Job summary
Thank you for your interest in joining Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH).
As Head of External Communications for one of the biggest and busiest NHS Trusts in the country, you will develop NUH's strategy for communicating and engaging with our external audiences, including our patients, the public, the media, our partners and stakeholders.
This new role provides an opportunity to make a real difference to the people we serve and deliver on the ambitions set out in the recently published People First strategy - our new plan for improvements across NUH.
Key to this improvement is our commitment to work openly and transparently with our stakeholders and the media, particularly our local media. Through them we can better engage and communicate with our patients and communities.
Main duties of the job
You will lead the newly-established external communications function and help build trust and confidence in the services we provide through the development of proactive and open media, stakeholder and community engagement.
An essential part of the role is to lead, mentor, manage and inspire the external communications team to ensure that people know what their NHS is trying to achieve and how we're doing it and to help people believe in what we're doing and to bring them with us.
NHS experience is not essential - what matters most is your commitment to improvement and your desire to deliver a quality external communications service.
About us
Our teams at NUH make a difference every day and we are proud to play a central role in supporting the health and wellbeing of people in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and our surrounding communities.
We provide a range of national and internationally renowned specialist services and we are at the forefront of new surgical procedures and research programmes. We are home to the East Midlands Major Trauma Centre, Nottingham Children's Hospital and in partnership with the University of Nottingham we host a Biomedical Research Centre carrying out vital research into hearing, digestive diseases, respiratory, musculoskeletal disease, mental health and imaging.
We offer flexible working and will agree a way of working that supports you and NUH. You will be based at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham and will work across all Trust and external sites as needed. You will be part of the out-of-hours on-call rota for the communications team, for which there is an additional payment.
If you would like to find out more about the role or arrange a conversation, please contact me directly at jack.adlam@nuh.nhs.uk or call 07812 277 415.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see the job description and personal specification for full details about the responsibilities for this role.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see the job description and personal specification for full details about the responsibilities for this role.
Person Specification
Training and qualifications
Essential
- Educated to a Masters level or equivalent level of experience of working at a senior level in specialist area.
- Evidence of continuing professional development
Desirable
- Evidence of leadership development
Experience
Essential
- Specialist knowledge and experience of external communications and considerable experience of leading communications at a senior level.
- Experience of working with the media and external stakeholders.
- Evidence of successful communication strategy, development and implementation.
- Experience of dealing with senior executives; providing counsel and where appropriate, training.
- Experience of managing and motivating staff and teams.
Desirable
- Understanding of the public sector and awareness of the relevant social and political environments and impact on the health economy.
Person Specification
Training and qualifications
Essential
- Educated to a Masters level or equivalent level of experience of working at a senior level in specialist area.
- Evidence of continuing professional development
Desirable
- Evidence of leadership development
Experience
Essential
- Specialist knowledge and experience of external communications and considerable experience of leading communications at a senior level.
- Experience of working with the media and external stakeholders.
- Evidence of successful communication strategy, development and implementation.
- Experience of dealing with senior executives; providing counsel and where appropriate, training.
- Experience of managing and motivating staff and teams.
Desirable
- Understanding of the public sector and awareness of the relevant social and political environments and impact on the health economy.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).