Job overview
The post holder will be expected to support the business needs of the Finance and Commercial Directorate. You can be reassigned to different directorates as the business priorities for NHS England change and develop.
The post holder will work as part of a dynamic team in delivering an effective service supporting managers and staff across their assigned role. They will manage high quality, insight-led communications and engagement for their assigned area(s) that is measurable, impactful and helps policy, products and services to succeed. The role will develop communications and engagement strategies and plans for their assigned area(s).
Main duties of the job
- Manage the development compelling, integrated, content to best achieve the aims and objectives in their assigned area(s) contributing to forward-planning and gridding processes
- Managing communications and engagement objectives for assigned area(s), aligning them to the communications objectives for NHSE and the overall strategy and business plan of NHSE,
- Manage strategic collaboration and coordination with national, regional and other directorate communications functions in delivering against the directorate, national communications and organisational strategic objectives.
- Deliver high quality communications content as required
- Brief and support members of the Directorate Executive ahead of media and stakeholder engagement events as required
- Spot communications opportunities and risks and work with the national communications team to manage them as required
- Works on own initiative yet recognises when an issue warrants escalation
- Provide support to directorate teams on all aspects of their stakeholder engagement.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
As Senior Communications and Engagement Manager working in the Public Accountability Communications and Engagement (PACE) directorate, the post holder will need to have the ability to work flexibly across portfolios and teams, and with multiple stakeholders, helping to sustain communications and engagement support for operational teams and the wider system while broadening skills and expertise across the function.
The role will help drive transformation, strengthen public accountability and support clear communications on policy, operational delivery, national commissioning, finance, commercial and estates activity, ensuring complex decisions and service changes are explained in ways that are accessible, relevant and meaningful for patients, carers and the public.
The successful candidate will report to the Head of Communications and Engagement and work with senior leaders, policy and operational colleagues, as well as external partners and stakeholders and crucially also support regional teams and partners across the PACE function. You could support communications and engagement activities for:
- Health and justice, armed forces commissioning, sexual assault services commissioning, including engagement with vulnerable patient groups and partners across government, the NHS and the voluntary sector
- Specialised commissioning priorities, helping explain complex national services, clinical policy, service change and statutory engagement requirements clearly
- Genomics communications, including complex policy, service development and stakeholder engagement with clinical, patient and system audiences
- Commercial, procurement and supply chain communications, including, supplier engagement and work with DHSC, NHS Supply Chain and other national partners
- Estates and facilities communications, including capital programmes, RAAC, sustainability, infrastructure and wider patient safety risks across the NHS estate
- Finance communications, helping explain NHS financial priorities, value for money and complex funding issues
- High-profile reactive, media and stakeholder issues, ensuring communications are timely, accurate and aligned across organisations
You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.
Secondments
Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only, agreement should be obtained from their employer prior to submitting the application.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to masters level or equivalent level of experience of working at a senior level in specialist area.
Values and Behaviours
Essential
- Appreciates the importance of communications and engagement in delivering for patients, improving services and supporting frontline staff.
- Works across boundaries, looks for collective success, listens, involves, respects and learns from the contribution of others
- Works well with others, is positive and helpful, listens, involves, respects and learns from the contribution of others.
- Needs to have a thorough understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships both in terms of day-to-day working practices, but also in relation to management systems.
Knowledge and experience
Essential
- Excellent understanding, knowledge and skill in a range of communications disciplines from the following: strategic communications, internal communications, media relations, events, behaviour change, campaigns, marketing, reputation management, change management, stakeholder engagement, project management and public affairs.
- Significant experience of working simultaneously on multiple communications and engagement activities, with excellent project management, planning and coordination across a range of communications and engagement disciplines and channels
- Significant experience of insight and audience research to develop communications and engagement activities and evaluate outcomes
- Robust knowledge of communications planning in an agile way to enable a fast response to changing circumstances that may include new operating environments, the rapid introduction of new policies, products or services, and political and business uncertainty.
Skills, Capabilities & Attributes
Essential
- Demonstrate excellent levels of written and verbal communication, with the ability explain complicated issues fluently and persuasively. Excellent ability to spot the “story” in the detail of policy, whether that be one of opportunity or risk.
- Able to quickly understand complex health, social care, political and business issues and to use that understanding to develop effective approaches, providing advice to staff and colleagues. Ability to manage the developme
- Confidently engage with stakeholders to generate commitment to goals.
- Recognise when business or communications activity is likely to create risk and consult with senior colleagues, contributing to resolving the problem with the ability to anticipate and resolve problems before they arise.
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Senior Communications and Engagement Manager with NHS England in Any NHSE Office. It is listed as a Band 8 Administrative and IT role. The advertised salary is £57,528 - £64,750 per annum (exclusive of London Weighting). The contract type is Fixed term: 7 months (until 31 March 2027 - Secondment only for current NHS employees). The application deadline is 08 Sep 2026.
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