Policy and Engagement Manager

Job description

Job responsibilities

The postholder will be responsible for providing support across a range of projects, including managing parts of our out of acute network programme and putting the NHS on a sustainable footing workstream. The role will provide engagement support, building relationships with members and supporting engagement activities.

The role will provide support for meetings and events such as webinars, liaising with NHS Confederation members and external stakeholders, including potential funding partners.

The postholder will help manage our membership administrative data and support communication to members ensuring we build and maintain an excellent reputation with our members.

The role will also provide policy support for our focus on elective recovery and improving patient flow, keeping up to date with NHS England policy, relevant events and briefings and understanding the context our members operate in.

This role will also focus on whole system flow and understanding how other parts of the system can help support reducing elective backlogs and reduce attendance/demand in urgent and emergency care services including aspects of social and community care. The postholder will work collaboratively with other colleagues in the organisation on integrated cross-sector work.

The postholder maintains a good understanding of issues facing Acute members in order to create high quality member events and communications and building positive relationships with senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Specific accountabilities include:

Policy and influencing

Support and contribute to policy work that supports acute care. You will do so by:

• Responding to member and stakeholder insight and developing policy influencing plans on key issues, including positioning on priority areas and topics.
• Support and contribute to the process of identifying influencing opportunities and developments that will affect our members.
• Support and deliver products in partnership with funding partners within our focus areas of elective/urgent and emergency care and putting the NHS on a sustainable footing strategic focus
• Drawing on member priorities, expertise, and knowledge in the development of policy thinking and improvement opportunities where appropriate
• Delivering high quality and insightful products that provide value for members and are influential on their behalf
• Aligning with work across the organisation and creating synergies with the work of other teams and Networks
• Supporting processes to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of their policy and influencing work, against the organisations strategic impact goals
• Preparing briefings to help inform health and care leaders of the key issues of the day
• Support and deliver improvement in partnership with funding partners within our elective/urgent and emergency care focus areas
• Contributing to the NHS Confederations events programme, including meetings with health and system leaders, and high-profile events and conferences

Your role will promote the work of the NHS Confederation through:

• Be able to make a strong case for change and write and speak persuasively with a range of external audiences
• Work with members to deliver high quality case studies for promotion through relevant NHS Confederation challenges or external influencing
• Support the delivery of relevant events (e.g. NHSConfedExpo), including developing content and organising speakers
• Ensuring members receive relevant and timely updates from the NHS Confederation about its work and national developments of interest to members through blogs and member updates
• Presenting at external meetings and events as necessary to support our policy and influencing work
• Drafting content for bulletins, developing social media content and web text
• Assisting in the delivery of communications plans and delivering communications projects.
• Develop improvement offers for members relating to elective/urgent and emergency care

Your role will maintain relationships with:

• Relevant officials from the Department of Health and Social Care and arms-length Bodies such as NHS England and NHS Improvement
• Staff from across the wider NHS Confederation including networks, communications, member insights, and external affairs and public affairs staff
• Partner organisations and key stakeholders including, but not limited to, AACE, LGA, ADASS, NAPC, NHS Providers, Royal Colleges, Shelford Group and Healthwatch
• Academics and think tanks

Your role will contribute to a high performing team through:

• Working flexibly and responsively to needs ensuring effective prioritisation and meeting short notice deadlines as required
• Investing in own personal development through feedback and continuous learning
• Building effective working relationships with colleagues and contributing to effective team dynamics

The postholder is responsible for building strong relationships with:

• Acute Network member organisation lead contacts
• Partner organisations and key stakeholders, including events venue suppliers
• Staff from across the wider NHS Confederation, including communications and events teams

• Managing CRM contacts, groups and marketing lists ensuring information is up to date and proactively identifying changes to contacts within member organisations and is maintained in line with data protection law.
• Supporting the membership team in identifying members that need re-engaging and identifying potential new members to help achieve the specific objective around growth.

Assisting the team to manage events and conferences through:

• Supporting the organising and running of member events and assisting the team in gathering info on priority topics, attendees and guest speakers
• Booking, briefing and liaising with speakers and AV/staging providers, and preparing briefings with support from the wider team
• Sending out marketing emails, materials and joining instructions

To create and distribute high quality and effective communications, through:

• Assisting in managing the Network's social media activity ensuring regular, varied and timely content, to ensure the channels continue to grow.
• Working closely with the communications team to keep the content on the network's web pages up to date and relevant for members.
• Drafting of copy for various audiences and types of communications

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Knowledge of contemporary UK health policy, policy priorities and service delivery challenges and the wider NHS
• Understanding of the UK political environment and the operation of government, preferably related to healthcare
• Experience of engaging stakeholders via roundtables/forums for shared purposes
• Digital communications experience, particularly developing content, drafting bulletins and social media
• Well-developed analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to grasp complex issues quickly, and to interpret and present them for a variety of audiences
• Excellent communication and the ability to build strong personal relationships
• High levels of self-motivation, the ability to be responsive and agile in a rapidly changing environment and to work under pressure to meet deadlines
• Experience of delivering change/improvement

Desirable

• Experience of working with press and media
• Ability to write accessible and compelling policy narratives and ability to make a strong case for change and write and speak persuasively with a range of external audiences
• Ability to produce work closely informed by member priorities and needs
• Working in acute related matters e.g. social care, flow, commissioning, capital, waiting listsetc.

Employer details

Employer name

NHS Confederation

Address

Calls Wharf 2

The Calls

Leeds

West Yorkshire

LS2 7JU

Employer's website

https://www.nhsconfed.org/ (Opens in a new tab)