Group Public Affairs - Manager in West Bromwich

Lloyds Banking Group is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with a heritage spanning over 325 years and a clear purpose: Helping Britain Prosper. We serve more than 26 million customers and nearly one million businesses - playing a pivotal role in the UK economy and society by supporting households, businesses and communities to thrive. As the UK's biggest infrastructure bank and one of the largest providers of pensions and insurance, we help finance projects that drive growth, enable innovation and shape Britain's future.

Our policy and political engagement work reflects this breadth of interests. We engage with politicians, policymakers and regulators on critical issues such as housing, infrastructure, agriculture and financial inclusion.

We're looking for an outstanding public affairs and policy professional to join our Group Corporate Affairs function - widely recognised as one of the most effective and respected corporate affairs teams in the FTSE 100 - as a Manager. The work is exciting, varied and, at times, fast paced: you'll be supporting senior leaders and experts within the Group as we work through what government policy means for our interests, and engaging with ministers, MPs, local leaders and civil servants to advocate for policy change and share our insights. We're particularly interested in hearing from public affairs and policy professionals with knowledge and experience of consumer finance issues, financial inclusion and/or financial empowerment.

As part of this role, you'll need to hold frequent in person visits to collaborators in Westminster.

What you'll be doing:

• Identify, develop and advocate for the Group's positioning on UK and devolved government policy. This will involve close collaboration with the GPA senior management team.
• Represent the Group and its policy positions at various external functions and meetings including with government, MPs, local leaders, civil servants, trade bodies and other opinion formers, build relationships and identifying opportunities to set out the Group's views.
• Write informative and concise political briefings for use by the Group Executive Committee, Board members and other senior leaders to facilitate effective political stakeholder management across the Group.
• Provide leadership, input and help coordinate responses to government consultations that may affect the Group or our customers.
• Carry out monitoring of appropriate political issues arising from the main UK institutions which may affect the Group and its customers, including Parliamentary monitoring.
• Take a leading role in organising top tier events with politicians and other corporate partners, ensuring both internal and external participants are appropriately briefed.
• Maximise the positive impact of Group announcements with political audiences and work with the business divisions to develop ideas for activity that can be showcased to politicians.
• Work with the relevant business teams to interrogate and respond to enquiries from MPs, ensuring they are handled with appropriate sensitivity and diligence.

What we're looking for:

• Recent working experience of Westminster politics, civil service, policy think tanks or local government. We are particularly interested in hearing from candidates with five or more years' experience.
• Ideally, demonstrable knowledge and experience of the consumer finance, financial inclusion and/or financial empowerment policy landscape.
• An ability to communicate confidently with high profile politicians and civil servants and, ideally, an existing network, underpinned by a proven ability to write and engage persuasively and authoritatively.
• Energy and passion to develop policy that addresses problems government and society are grappling with in a way that enhances the reputation and interests of Lloyds Banking Group.
• Ability to deliver counsel to senior leaders, both within and beyond the Group, in a manner which is compelling and authoritative.
• Ability to analyse and interrogate quantitative and qualitative data sets, assessing trends and insight to aid formulation of new policies.
• Ability to think strategically and assess long-term implications of policy proposals.
• A natural curiosity about politics, public policy and the UK's socio-economic challenges.
• A willingness to work flexibly in a fast-paced environment in order to meet urgent demands from both internal and external partners.

About working for us:

Our ambition is to be the leading UK business for diversity, equity and inclusion supporting our customers, colleagues and communities and we're committed to creating an environment in which everyone can thrive, learn and develop. We were one of the first major organisations to set goals on diversity in senior roles, create a menopause health package, and a dedicated Working with Cancer Initiative. We offer reasonable workplace adjustments for colleagues with disabilities, including flexibility in office attendance, location and working patterns. And, as a Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee interviews for a fair and proportionate number of applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role with a disability, long‐term health or neurodivergent condition through the Disability Confident Scheme. We provide reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process to reduce or remove barriers. Just let us know what you need.

Benefits:

• A generous pension contribution of up to 15%
• An annual performance‐related bonus
• Share schemes including free shares
• Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping
• 30 days holiday, with bank holidays on top
• A range of wellbeing initiatives and generous parental leave policies

If you're excited by the thought of becoming part of our team, get in touch. We'd love to hear from you!