Senior Manager Public Affairs

What you’ll be doing:

• Developing and leading the Public Affairs strategy to raise the profile, influence and voice of the CIPD with key political, policy maker, business and opinion former audiences, in support of the CIPD’s overall purpose, vision and priority themes.
• Improving the impact of our public policy work with government and raise the profile of our policy work with the HR profession, CIPD members and potential commercial partners.
• Working with the Marketing & Communications team to ensure that public affairs activity is integrated into our social media output, member content and where appropriate translated into high profile media coverage for the CIPD.
• Managing and developing the public affairs team, ensuring it is fully integrated strategically into business planning and supports the delivery of the wider strategy.
• Working collaboratively with and supporting the Head of Public Policy and Practice with the annual budgetary, content and engagement planning process for Policy, including drafting and managing the annual budget for public affairs, evaluating suppliers and supporting quarterly budget reviews.
• Providing expert strategic advice to the Chief Executive, the senior leadership team and the Heads of the departments on all matters of political engagement and policy influencing for the organisation, including understanding key organisational opportunities and reputational risks.
• Creating regular reports for the Board and wider organisation to outline progress on the public affairs strategy and key milestones for the public policy reach and profile.
• Developing the CIPD’s network of relevant political, policy maker and opinion former stakeholders, maximising CIPD’s engagement and influence with key Ministers, Special Advisors, Civil Servants and Parliamentarians.

What you’ll need to be successful:

• A strategic understanding of the political landscape, institutions and processes and how they can support organizational objectives.
• Established experience of working in a strategic role advising senior leaders in the political, policy and/or public affairs environment.
• Experience of working with senior policy stakeholders and the media.
• Experience of developing and delivering an effective public affairs strategy that aligns wider organisational objectives.
• Strong interpersonal and communications skills and clearly demonstrating the ability to build and maintain effective relationships.
• Experienced at representing organisations in the media and in advising on and drafting media lines aligned with policy and public affairs objectives.
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to manage projects independently, often at short notice and to tight deadlines.
• Experience of writing for different audiences, including letters to parliamentarians, policy briefings, research, and social media content.
• Experience of people management and in managing and developing a small team.
• Experience of managing external consultants to support the work of the team.

About us:

We’ve been championing better work and working lives for over 100 years. We help organisations thrive by focusing on their people, supporting our economies and societies. We’re the professional body for HR, L&D, OD and all people professionals – experts in people, work and change. With over 160,000 members globally – and a growing community using our research, insights and learning – we give trusted advice and offer independent thought leadership. And we are a leading voice in the call for good work that creates value for everyone. There has never been a more interesting or important time to join us.

We offer an inclusive and stimulating culture and a wide range of professional development opportunities, as well as excellent benefits such as 28 days’ holiday with an option to buy and sell days, personal development allowance, access to an award winning pension scheme and a commitment to wellbeing including a cashback health scheme.

If this role describes you and your career aspirations, click APPLY. CIPD empowering people, valuing difference.

At the CIPD, we believe that every person brings unique perspectives, experiences and strengths that enrich our workplaces and communities. We see diversity as the wide range of visible and non-visible differences that make each of us who we are — including, but not limited to: age, colour, disability, ethnicity, education, gender identity, neurodiversity, religion or belief, relationship status, sex, sexual orientation, socio-economic background and other personal and protected characteristics and experiences.

Research continues to show that equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), drives better decision-making, innovation and problem-solving and in turn better organisational business outcomes. By embracing our differences and creating equal opportunities and inclusive cultures we can build environments where everyone feels respected, valued and able to thrive — and where both organisational and individual goals are achieved.

We are determined to ensuring employment policy and practice promote and deliver EDI at every stage of the employment relationship. This includes not only recognising and understanding how each individuals personal and protected characteristics can either advantage or disadvantage employment experiences and outcomes, but also to continually strengthen our understanding and sharing the benefits EDI.

Please note, we reserve the right to close or extend this position depending on application numbers. Therefore, we would urge you to submit an application as soon as possible.