Engagement Manager in Inverness

Location: Highland-wide at any Council or NHS location, with the option of blending home working

Hours: 35 hours

Duration: Fixed term contract: 6 months with the option to extend

Salary: £41,423.20-£44,899.40

Job Purpose: The Highland Council and NHS Highland are jointly reviewing the model under which health and social care services for adults and children are planned and delivered across the region. Highland currently operates a Lead Agency model, the only partnership of its kind in Scotland. They are now examining whether to enhance that model or transition to an Integration Joint Board (Body Corporate), bringing Highland in line with the rest of Scotland's health and social care partnerships. Both options are being taken forward for full engagement and consultation. No decision has been made. The purpose of this process is to hear from the people it affects, staff, communities and partners, before any recommendation is reached. A governance decision is expected in Autumn 2026.

Responsibilities: This is a role for someone who is genuinely at home in a room full of people whether that room is a community hall in Tongue, a staff forum in Inverness, or a partnership meeting involving elected members, trade union representatives and third sector colleagues. You will be the person who makes engagement happen and then makes sense of what it tells us. You will have a real understanding of what it takes to engage meaningfully with the workforce across two large, complex organisations. Staff across Highland Council and NHS Highland come from very different professional backgrounds, from community nurses in remote practices to social work teams in children's services to administrative staff in busy hubs and you will know how to reach people where they are, in ways that feel relevant to them. You will be confident working with Staff Side colleagues and trade union representatives, and comfortable navigating the sensitivities that come with a review of this kind.

Alongside staff engagement, you will coordinate a community engagement programme that genuinely reflects the breadth of Highland. That means thinking carefully about how to reach people in dispersed rural communities as well as towns, how to make engagement accessible to people who are less likely to come forward, and how to ensure that what communities tell us is treated with the seriousness it deserves. Our Engagement Hub provides an important ongoing channel for people to share their views digitally, and you will work with that platform as part of a broader engagement mix that includes in-person events and targeted approaches for under-represented groups.

Critically, this role is not just about gathering views it is about what happens next. You will have a sharp analytical mind and the ability to draw clear, well-evidenced recommendations from what you hear, translating the complexity of hundreds of individual conversations and responses into coherent insights that can genuinely inform a major governance decision. You will produce reports for senior officers and governance groups, and you will be confident defending your analysis and recommendations in a senior setting. If you thrive in complex, multi-stakeholder environments, care deeply about the quality of public engagement, and want to do work that has a genuine and lasting impact on communities across Highland, we would very much like to hear from you.

How to apply: Please contact to discuss the role in more detail. We will have a conversation outlining the requirements for the role and understanding your skills suitable to the role. I can share the full role outlines, including key responsibilities and person specification.