Neighbourhood Engagement Officer - Band 5

Job summary

Applications are only open to substantive employees of NHS Essex ICB and employees currently at risk within Central East ICB and Norfolk & Suffolk ICB. If you are at-risk, you must clearly state your current NHS employing organisation and include the words "AT RISK" alongside the organisation name on your application. Please note that applications from individuals who do not meet the above criteria will not be considered

Are you passionate about working with communities and ensuring local voices shape the future of health and care services? If so, we have an exciting opportunity for someone who enjoys building partnerships, engaging diverse communities and turning feedback into positive change

This role sits at the heart of our Population Health Improvement Plan and neighbourhood health programme, helping to ensure the experiences, needs and priorities of local people influence how services are designed, commissioned and improved. You will work directly with residents, community groups, voluntary organisations, Healthwatch, primary care and system partners to strengthen relationships, gather valuable insight and support meaningful involvement in decisions that affect people's health and wellbeing

As part of a supportive and ambitious team, you will contribute to reducing health inequalities, improving outcomes for local communities and delivering the NHS vision of bringing care closer to home, focusing on prevention and making better use of digital innovation

Main duties of the job

You will;

• Support the planning and delivery of engagement activities across neighbourhoods and priority health programmes.
• Organise and facilitate events, workshops, focus groups and surveys, gather and analyse community insight, identify emerging themes and inequalities, and help ensure local feedback influences commissioning and service improvement decisions.
• Develop reports, maintain accurate records, support governance processes and promote a strong "you said, we did" approach to demonstrating the impact of engagement.

We are looking for a proactive and organised individual with experience working in healthcare, public sector or a community-focused environment. You will have excellent communication and relationship-building skills, experience supporting projects and managing complex information, and the ability to engage confidently with a wide range of stakeholders. Strong organisational skills, experience coordinating meetings and events, and the ability to analyse and present information clearly are essential. And most importantly, you will be passionate about community engagement, reducing health inequalities and ensuring local people have a genuine voice in shaping services.

If you are motivated by making a real difference and want to help shape the future of healthcare across Essex, we would love to hear from you

About us

NHS Essex ICB is a statutory organisation responsible for the planning and funding of NHS services for around 1.9 million people across Essex. Our role as an ICB is to bring health and care services together, improve the health and wellbeing of our population and ensure equitable access to services and outcome for everyone. The organisations headquarters is Seax House, Chelmsford, and we operate a hybrid working model (2 office-based days) that includes working across Essex and from home. Essex ICB currently has offices in Brentwood, Harlow and Colchester, in addition to the Chelmsford HQ.

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that values diversity. We know that different experiences, ideas and perspectives help create a stronger and more innovative organisation that delivers better outcomes for patients. We welcome applications from all backgrounds, including people of all ages, disabilities, sex, gender identity or expression, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or personal circumstances. Our policies ensure all applicants are treated fairly and consistently throughout the recruitment process, including consideration of reasonable adjustments for disabled applicants.

Please note that the organisation does not hold a sponsorship licence

Details

• Date posted: 04 September 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 5
• Salary: £32,073 to £39,043 a year
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Full-time, Flexible working
• Reference number: D9708-MSE560
• Job locations: Seax House, Victoria Road South, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 1QH, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

ROLE PURPOSE / SUMMARY

The Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) is a new organisation formed through the consolidation of three ICB areas in response to the NHSs ambition to deliver a more streamlined, strategic and cost-effective model of health commissioning. The ICB will oversee the commissioning of care for the approximately 2 million people who live in Essex. Operating within a reduced running cost envelope and aligned to the new requirements of ICBs in England, the ICB will focus on improving population health outcomes, health equity and smarter resource allocation.

The Neighbourhood Engagement Officer will support delivery of the NHS Essex Population Health Improvement Plan (PHIP) 20262031 by ensuring the experiences, needs and priorities of local people and communities inform the design, commissioning and improvement of health services.

Working across defined neighbourhoods, the post holder will build and maintain relationships with residents, community groups, Healthwatch, VCSE organisations, primary care and other local partners, with a particular focus on communities experiencing poorer health outcomes, deprivation or barriers to accessing services.

The role will provide practical engagement support to PHIP priority programmes, including Neighbourhood Health, alongside other transformation priorities including community services, planned care, mental health and neurodiversity, urgent care and complex care.

The post holder will support the capture of local insight, help identify emerging themes and inequalities, and translate what communities are telling us into clear, evidence-based recommendations for programme and commissioning teams. They will help demonstrate how insight has influenced decisions, service design and improvement.

The role will ensure engagement is undertaken early enough to influence decisions and is proportionate to the programme or service change.

In doing so, the post holder will contribute directly to delivery of the PHIP and the three shifts set out in the NHS 10-Year Health Plan: hospital to community, treatment to prevention and analogue to digital, while supporting NHS Essex's ambition to reduce health inequalities and improve outcomes for its population.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Policy and service development

Support delivery of engagement requirements across agreed NHS Essex PHIP priority programmes, ensuring patient and community insight is embedded within programme planning, service redesign and commissioning.

Work with PHIP programme leads to identify where engagement, co-production and community insight can add greatest value and develop proportionate approaches to involvement.

Support engagement relating to priority neighbourhood health programmes, alongside other PHIP priorities as required.

Ensure engagement activity considers the PHIP life-course ambitions Start Well, Live Well, Feel Well, Age Well, Die Well and Respond Well and the cross-cutting ambition to reduce health inequalities.

Identify opportunities for communities to influence services before key commissioning and programme decisions are made, rather than relying solely on retrospective feedback.

Support programme teams and wider organisation to demonstrate "you said, we did", providing evidence of how community insight has influenced decisions and service improvements.

Strategy and analysis

Collect, record and summarise feedback and insights from engagement activities to inform planning and service development.

Support analysis of engagement outcomes to identify emerging issues, themes and opportunities for improvement.

Maintain accurate records of participation, ensuring data and insight are shared with relevant teams.

Helps present insights and reports, drawing on complex data, that can be used to inform decision making and delivery

Use of data and insight to contribute to reporting, including performance management, financial and quality reporting against agreed contractual or project deliverables

Work with colleagues to ensure engagement outcomes inform ongoing neighbourhood priorities.

Track where recommendations have been considered, accepted or acted upon and contribute evidence demonstrating the impact of engagement on PHIP delivery.

Identify emerging issues and escalate significant themes, risks or inequalities through appropriate programme and ICB governance arrangements.

Planning and organisation

Plan and support delivery of engagement events, focus groups, surveys and workshops within defined neighbourhoods.

Support development and delivery of project plans relating to Neighbourhood Engagement Officer, helping develop effective arrangements to support governance, risk management, escalations and reporting

Support coordination of meetings and events to support delivery of project plans

Capturing effective minutes, actions and decisions from meetings and events

Manage competing priorities, prioritizing own resources to effectively deliver agreed tasks or projects

Maintain an event calendar and ensure all activities are recorded and evaluated.

Support preparation of communication materials, newsletters and digital updates.

Ensure activities are well organised, inclusive and aligned to ICB governance processes.

Ensure accurate reporting and records management

Communications and Partnerships

Work collaboratively, modelling inclusive, respectful and compassionate behaviours

Supports development of high quality written and verbal briefings

Build and maintain effective relationships with residents, local community groups and voluntary sector partners.

Act as a point of contact for community organisations and individuals wishing to engage with the ICB.

Support clear, two-way communication between neighbourhood health teams and local people.

Promote awareness of the Neighbourhood Health Service and its priorities.

Represent the ICB at community events and partnership meetings.

Work effectively in multi-disciplinary teams to help deliver agreed projects / manage directorate

Effective management of complex, sensitive and challenging information

Financial and resource management

Supporting monitoring and reporting of expenditure related to engagement activities.

Ensure resources are used efficiently and within approved budgets.

Contribute to procurement and coordination of materials, venues and supplies for community events.

Maintain accurate financial and administrative records in line with ICB policy.

Support funding applications and evaluation of community grants where appropriate.

Supports procurement of relevant services

Team management and capability building

Supporting directorate oversight of workforce reporting, including reporting on key metrics

Work collaboratively within the neighbourhood health team to support delivery of community engagement objectives.

Participate in team meetings, supervision and performance reviews.

Contribute to a positive and inclusive team culture that values community voice.

Act in accordance with the ICBs values, promoting respect, diversity and continuous improvement.

Supports wider understanding of projects across the ICB and system

Able to influence in order to deliver effectively through others

Support the effective transition of relevant functions to new portfolios within or beyond the ICB to support the new NHS operating model, in line with the requirements of the Model ICB Blueprint

Work collaboratively with system partners to facilitate transitional arrangements

Maintain a focus on quality, safety and affordability during transition

Supporting effective Information Asset Management for the team

Other

Use initiative and work independently as needed to deliver on requirements of the role

Primarily desk-based work that requires use of visual display units, focused concentration and frequent participation in on-line or in person meetings

Able to use software required to develop report, including ability to deliver high quality documents through Microsoft suite (word, power point, excel)

Flexibility and evolving responsibilities

As the ICB continues to evolve, portfolios may be subject to change to reflect the needs of the organisation, the health and care system and national policy direction. This may include adjustments to areas of responsibility or realignment of reporting structures.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Internal:

The new Neighbourhood Health directorate and relevant leads across other teams to establish a matrix working approach including but not exclusive to;

Communications and Engagement teams

Population Health, Digital, Finance, Communications and Strategy teams

Quality, Workforce and Governance colleagues

External:

Local residents and community groups

Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) partners

Primary Care Networks and GP practices

Community and Mental Health providers

Local Authority Public Health and Adult Social Care teams

Healthwatch and other patient engagement forums