Job summary
We are recruiting for a Senior Communications Lead - Transformationwho shares our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients.
The Senior Communications Lead will be responsible for designing, delivering and evaluating the communications strategy for the trust's 2026/27 Transformation Programme, Better care, better value, which aims to drive large-scale operational and clinical change, deliver recurrent savings and maintain organisational stability during a period of significant financial and cultural challenge.
At the heart of everything we do are our core Values:Include,Respect,andImprove. We encourage you to embrace these values throughout the recruitment process and in your role with us.
Main duties of the job
Working as a senior member of the communications team with a dedicated role within the transformation team, the postholder will lead trust-wide transformation communications and engagement activity across clinical, operational, corporate and external audiences. They will ensure messaging supports behavioural change, builds understanding of the case for change, and sustains staff and stakeholder confidence.
The role will translate complex operational, clinical and financial change into compelling, accessible and motivating narratives. It will also ensure the executive team, senior leaders, and line managers are equipped to communicate consistently, confidently and effectively throughout the transformation journey.
The postholder will lead the structured communications approach, ensuring delivery against milestones, strong frontline engagement, robust evaluation and continuous improvement of activity.
About us
At East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust, we are proud of the range of general and specialist services we provide and our 6,000 or so dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible and innovative in the way in which we work and deliver our services to our catchment has never been more important than it is now.
We run the following hospitals:
- The Lister Hospital, Stevenage
- New Queen Elizabeth II (New QEII), Welwyn Garden City
- Hertford County, Hertford
- Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC), Northwood
We have ambitious plans to become an outstanding, patient-led Trust where dedicated staff provide high-quality, compassionate care to our patients. We continue to undergo significant transformation and our staff and patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda.
We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees. This means that any employee is entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns and we are committed to listen and consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made and considered formally, and will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification applicant pack for further detailed informationregardingthis role.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification applicant pack for further detailed informationregardingthis role.
Person Specification
Qualifications/Training
Essential
- Educated to degree level or equivalent experience.
- Professional communications/PR qualification (e.g. CIPR, CIM, GCS) or equivalent senior experience.
- Evidence of continual professional development.
Previous Experience
Essential
- Extensive senior communications experience at Band 8a/8b level or equivalent.
- Experience influencing and supporting senior leaders, including executive teams.
- Experience delivering strategic, multichannel communication plans with measurable impact.
- Experience managing sensitive, high-risk or high-profile communications.
Desirable
- Experience working closely with clinical and operational teams.
- Experience in NHS communications or other regulated public sector environments.
- Experience in financial, operational or workforce transformation programmes.
Skills
Essential
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to translate complex information for diverse audiences
- Ability to develop clear, compelling narratives across clinical, corporate and operational audiences
- Strong influencing and relationship-building skills at all levels.
- Confident facilitation and presentation skills
- Ability to manage ambiguity, challenge assumptions and provide constructive professional advice.
- Highly organised, able to manage multiple priorities and deliver at pace.
- Insight-driven approach; skilled in evaluation and communications KPIs.
- Ability to identify and mitigate communications risks quickly and effectively
Knowledge
Essential
- Understanding of strategic communications principles including planning frameworks
- Knowledge of digital channels, analytics and evaluation frameworks
Desirable
- Understanding of NHS context, regulatory pressures and political/sensitive environments
- Knowledge of organisational development, culture change and behaviour change theory as applied to comms
Other Requirements
Essential
- Experience and evidence of engagement around the equality, diversity and inclusion agenda. Able to actively support the development of a culture that recognises and promotes equality, values diversity, and actively leads by example in deploying these qualities. Understands the impact on equality, diversity and inclusion issues in all aspects of service delivery and planning
- Role model our trust values every day
Person Specification
Qualifications/Training
Essential
- Educated to degree level or equivalent experience.
- Professional communications/PR qualification (e.g. CIPR, CIM, GCS) or equivalent senior experience.
- Evidence of continual professional development.
Previous Experience
Essential
- Extensive senior communications experience at Band 8a/8b level or equivalent.
- Experience influencing and supporting senior leaders, including executive teams.
- Experience delivering strategic, multichannel communication plans with measurable impact.
- Experience managing sensitive, high-risk or high-profile communications.
Desirable
- Experience working closely with clinical and operational teams.
- Experience in NHS communications or other regulated public sector environments.
- Experience in financial, operational or workforce transformation programmes.
Skills
Essential
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to translate complex information for diverse audiences
- Ability to develop clear, compelling narratives across clinical, corporate and operational audiences
- Strong influencing and relationship-building skills at all levels.
- Confident facilitation and presentation skills
- Ability to manage ambiguity, challenge assumptions and provide constructive professional advice.
- Highly organised, able to manage multiple priorities and deliver at pace.
- Insight-driven approach; skilled in evaluation and communications KPIs.
- Ability to identify and mitigate communications risks quickly and effectively
Knowledge
Essential
- Understanding of strategic communications principles including planning frameworks
- Knowledge of digital channels, analytics and evaluation frameworks
Desirable
- Understanding of NHS context, regulatory pressures and political/sensitive environments
- Knowledge of organisational development, culture change and behaviour change theory as applied to comms
Other Requirements
Essential
- Experience and evidence of engagement around the equality, diversity and inclusion agenda. Able to actively support the development of a culture that recognises and promotes equality, values diversity, and actively leads by example in deploying these qualities. Understands the impact on equality, diversity and inclusion issues in all aspects of service delivery and planning
- Role model our trust values every day
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.
