Head of Communication and Engagement

Main area: Communications and Engagement

Grade: NHS AfC: Band 8b

Contract: Fixed term: 6 months (6 months to cover secondment)

Hours: Full time, Flexible working, 37.5 hours per week (An agile working model to allow flexibility between home and office-based working.)

Employer: Health Education and Improvement Wales

Site: Ty Dysgu, Town: Nantgarw

Salary: £67,583 - £78,530 per annum

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 25/06/2026 23:59

Interview date: 06/07/2026

We are committed to promoting inclusion at HEIW and we welcome applications from everybody recognising the value that diversity brings to our workforce.

To work in the UK, candidates who are not UK or Republic of Ireland (ROI) nationals require sponsorship via a Skilled Worker Visa, unless they have permission to work via another route. Please note that HEIW does not currently hold a licence to appoint skilled workers from overseas by sponsoring them to work in the UK. If successful, candidates from outside of the UK or ROI would be responsible for obtaining their own sponsorship or visa to enable them to work for HEIW.

The salary scale for a Band 8b has been adjusted as part of the NHS Agenda for Change pay award for 2026/2027 and will be implemented in August 2026 backdated to 01 April 2026 where applicable.

Job overview: HEIW is seeking an Interim Head of Communications and Engagement to provide operational leadership, professional oversight and strategic support during a six month secondment period. The role will focus on maintaining a stable, well managed and high performing Communications and Engagement function during a period of significant organisational delivery, prioritisation and ongoing service development. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced communications and engagement professional who is ready to step into a broader leadership role within a supportive but fast paced environment.

Main duties of the job:

• Providing day‑to‑day operational oversight of the Comms and Engagement function, ensuring effective delivery against agreed organisational priorities and objectives.
• Working closely with the Communications and Engagement Manager to maintain coordinated operational delivery, prioritisation and effective day‑to‑day management across the team.
• Working closely with the Assistant Director, Strategic Partnerships, Engagement and Insight to support strategic comms activity, national messaging and stakeholder engagement across priority areas.
• Overseeing delivery of comms and engagement activity across priority programmes and organisational workstreams.
• Leading coordinated media handling, reputational management and communications responses across organisational and national priority issues.
• Maintaining effective governance, standards, accountability and performance management across the Comms and Engagement function.
• Managing operational communications risks, including appropriate escalation and issue management.
• Supporting effective planning, reporting, team development and collaborative working across the Comms and Engagement function.
• Providing line management and development support for the Senior Comms Officers.

Working for our organisation: Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) is the strategic workforce body for NHS Wales with statutory functions that include education and training, workforce planning, workforce development and transformation, leadership and succession planning, and careers. Our purpose is to develop a workforce that delivers excellent care to patients/service users and excellent population health. We are a Special Health Authority working closely with our partners; Social Care Wales, education providers, professional and regulatory bodies and Welsh Government. HEIW is committed to developing an internal culture of choice. Our Values reflect our thoughts, feelings and beliefs in how we will, and will not, behave and treat others:

• Respect for All in every contact we have with others.
• Ideas that Improve: Harnessing creativity and continuously innovating, evaluating and improving.
• Together as a Team: Working with colleagues across NHS Wales and with partner organisations.

HEIW received the HPMA Award for Employee Engagement in 2019.

What you can expect:

• A corporate induction and 90 day Welcome itinerary.
• A meaningful values based performance appraisal process.
• The opportunity to impact upon health and social care services and the lives and well being of the people of Wales.

Many of our colleagues and stakeholders have commented on the buzz and atmosphere we create by working together as “One HEIW Team”.

Person specification:

Qualifications and Knowledge:

• Educated to Masters level (or equivalent senior level experience in a communication, marketing and journalism or other post graduate qualification).
• Professional qualification (e.g. Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Or Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)) or equivalent.
• Evidence of continuing professional development and leadership development.
• Extensive knowledge of strategic communications, stakeholder engagement, media relations and reputation management.
• Understanding of public sector governance, political awareness and the wider NHS Wales environment.
• Knowledge of digital communications, social media and contemporary communications approaches.
• Knowledge of performance measurement, evaluation and use of data and insight to inform decision making.
• Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Or Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) membership.
• Knowledge of NHS Wales structures, workforce priorities and health policy.
• Knowledge of public consultation and engagement methodologies.
• Understanding of Welsh Language Standards and the role of Welsh language in public services.

Experience:

• Substantial senior level experience leading communications and engagement functions within a complex organisation.
• Experience developing and delivering strategic communications and engagement strategies.
• Experience advising Boards, Executive Directors and senior leaders on highly complex, sensitive, contentious and high‑profile issues requiring significant professional judgement.
• Experience leading organisational responses to reputational, political or media‑sensitive issues.
• Experience developing communications policy, governance arrangements or organisation‑wide strategic frameworks.
• Experience leading media relations, reputation management and crisis communications activity.
• Experience managing organisational change communications and stakeholder engagement programmes.
• Experience leading and developing teams, including performance management and staff development.
• Experience managing budgets, contracts and external suppliers.
• Experience building and maintaining effective relationships with senior stakeholders across multiple organisations and sectors.
• Experience of developing performance measures, reporting frameworks and using insight and data to inform decision making.
• Experience working within NHS Wales or the wider public sector.
• Experience working with Ministers, Government officials, elected representatives or political stakeholders.
• Experience leading communications for large‑scale transformation or service change programmes.

Skills and attributes:

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to influence, negotiate and build credibility at senior levels.
• Ability to analyse complex information and develop practical communications and engagement solutions.
• Strong strategic thinking, planning and organisational skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and deliver under pressure.
• Strong leadership and people management skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively across organisational and professional boundaries.
• Highly developed stakeholder management and relationship‑building skills.
• Strong presentation, facilitation and influencing skills.
• Ability to exercise sound judgement when dealing with sensitive, contentious or confidential information.
• Commitment to continuous improvement and innovation.
• High levels of personal resilience, integrity and professionalism.
• Ability to communicate through the medium of Welsh. Welsh language skills are desirable at Levels 1–5 in understanding, speaking, reading and writing Welsh.

Other:

• Ability to travel across Wales and attend meetings at multiple locations.

It is essential that your application demonstrates how you meet the job description / person specification for this post.