JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title:Campaigns manager (fixed term)

Reports To:Senior public affairs manager

Location:London

Grade:Manager 3, step 1

Date Prepared:October 2014

PURPOSE

To ensure the NHS Confederation plays a key role in influencing the wider public policy debate in health and social care, heading into the next General Election and to help ensure our influencing activities have the maximum possible impact. The role will also lead on the delivery ofsome of the Confederation’s influencing strategies ahead of the 2015 general election. This will involve building and managing relationships with key politicians and health and care stakeholders, developing and implementing campaigns and influencing plans, writing persuasive briefings, organising events, intelligence gathering and monitoring, engaging with members on our work,and digital and social media.

NATURE & SCOPE

Including Dimensions

The NHS Confederation is the independent membership body that represents all types of providers and commissioners of NHS services and we speak for the whole of the NHS on the issues that matter to those involved in health care.Reporting to the Senior Public Affairs Manager, this post is based in the Confederation’s busy Public Affairs team in our London office. The job holder will play a key role in working across the public affairs, policy and member communications team to maximise our influencing impact ahead of the election and to demonstrate this impact to our members. The post holder will support our work around the general election and the 2015 Challenge campaign.

The 2015 Challenge is a challenge to politicians to recognise the challenges facing the NHS and for the NHS to be ready to meet these challenges. It looks to ensure that the right environment is in place following the 2015 general election to make the necessary large scale change we need in health and care and is a partnership of a number of organisations from across health and care. We have published a declaration setting out the challenges facing the sector and a manifesto which sets out a positive vision for the future and the action politicians need to take to help make this a reality. We will be drawing on this work as the election approaches.

The job holder will be expected to help develop and coordinate our activity in this area as well as contribute to wider organisational objectives. The post holder will design and deliver public affairs, campaigns and influencing plans for key work areas, in partnership with colleagues. The post holder will look to develop creative and innovate ways to raise the profile of the NHS Confederation with a parliamentary and political audience, key stakeholders and opinion formers as the election approaches.

As such, the post will have regular contact with ministers and parliamentarian’s offices as well as other key health stakeholders. The post holder will monitor and gather intelligence on the activity of government, parliament and stakeholder organisations, informing the rest of the organisation and contributing advice and creative ideas on appropriate action and follow-up.

A key element of this role is to work closely with chief executive, chair, senior directors, colleagues across the external communications team, the policy team, member communications team and the NHS Confederation’s member networks and fora, ensuring their work is promoted to external audiences.

In particular, the role will involve working with the member comms team to demonstrate the influencing impact we are having on behalf of our members and to help make sense of the political debate around health and care.

Responsibilities

Relationship management

  • To act as a key point of contact and co-ordinator internally and externally for parliamentary and stakeholder contacts and meeting programmes.

Influencing strategies and campaigns

  • To lead on the development and implementation of the Confed’s parliamentary and stakeholder relations strategies and campaigning activity.

Communications

  • To proactively develop creative ways of communicating our influencing work and raising our profile with key audiences, including through the use of digital and social media.

Event management

  • To arrange and administer public affairs events e.g. roundtable discussions, seminarsto assist with the development of key external relationships and to support and promote policy initiatives.

Briefings and research

  • To ensure the provision of written briefings for our Chair Chief Executive’s and directors’ meetings with parliamentarians, ministers and stakeholders by co-ordinating feedback from across the organisation and undertaking research where necessary.
  • Conducting background research, for example into MPs with an interest in a specific issue and into recent policy and political developments on specific topics.

Monitoring

  • To take responsibility for the proactive analysis and disseminationof information from parliamentary monitoring and stakeholders across the organisation, including the production of tailored monitoring reports.
  • Proactively advising on potential response or follow up to external events as routine part of monitoring activity.
  • Summarising and analysing debates in parliament, select committee sessions etc.

Member comms

  • Developing innovative and impactful ways to demonstrate the influencing successes we are having on behalf of our members.
  • Working with policy and member comms colleagues to ensure we make sense of the political environment for members as the election approaches.

Team systems

  • To co-ordinate and administer team systems including budgeting, updating the website and using databases and our CRM system to log activities and keep contacts up to date.
  • Contribute to organisational business planning, projects and team development.

Budget and line management

  • The role does not have any budget or line management responsibilities.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Including Career Path to role (how did you get there)

The post holder will be educated to degree level or equivalent and have experience of working in a public affairs, external communications, campaigns or parliamentary environment. They will have excellent written and oral communications skills and knowledge of public affairs, campaigning and public relations techniques, including the strategic use of social media.You will have worked in an environment which required good understanding and interpretation of the political landscape.Ideally, the post holder will have knowledge of major health policy issues and a good understanding/experience of working in the health and care sector, particularly around public affairs and campaigning. Insight into a membership or trade body would also be useful. They will have worked in an environment which required the ability to demonstrate the impact of your campaigning and influencing work and what you have achieved for clients or members.

You will have experience of working in a busy environment. You will also have well-developed interpersonal and influencing skills in order to build good working relationships and communicate our messages effectively. Strong organisational skills are essential as the jobholder will be expected to proactively coordinate activity, manage competing demands, use their judgement to prioritise tasks and work independently.

SAFETY

This section must not be altered.

However some areas of business require job descriptions to contain clear statements describing responsibilities for health and safety. If this is the case include a concise statement for each distinct responsibility in this section.

SIGNATURES
The job description should be signed by the jobholder and Manager to whom the post reports. Additionally it should be signed off by the appropriate Director.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Job Title: Senior Public Affairs Officer

ATTRIBUTES /

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

/ DESIRABLE CRITERIA / DEMONSTRATED BY
Experience /
  • Strong track recordof workingin campaigning or public affairs environment.
/
  • Events management
  • Use of social and digital media
/
  • Application, interview. references

Knowledge
(for example: of the sector, industry, topic area – include educational and vocational qualifications) /
  • Excellent understanding of UK parliamentary and Government processes.
  • Good understanding of the political landscape, policy making and implementation
  • Excellent understanding of public affairs, commsand campaigning techniques, including use of social media
/
  • Good understanding of major health policy issues
  • Good understanding of the health and care sector, particularly in relation to campaigning and public affairs.
  • Good understanding of role of member body or trade association.
/
  • Application, interview

Skills
(for example: written, presentation, IT) /
  • Excellent written and oral communications skills
  • Good project management
  • Ability to grasp complex issues quickly and to interpret them for a variety of audiences
  • Ability to coordinate programmes of activity
  • Ability to strategically build and manage relationships at senior level
  • Ability to organise events
  • Self-motivated, proactive and able to act on own initiative
  • Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
  • Strong interpersonal skills and diplomacy
  • Ability to prioritise and manage competing tasks
  • Ability to work effectively as part of a team
  • Well organised, with an attention to detail and ability to maintain effective office systems
  • IT and social media literacy
/
  • Application, interview
  • Test

Other information /
  • Willing and able to work flexibly
/ Application