Communications Manager

Job description

Job responsibilities

Communication and Working Relationships

You will communicate widely with a range of key stakeholders, including:

Internally: Communications colleagues, Executive Directors, senior management and their teams, frontline clinical and non clinical staff, Board members and all colleagues across KHCIC at all levels.

Externally: PCN Clinical Directors including those at ICA level and their strategic managers, where required local, national and specialist media, MPs and parliamentary offices, local councillors and officers, colleagues in partner organisations across the system, those who use our services, stakeholders, interest groups and members of the public.

Planning and Organisation

You will advise on and deliver the communication, marketing and engagement strategy, engaging with the Executive Directors, building on current communication, marketing and engagement plans and projects. Ensuring the programme is well planned, with achievable timescales, dependencies outlined and aligned to corporate objectives, you will evaluate success against the desired outcomes. You will take on responsibility for the smooth day to day running of the communications service, review and oversee key regular communication channels and activity. You will bring well developed organisational skills to facilitate the most efficient and effective running of the service.

Responsibility and Accountability

Responsible to the Executive Directors, the Communications Manager will:

• Craft content for social media, website and internal and external communications in an appropriate and timely way, whilst protecting, maintaining and enhancing the reputation of the KHCIC brand
• Prioritise, organise and project manage communication projects and campaigns in support of corporate objectives
• Oversee and support the day to day running of the communications service
• Ensure delivery of a timely, effective reactive and proactive media service across the team
• Use skills and creativity to innovate within the service, making best use of available channels and communications tools to enable a high performing, high quality service.
• Day to day line management responsibility of the Communications and Engagement Officer
• Act as key point of contact for any external communications resources
• Attend system wide communications meetings to ensure KHCICs needs are being considered alongside any system messaging.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with the Board, senior managers and frontline staff to seek out proactive opportunities for telling the KHCICs stories both externally and internally
• Be part of the back office services offer to PCNs and practices to identify any communication support required and respond appropriately.

Duties include, but are not limited to the following:

• Review current communication, marketing and engagement plans in place to ensure they are fit for purpose
• Create a consistent brand look and feel for every mode of communication with internal or external colleagues.
• Provide communications advice and support to managers, staff and committees for communication and engagement initiatives and activities
• Plan, organise and deliver complex activities, including communication campaigns and events
• Produce written, audio and video materials for use across internal and external communication channels, eg newsletters, magazines, social media, blogs, vlogs
• Ensure regular communications channels and activities are well maintained, timely, accurate, clear, easy to understand and engaging
• Oversee monitoring of media and social media channels, producing briefing materials as required and identifying opportunities to enhance reputation
• Undertake audits or surveys as required for own work
• Working across the system, within PCNs and practices, supporting on communication strategies and workplans as and when required
• Monitoring, analysing and interpreting social medial and website data, using appropriate analytics.
• In the absence of the Communications & Engagement Officer update and maintain the Company's website.

Policy and Service Responsibility

• Contribute to the development and review of departmental strategies, policies and plans
• Advise, support and enable colleagues across KHCIC to carry out locally planned communications and engagement activity

Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources

• Delegated budgetary authority as agreed with the Executive Directors
• Ensure delegated spend is within budget and follows procurement guidelines
• Order internal supplies and commission external spend on collateral

Responsibility for Supervision, Leadership and Management

• Take part in regular supervision meetings and appraisals as required, and support and mentor colleagues around communication and engagement
• Line management responsibility for the Communications Officer

Information Technology and Administrative Duties

• Produce presentations, publications and reports using the Office Suite
• Produce video and audio for use on digital media channels
• Oversee administrative processes to ensure the departments smooth running
• Undertake any training required in order to maintain competency including mandatory training eg fire, manual handling, safeguarding
• Contribute to and work within a safe working environment

Relationships, Quality and Governance Responsibilities

• Operate as an effective member of KHCIC, providing cover as required for other team members, where appropriate, and displaying a strong commitment to team working.
• Establish and develop positive relationships with all relevant internal and external stakeholders and demonstrate a customer focused ethos.
• Maintain an understanding of organisation aims and objectives in order to liaise effectively with relevant internal and external stakeholders.
• Ensure confidentiality in accordance with policy and demonstrate understanding of specific issues relating to information governance and data protection and safeguarding children and adults.
• Actively contribute to the Organisations values and behaviours ensuring that relevant processes are open and transparent and encourage the confidence of staff, patients, partner organisations, the public and other agencies.
• Promote a positive organisational image.
• Promote own personal and others health, safety and security, taking the appropriate action to report risk in accordance with policy.
• Ensure that equipment and resources are managed effectively to reduce waste and promote cost efficiency.
• Ensure the safe keeping and maintenance of equipment in accordance with policy, reporting defect or loss.

Person Specification

Additional Cirumstances

Essential

• Available outside normal hours for work in exceptional circumstances
• A criminal record check satisfactory to the organisation.
• Need for DBS assessment

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to degree level or equivalent qualification of experience
• Evidence of continued professional development
• Experience in an autonomous generalist communications or journalistic role where you provided advise and guidance and leadership around communications, marketing and engagement.

Desirable

• Degree or equivalent in communications/public relations related subject

Special Experience

Essential

• Proven ability to effectively handle multiple tasks, changing priorities and complex assignments
• A specialist knowledge and experience of communications, public relations, journalism and marketing communications techniques and approaches.
• Experience of managing media in relation to complex and/or sensitive incidents and issues to achieve positive outcomes, which protect the reputation of the organisation and key partners
• Experience of working with multiple stakeholders and balancing expectations with agreed objectives

Desirable

• Experience of health Service communications, and partnership working NHS or Local Authority experience
• Experience of managing and delivering communications support for organisational change
• An understanding of General Practice and Primary Care Networks

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Ability to understanding others viewpoints and expectations, and manage situations with insight, sensitivity, and empathy
• Ability to think creatively and laterally, and to identify innovative solutions to complex problems
• Ability to investigate, interpret and analyse complex information and present clearly to a lay audience
• Proven ability to assimilate complex, highly sensitive and often confidential information to produce high quality communications advice, and materials
• Proven ability to persuade and influence decision making
• Proven ability to manage others and enable them to achieve excellent results
• Ability to handle sometimes confrontational people, including media and visitors, in a calm and professional manner and resolve situations to achieve a positive outcome

Experience

Essential

• Experience of managing internal and external communications projects and activities
• Significant stakeholder engagement experience and skills
• Experience of writing, editing and producing a wide range of communications materials for a range of channels.
• Excellent web editing skills (using WordPress) and content management skills
• Experience of internal and external communications mechanisms.
• Highly effective communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Experienced of using a range of social media for communication and marketing purposes
• Computer literate e.g. proficient in the use of Microsoft Office applications
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to take initiative, be proactive and work without supervision
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills
• Highly developed influencing and persuading skills
• Strong interpersonal and team working skills
• Experience in organising and prioritising multiple tasks and workloads and meeting deadlines
• Must be able to prioritise and work on own initiative to satisfy competing demands
• Ability to develop different options to approaching problems, document them, and weight them, acting on the most appropriate one.
• Broad developed communication skills and the ability to listen to a range of different, sometimes conflicting views and opinions and recommend an approach
• Experience of WordPress and updating web content
• Exceptional writing skills to create content for a wide range of digital and print channels.
• Ability to assimilate information provided verbally into a narrative suitable for publication.

Desirable

• Experience of commissioning print and design
• Awareness and understanding of media law

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.

Employer details

Employer name

Kernow Health CIC

Address

Cudmore House

Treliske Industrial Estate

Truro

Cornwall

TR1 3LP

Employer's website

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