94 - Operational Stakeholder Engagement Manager in Swansea

Purpose of the post

As Operational Stakeholder Manager you will:

• Support public affairs and stakeholder engagement activity across the IMA, helping to deliver the organisation’s role in promoting and monitoring rights under the Withdrawal Agreements.
• Contribute to the coordination and attendance of stakeholder meetings and engagement events, including in-person activities, ensuring agreed processes are followed and relevant information is gathered for briefings and shared with appropriate teams.
• Assist in identifying opportunities to raise awareness of the IMA’s work with parliamentarians and relevant committees, supporting wider public affairs engagement.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with key stakeholders, including stakeholder contacts across government and relevant external organisations and other contacts, ensuring engagement activity is well supported and collaborative.
• Monitor and analyse matters raised through plenary meetings, committee hearings, and other relevant proceedings relating to the IMA’s remit.
• Work closely with internal teams such as Secretariat and Communications to help ensure a coordinated and well-documented approach to stakeholder and public affairs activity, in line with knowledge and information management requirements.
• Accurately record and share information through agreed systems to support effective stakeholder engagement processes across the IMA.
• Represent the IMA at external meetings and events, promoting the organisation’s work and role in protecting citizens’ rights.
• Assist with the development and maintenance of Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to support effective engagement with stakeholders.
• Help implement wider stakeholder engagement activities, including engagement with citizens, representative groups, public authorities, and devolved administrations.
• Support the delivery and communication of operational activity by helping to prepare briefings and correspondence for senior leaders, and ensuring stakeholder engagement activity is effectively recorded and retained.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across Operations, Legal, Governance & Corporate Services, and Communications to ensure engagement is well-coordinated and aligned with organisational objectives.
• Work with senior colleagues to support delivery of agreed stakeholder engagement priorities, providing timely updates, stakeholder insight and briefing material and supporting the team in delivering its operational responsibilities.

The postholder will work under the direction of the Operational Stakeholder Engagement Lead (Grade 7) and within priorities and frameworks set by the Deputy Director, Operational Stakeholder Engagement (Grade 6).

To be successful in this role it is likely that you’ll be someone who:

• Demonstrates initiative and the ability to work independently, consistently meeting deadlines and making sound decisions within agreed guidance and delegated authority.
• Shows resilience when providing robust input, challenge and recommendations to colleagues, particularly in the context of supporting public affairs engagement, managing stakeholder relationships, and coordinating activities across internal teams.
• Demonstrates a strong understanding of the UK system of government, Parliament and devolved administrations, including the role of Ministers, senior officials, and parliamentary committees, and how these interact with public bodies.
• Possesses excellent communication skills and a keen political awareness, adept at identifying and sustaining key stakeholder relationships and adapting messages to different audiences.
• Is a skilled communicator who can effectively convey the IMA’s narrative, tailoring messages to inform and engage stakeholders and service users in line with agreed communications and engagement plans.
• Uses evidence and stakeholder insight to identify themes, issues and opportunities, producing clear options and recommendations for senior colleagues and escalating sensitive, novel or high-risk matters appropriately.
• Supports a positive team culture through effective collaboration, knowledge sharing and continuous improvement of stakeholder engagement processes.
• Encourages cross-team collaboration and helps to embed best practice.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Support public affairs and stakeholder engagement activity across the IMA, contributing to delivery of the organisation’s role in promoting and monitoring rights under the Withdrawal Agreements.
• Coordinate and attend stakeholder meetings and engagement events, including in-person activity, ensuring agreed processes are followed. This includes gathering information for briefings and completing actions to share outputs with relevant teams.
• Support public affairs engagement by helping to identify opportunities to raise awareness of the IMA’s work with parliamentarians and relevant committees and assisting with engagement activity.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with key stakeholders, including relevant parliamentary, government and external stakeholder contacts, to support delivery of agreed engagement activity and ensure appropriate coordination with senior colleagues.
• Work collaboratively with internal teams, including Secretariat and Communications, to ensure a coordinated and well-documented approach to stakeholder and public affairs activity, in line with knowledge and information management (KIM) requirements.
• Represent the IMA at external meetings and events at an operational level, promoting the organisation’s work and role in protecting citizens’ rights in line with agreed lines, engagement plans and delegated authority, escalating sensitive or high-risk issues as appropriate.
• Support wider stakeholder engagement activity, including engagement with citizens, representative groups, public authorities and devolved administrations.
• Help implement and maintain effective stakeholder engagement processes across the IMA, ensuring information is accurately recorded and shared through agreed systems.
• Assist with the development and maintenance of Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to support effective engagement with stakeholders, coordinating inputs, tracking actions and maintaining version control and records.
• Provide timely updates and contributions to briefings for senior staff and the Executive Team, through the Operational Stakeholder Engagement Lead, on stakeholder engagement activity and emerging issues, including summarising key themes, risks and opportunities and proposing practical next steps within agreed guidance.
• Monitor and analyse matters raised at plenary meetings, committee hearings, and similar forums that relate to the IMA’s work, highlighting relevant implications for operational delivery and escalating where issues are novel, sensitive or cross-cutting.

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post and are not intended to be exhaustive.

Essential Skills

• Ability to build, manage and sustain effective relationships with a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Understanding of parliamentary and public-sector environments, with the ability to support engagement with parliamentarians and committees.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including producing clear briefings and updates for senior leaders.
• Ability to plan, coordinate and follow up stakeholder meetings and engagement activities efficiently and accurately.
• Proven ability to work effectively with internal teams to deliver a coordinated and joined-up engagement approach.
• Confidence in representing the organisation externally and explaining its role and priorities clearly and credibly within agreed lines and delegated authority.
• Ability to improve engagement materials/tools and approaches within agreed plans.
• Strong attention to detail in recording, managing and sharing stakeholder information in line with KIM requirements.
• Ability to identify emerging issues from engagement activity and provide timely, proportionate updates to senior staff.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Working Together (Lead behaviour)
• Seeing the Bigger Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Please refer to our candidate pack for further information about the role and the IMA.