External Affairs Manager

Charity People is delighted to be partnering once again with the largest NHS mental health charity in the UK to recruit an External Affairs and Influencing Manager. A hugely exciting new role within the Communications team at the charity, the postholder will work across media, external affairs and influencing to engage with key stakeholders, boost the charity's profile, and promote learning and adoption of the solutions the organisation funds.

You will be responsible for sharing evidence and learning in order to influence the people who fund, adopt and commission mental health care and services, and will work closely with the CEO to increase engagement with policy work which the charity undertakes through its work in coalitions.

Contract: Full time, permanent role

Location: Hybrid role between home and London office, with two days per week in the Denmark Hill office

First round interviews will be held remotely on: Thursday 13th August

The charity funds and supports clinical, academic, and community partners to ensure that everyone experiencing mental illness can access the right care, while using insights from their work to drive wider improvements across the UK.

• Develop and deliver influencing plans to promote adoption of effective mental health care initiatives being funded by the charity.
• Develop productive relationships with key stakeholders (journalists, NHS trust leaders, ICBs, ICSs, VCSE orgs) to gather intelligence and shape strategy to inform the charity's positioning.
• Lead the charity's thought leadership development providing strategic advice to senior leadership on political, NHS and mental health policy developments.
• Strengthen the charity's role in mental health policy and advocacy coalitions, by contributing to collaborative advocacy, media and communications outputs.
• Lead the charity's response to government mental health care consultations and calls for evidence.
• Media management.
• Create persuasive materials, including press releases, op-eds, spokespeople briefings, comment pieces, and digital content and pitch to relevant outlets.
• Maintain and grow relationships with journalists, broadcasters and sector media to secure relevant high-quality coverage of the charity's activities, grant holders and their projects.
• Experience of stakeholder management within mental health care, including NHS Trust leaders, Integrated Care Boards, commissioners and senior clinicians, and with academics and researchers.
• Keen understanding of the NHS, mental health policy landscape, and the related environment, key stakeholders and sector drivers.
• Understanding of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion principles and a commitment to apply them in your work and as an organisation.
• Communication skills and the ability to produce clear and effective communications and the ability to confidently and accurately represent the organisation externally.
• Written and editorial skills including the ability to craft narratives for different external audiences and communicate the charity's work in press releases, articles, policy briefs.

The charity is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and strongly encourages applications from underrepresented backgrounds. We welcome applications from non-graduates.

The Charity is an equal opportunities employer, and makes no discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and sex. Charity People is a forward thinking, inclusive organisation that actively and deliberately promotes equity, diversity and inclusion.