Director of Communications and External Affairs

Job overview

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the most recognised hospital trusts in the country. We are home to Addenbrooke’s and The Rosie hospitals, and in the coming years will also become home to the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital and Cambridge Children’s Hospital.

We care for patients from across the region and UK and sit at the heart of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, one of Europe's most significant concentrations of clinical and scientific expertise.

Our new CUH Strategy 2026–2031 sets out the next phase for the Trust, building on our strengths and tackling the areas that are holding us back. Shaped around our vision, a healthier life for everyone through care, learning and research, it describes how we will deliver excellent and timely care, transform how and where care is delivered, and harness research and innovation to improve patient outcomes, bringing care closer to home and reducing unnecessary hospital visits.

We are now seeking an exceptional Director of Communications and External Affairs. This is a high profile, high accountability role in one of the most visible Trusts in the NHS. You will operate in a setting where public, political, academic and clinical interests intersect and where credibility and judgement matter deeply.

Informal conversations regarding this role will be welcomed from those longlisted following application.

Main duties of the job

As a member of the Management Executive, you will be the expert counsel to the Board and executive team on communications, reputation and external affairs. You will be accountable for setting and delivering the communications strategy aligned to the Trust’s objectives and values, reflecting our role as a specialist provider and our position within the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

You will set the direction and lead the Communications function, ensuring it provides high-quality, professional and trusted strategic and operational support that enables the organisation to deliver its objectives, day to day and through periods of significant scrutiny.

You will bring strong judgement in how the Trust engages with local and national stakeholders, including parliamentary audiences, alongside the strategic use of media and communications channels to support organisational objectives.

Working as a member of the Management Executive, you will operate at the heart of organisational decision-making, offering calm, authoritative advice in both planned programmes and high pressure situations. You will inherit a well established communications function and will be expected to build on strong foundations, developing capability, confidence and resilience for the future.

If you are looking for a role with genuine reach, responsibility and influence and the opportunity to help lead one of the UK’s most respected NHS organisations through its next chapter, we would welcome your application.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Applicant Information Pack (combined Job Description and Person Specification) for key duties and responsibilities.

Due to Home Office immigration rules, a full time permanent vacancy cannot be filled by individuals on a Student visa. Therefore, please be advised that if you are a Student visa holder, we will not be able to offer you a full time permanent contract unless you have: -    applied for a Graduate visa -    or you will have successfully completed your course and have applied for a Graduate visa before the anticipated start date of your employment

This vacancy will close at midnight on…

Interviews are due to be held on…

Benefits to you

At Cambridge University Hospitals, we want to do all we can to support good working days. We offer development opportunities and a wide range of benefits, including on-site leisure facilities, shopping concourse and day nurseries. Our good work programme currently includes providing reduced cost Stagecoach bus travel to and from Cambridge University Hospital site. Park and Ride bus journeys between Babraham Road and Trumpington sites are free, as is the route to and from Cambridge train station and our hospitals. We also subsidise the cost of parking on site for eligible staff.

On CUH campus, hot food is available 24/7 and at a reduced cost for colleagues. Recently we launched the first of our staff pod break spaces. Located in the Deakin Centre, we have a purpose-created colleague-only café, with free tea and coffee, a break space and private outside area for colleagues to rest, refuel and recharge. Just one of the ways we are working hard to support good working days at CUH.

CUH is committed to assisting employees in achieving a good work-life balance irrespective of role or personal circumstances. Flexible arrangements may include, but are not limited to, part-time working, job-share, term-time working and flexible start and finish times.

Please note if you would like to discuss the required hours of this role further, you should approach the contact given. In some cases, alternative working hours will be considered.

We welcome applications from the Armed Forces.

As an executive/senior officer at CUH, you are accountable for the health and safety of employees and other persons who may be affected by the Trust’s work activities in accordance with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. You must ensure workplace injuries and work-related ill-health are prevented so far as is reasonably practicable and provide strong leadership and commitment to health and safety by ensuring that the principles and practices described within the Trust’s H&S Policy are discharged and embedded throughout the organisation. You must also ensure your responsibilities are discharged in accordance with the policy and that the necessary resources and infrastructure for health and safety are provided.