use of resource, cost effectivenessand value for money.

The postholder will be expected to work closely with West Sussex Central Communications and Engagement team and the Health Promotion Resource Centre.

You will need to remain up to date with all relevant legislation, organisational procedures, policies, and professional codes of conduct to uphold standards of best practice.

You will be competent and able to demonstrate specialist knowledge of effective engagement strategies and media tools for delivery and impact, within a complex and political organisation. You will be able to offer strategic and operational advice at alllevels of the organisation.

Nurturing relationships and leading, facilitating and influencing are key elements of the post, as is delivering public health messages and campaigns to a wide audience.

**Key Skills**:

- Ability to lead, engage and influence across directorates and senior managers within the organisation, reporting to the Consultant in Public Health and being accountable to the Director of Public Health.
- Demonstrate strong and effective stakeholder management skills, and be able to develop, nurture and enhance professional working relationships with colleagues, stakeholders, and partners.
- Ability to listen to a client's requirements, diagnose the salient problem, research the issues, engage the appropriate colleagues and partners, offer a range of viable solutions, and gain approvals for the recommended proposal within agreed delivery timescales.
- Ability to work within a client's brief (challenging and expanding the scope of the brief as necessary) to identify issues and offer appropriate action by means of creative and pragmatic solutions.
- Ability to research, analyse and interpret information to make effective and robust judgements, and write reports which plan long term policy and business implications, set timescales and make articulate recommendations, taking account of the broader impactson the business.
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence the actions of others and communicate information which may be complex and contentious. Including the ability to undertake facilitation of issues in group settings, gain engagement / buy-in andagreement from others by successfully persuading others of the need to adopt appropriate policies and/or courses of action.
- Ability to cost resources to provide accurate and viable solutions which can be delivered within available resources.

**Qualifications and/or experience**:

- Relevant degree, or equivalent qualification or equivalent experience.
- Experience of delivering digital engagement activities and using digital media tools to enhance awareness around key areas of the service and advising others on optimal approaches to digital engagement.
- Sound working knowledge of the political environment of local government and partner organisations, including relevant structures and policies.
- Knowledge of the health and care system.
- Ability to maintain oversight of developments in digital / technology in relation to engagement and ability to clearly communicate these to others.
- Relevant advanced knowledge of systems, procedures and policies associated with providing advice on complex issues which often have significant business or organisational implications.
- Knowledge of management techniques, models and systems.
- Demonstrable evidence of providing timely, sound and accurate advice and guidance direct to managers in relevant topic areas and demonstrating sound deliverables to achieve or contribute to desired outcomes.
- Experience of working within a communications and engagement function, with evidence of having managed campaigns and associated media management, organisational reputation management and involvement with engagement activities.
- Experience of diagnosing highly complex communications and management related issues and developing and implementing solutions to meet the needs of the business, ideally within a large organisation.
- Knowledge and/or experience of working with hard-to-reach communities to ensure engagement and access.
- Experience of dissemination of research findings - **_Desirable _