Head of Internal Change Communications and Engagement- Band 8B

Job description

Job summary

To develop and implement the strategy for internal communications, change communications and staff engagement at the Group and support the priorities of the organisation.

Lead the development of internal communications and engagement as a highly-valued business partner in the organisation.

Have a key focus on campaigns to motivate and empower staff, innovative approaches to engage our diverse workforce and support the work on improvement, transformation and innovation.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of an effective, high-quality internal communications and engagement strategy to support the objectives of the Trust.

The post holder will provide both strategic and tactical internal communications and engagement advice to the Group's Board and senior directors relating to critical issues and change-management priorities.

Lead the development of the Group's internal communications and engagement strategy and secure support for it at senior levels including a clear understanding of the resources required to deliver it.

Develop and drive a truly innovative approach to the development of internal communications and engagement, enabling the trust to explore some of the newest approaches from industry and the public sector to really empower and motivate our diverse workforce.

Develop marketing-led internal campaigns aligned to the Group's priorities to ensure all staff know and understand what is required of them. This will include developing core narratives, resources for line managers, staff curated stories and engagement tactics to reach frontline staff.

About us

You will be joining a Group-wide communications and engagement team responsible for internal communications and engagement, digital content and communications, news and media, stakeholder engagement and public engagement.

Job description

Job responsibilities

All staff are expected to adhere to the Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group (LCHG) policies, procedures, and guidelines.

All staff are required to advocate, champion, and demonstrate the LCHG values.

LCHG requires all staff to safeguard children, young people and adults.

The post holder will be responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of an effective, high-quality internal communications and engagement strategy to support the objectives of the Trust.

The post holder will provide both strategic and tactical internal communications and engagement advice to the Groups Board and senior directors relating to critical issues and change-management priorities.

Responsible for all aspects of internal communications and engagement for the Group, including activity focused on improving staff experience and morale and retaining high calibre staff in critical posts.

Responsible for all internal communications and engagement channels including the content provided through the intranet, all-staff emails, team brief and chief executive briefings.

Lead the development of the Groups internal communications and engagement strategy and secure support for it at senior levels including a clear understanding of the resources required to deliver it. This will require assessment of highly complex information across different staff groups and services into order to analyse, judge and make recommendations on the best way of developing communication approaches especially where there will be multiple views.

Lead the development of measurement and evaluation approaches for internal communications and engagement enabling the Group to develop an evidence base for its work.

Understand the most important insights from the Groups internal audience research work and develop approaches and solutions to drive improvement in areas where staff engagement and involvement is the lowest.

Develop and drive a truly innovative approach to the development of internal communications and engagement, enabling the trust to explore some of the newest approaches from industry and the public sector to really empower and motivate our diverse workforce.

Develop marketing-led internal campaigns aligned to the Groups priorities to ensure all staff know and understand what is required of them. This will include developing core narratives, resources for line managers, staff curated stories and engagement tactics to reach frontline staff.

Lead the development of a line managers communications programme working with colleagues across the Group to develop support, tools and guidance.

Develop an engagement strategy for promoting and sharing learning from the Groups Improvement and Transformation programme, supporting the development of an improvement culture. This will involve creating appropriate and inspiring messages, a clear and consistent brand for this workstream and effective channels and content to engage staff in the agenda.

Develop a communications and engagement strategy to engage staff in the Groups innovation programme.

Develop the reporting methods and analytics needed to ensure that the Trust continues to deploy the most effective internal communications and engagement channels and responds rapidly to audience testing.

Understand the market for digital technologies, where appropriate for a staff audience and identify suitable external partners for the Trust to work with, as appropriate, following the Trusts procurement policies.

Lead the planning and delivery of the internal communications and engagement strategy, setting out a reasonable timetable for delivery and working to ensure that the internal communications and engagement team is able to meet its key milestones.

Develop strong relationships with communications teams across the region to share best practice and explore opportunities to work together and procure more efficiently where possible.

Lead the development of a new approach to business-partnering with our clinical divisions and corporate departments.

Follow developments internationally in the field of internal communications and engagement and bring best practice to the Trust so that it can develop as a leader in effective staff communications within the NHS.

Lead the development of the Groups internal communications and engagement channels so that they are targeted and effective at connecting with multiple audiences across the organisation.

Provide an effective link between the communications team and the people directorate at the Group to establish how new Group developments will impact the internal communications strategy and establish the working relationship between the two departments.

Lead the creation of the Groups standards for internal content across all of its channels, creating clear editorial guidelines against which decisions about content can be made.

Work with relevant internal stakeholders to support their staff engagement needs and develop strategies for internal campaigns to support widespread and/or localised behaviour change and engagement.

Lead for communications on shared campaigns and projects with the workforce directorate and the relevant divisions to promote health and wellbeing, the equality and diversity priorities and other major internal programmes.

Act as the teams creative lead for the development of first class internal content including copy-writing, photography and film to tell our story online in way that excites, inspires and re-assures as appropriate.

Advise senior colleagues on strategic internal communications and engagement issues, writing briefs and reports for directors as required.

Line management responsibility of a number of team members, supporting their professional development and training.

Develop, implement and monitor performance of the internal communications and engagement teams business and strategic planning processes.

Plan for, advise and support the use of internal communications and engagement channels in the event of a crisis, as part of crisis communications handling, for example issues that impact normal service provision, major incidents or unexpected service closures.

Identify, record and manage key risks and issues relating to internal communications and engagement.

Ensure the development and delivery of communications, marketing and engagement strategies based on rigorous insight, evidence and evaluation, in order to continuously improve the effectiveness of the work of the team and organisation.

Maintain an excellent understanding of emerging internal communication channels and technologies.

Use evidence and insight into the use and effectiveness of different communication channels in order to improve those channels owned by the Trust and support the effective identification of channels for audiences.

Job description
Job responsibilities

All staff are expected to adhere to the Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group (LCHG) policies, procedures, and guidelines.

All staff are required to advocate, champion, and demonstrate the LCHG values.

LCHG requires all staff to safeguard children, young people and adults.

The post holder will be responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of an effective, high-quality internal communications and engagement strategy to support the objectives of the Trust.

The post holder will provide both strategic and tactical internal communications and engagement advice to the Groups Board and senior directors relating to critical issues and change-management priorities.

Responsible for all aspects of internal communications and engagement for the Group, including activity focused on improving staff experience and morale and retaining high calibre staff in critical posts.

Responsible for all internal communications and engagement channels including the content provided through the intranet, all-staff emails, team brief and chief executive briefings.

Lead the development of the Groups internal communications and engagement strategy and secure support for it at senior levels including a clear understanding of the resources required to deliver it. This will require assessment of highly complex information across different staff groups and services into order to analyse, judge and make recommendations on the best way of developing communication approaches especially where there will be multiple views.

Lead the development of measurement and evaluation approaches for internal communications and engagement enabling the Group to develop an evidence base for its work.

Understand the most important insights from the Groups internal audience research work and develop approaches and solutions to drive improvement in areas where staff engagement and involvement is the lowest.

Develop and drive a truly innovative approach to the development of internal communications and engagement, enabling the trust to explore some of the newest approaches from industry and the public sector to really empower and motivate our diverse workforce.

Develop marketing-led internal campaigns aligned to the Groups priorities to ensure all staff know and understand what is required of them. This will include developing core narratives, resources for line managers, staff curated stories and engagement tactics to reach frontline staff.

Lead the development of a line managers communications programme working with colleagues across the Group to develop support, tools and guidance.

Develop an engagement strategy for promoting and sharing learning from the Groups Improvement and Transformation programme, supporting the development of an improvement culture. This will involve creating appropriate and inspiring messages, a clear and consistent brand for this workstream and effective channels and content to engage staff in the agenda.

Develop a communications and engagement strategy to engage staff in the Groups innovation programme.

Develop the reporting methods and analytics needed to ensure that the Trust continues to deploy the most effective internal communications and engagement channels and responds rapidly to audience testing.

Understand the market for digital technologies, where appropriate for a staff audience and identify suitable external partners for the Trust to work with, as appropriate, following the Trusts procurement policies.

Lead the planning and delivery of the internal communications and engagement strategy, setting out a reasonable timetable for delivery and working to ensure that the internal communications and engagement team is able to meet its key milestones.

Develop strong relationships with communications teams across the region to share best practice and explore opportunities to work together and procure more efficiently where possible.

Lead the development of a new approach to business-partnering with our clinical divisions and corporate departments.

Follow developments internationally in the field of internal communications and engagement and bring best practice to the Trust so that it can develop as a leader in effective staff communications within the NHS.

Lead the development of the Groups internal communications and engagement channels so that they are targeted and effective at connecting with multiple audiences across the organisation.

Provide an effective link between the communications team and the people directorate at the Group to establish how new Group developments will impact the internal communications strategy and establish the working relationship between the two departments.

Lead the creation of the Groups standards for internal content across all of its channels, creating clear editorial guidelines against which decisions about content can be made.

Work with relevant internal stakeholders to support their staff engagement needs and develop strategies for internal campaigns to support widespread and/or localised behaviour change and engagement.

Lead for communications on shared campaigns and projects with the workforce directorate and the relevant divisions to promote health and wellbeing, the equality and diversity priorities and other major internal programmes.

Act as the teams creative lead for the development of first class internal content including copy-writing, photography and film to tell our story online in way that excites, inspires and re-assures as appropriate.

Advise senior colleagues on strategic internal communications and engagement issues, writing briefs and reports for directors as required.

Line management responsibility of a number of team members, supporting their professional development and training.

Develop, implement and monitor performance of the internal communications and engagement teams business and strategic planning processes.

Plan for, advise and support the use of internal communications and engagement channels in the event of a crisis, as part of crisis communications handling, for example issues that impact normal service provision, major incidents or unexpected service closures.

Identify, record and manage key risks and issues relating to internal communications and engagement.

Ensure the development and delivery of communications, marketing and engagement strategies based on rigorous insight, evidence and evaluation, in order to continuously improve the effectiveness of the work of the team and organisation.

Maintain an excellent understanding of emerging internal communication channels and technologies.

Use evidence and insight into the use and effectiveness of different communication channels in order to improve those channels owned by the Trust and support the effective identification of channels for audiences.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to a degree level in a relevant communications field, or relevant experience
• Knowledge and Experience in a communication field to a Masters level qualification.
• Evidence of continuous professional development

Desirable

• Under-graduate or post-graduate qualification in journalism, marketing, public relations or related field.
• Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing or Public Relations.

Skills/Competencies

Essential

• Outstanding interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills.
• Advanced keyboard skills required for speed and accuracy for preparing reports, media releases and presentation material.
• Political skills and knowledge of public sector issues, including those surrounding the NHS.
• Flexibility in handling a wide range of projects, managed to tight deadlines.
• Politically aware.
• Confident decision maker with the ability to lead, manage and motivate teams.
• Ability to act with tact and diplomacy.
• Ability to maintain the highest level of confidentiality.

Knowledge

Essential

• Understanding the latest developments in internal communications and engagement including, but not exclusively, in terms of technology
• Understanding how to reach different audience groups in different way.
• Understanding of how to identify and target specific audience groups
• Knowledge of internal communications and engagement approaches from across the industry sector and how they can be implemented in the NHS.

Desirable

• Knowledge of the NHS, its future vision and current challenges and how the organisation operates at the trust, system, regional and national level.
• Knowledge of brand management and marketing techniques and their application in public sector organisation,

Experience

Essential

• Experience of leading internal communications and engagement at a senior level in a large complex organisation.
• Dealing with a variety of professionals and staff at all levels.
• Experience of dealing with senior executives; providing counsel and where appropriate, training.
• Evidence of successful communications and engagement strategy, development and implementation.
• Proven experience of leading large scale change campaigns.
• Experience in measuring and evaluating communications and engagement and designing channels that target audiences precisely.
• Proven experience in using innovative approaches for communications and engagement to reach diverse staff groups
• Experience of leading the internal response to major incidents and crisis communications.

Desirable

• Experience of leading internal communications and engagement strategies within large NHS organisations

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Ability to work in line with and role model Group values.

Person Specification
Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to a degree level in a relevant communications field, or relevant experience
• Knowledge and Experience in a communication field to a Masters level qualification.
• Evidence of continuous professional development

Desirable

• Under-graduate or post-graduate qualification in journalism, marketing, public relations or related field.
• Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing or Public Relations.

Skills/Competencies

Essential

• Outstanding interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills.
• Advanced keyboard skills required for speed and accuracy for preparing reports, media releases and presentation material.
• Political skills and knowledge of public sector issues, including those surrounding the NHS.
• Flexibility in handling a wide range of projects, managed to tight deadlines.
• Politically aware.
• Confident decision maker with the ability to lead, manage and motivate teams.
• Ability to act with tact and diplomacy.
• Ability to maintain the highest level of confidentiality.

Knowledge

Essential

• Understanding the latest developments in internal communications and engagement including, but not exclusively, in terms of technology
• Understanding how to reach different audience groups in different way.
• Understanding of how to identify and target specific audience groups
• Knowledge of internal communications and engagement approaches from across the industry sector and how they can be implemented in the NHS.

Desirable

• Knowledge of the NHS, its future vision and current challenges and how the organisation operates at the trust, system, regional and national level.
• Knowledge of brand management and marketing techniques and their application in public sector organisation,

Experience

Essential

• Experience of leading internal communications and engagement at a senior level in a large complex organisation.
• Dealing with a variety of professionals and staff at all levels.
• Experience of dealing with senior executives; providing counsel and where appropriate, training.
• Evidence of successful communications and engagement strategy, development and implementation.
• Proven experience of leading large scale change campaigns.
• Experience in measuring and evaluating communications and engagement and designing channels that target audiences precisely.
• Proven experience in using innovative approaches for communications and engagement to reach diverse staff groups
• Experience of leading the internal response to major incidents and crisis communications.

Desirable

• Experience of leading internal communications and engagement strategies within large NHS organisations

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Ability to work in line with and role model Group values.

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.
Certificate of Sponsorship

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 .

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. .

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.
Certificate of Sponsorship

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 .

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. .

Employer details

Employer name

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Address

Lincoln County Hospital

Greetwell Road

Lincoln

LN2 5QY

United Kingdom

Employer's website