Business and Stakeholder Liaison Officer

Kent County Council; Ashford; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

Kent County Council in Ashford seeks a capable Business and Stakeholder Liaison Officer to join the Road Safety and Active Travel Group. You will coordinate engagement, draft stakeholder plans and help communities shape highway and active travel schemes.

You will work with project teams, elected Members and partners, ensure accessible communications, maintain records and support equality considerations throughout consultations.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to manage diverse stakeholders and communities.
• Ability to develop clear, accessible engagement materials.
• Experience supporting consultation activities and events.

Responsibilities

• Develop stakeholder and communications plans for schemes and identify involved groups.
• Support early engagement and help project teams understand local views and needs.
• Plan and coordinate public consultations with the Engagement and Consultation Team.
• Create clear, accessible communications for communities to respond to.
• Coordinate engagement activities including events, meetings, workshops and digital engagement.
• Maintain records and assist with Equality Impact Assessments and accessibility considerations.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Communication

Engagement planning

Organisational skills

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Business and Stakeholder Liaison Officer

Role Responsibility

Help us put communities at the heart of how we deliver highway and active travel schemes

Are you a confident communicator who enjoys bringing people together, making complex information accessible and ensuring communities have a meaningful opportunity to shape the projects that affect them?

We are looking for an enthusiastic and organised Business and Stakeholder Liaison Officer to join our Road Safety and Active Travel Group.

This is a varied role at the heart of our programme, supporting the communication, engagement and consultation activity that accompanies road safety, walking, wheeling and cycling improvement schemes across Kent.

You will work closely with project managers, elected Members, internal and external stakeholders, Districts & Boroughs, communities and KCC's specialist Engagement and Consultation colleagues to make sure engagement starts early, the right people are involved and our communications are clear and inclusive.

About the role

No two projects are the same. You will provide practical communications, engagement and consultation support to the Active Travel team, working with project teams from the early stages of schemes through design and delivery. This could involve developing stakeholder and communications plans, organising community events, creating consultation materials, responding to enquiries, and helping project teams understand and act on feedback from residents and stakeholders.

Your work will include:

• Developing stakeholder and communications plans for schemes and identifying the residents, businesses, Members, parish and district councils, community organisations and other groups that should be involved.
• Supporting early engagement, helping project teams understand local views, needs and concerns while proposals are still developing.
• Planning and coordinating public consultations in partnership with KCC's Engagement and Consultation Team, including consultation plans, documents, questionnaires and supporting material.
• Creating clear, accessible communications that communities can understand and respond to.
• Coordinating consultation and engagement activities, including public events, stakeholder meetings, workshops, correspondence and digital engagement.
• Supporting Equality Impact Assessments and ensuring equality and accessibility considerations inform engagement and consultation activity.
• Maintaining clear records and audit trails of engagement, consultation and stakeholder communications.
• Monitoring feedback and preparing consultation and engagement summaries, helping project teams understand the key themes and issues raised.
• Supporting project communications, including scheme web pages, FAQs, start-of-works information, letters, posters and stakeholder updates.

About you

You don't necessarily need to be a highways expert. We are looking for someone who can quickly understand a project, identify who needs to be involved and help colleagues communicate clearly and confidently.

You'll be:

• confident working with communities and a wide range of internal and external stakeholders
• highly organised and able to coordinate activities across several projects at different stages
• able to listen to different viewpoints and deal professionally with sensitive or challenging issues
• confident using Microsoft Office and digital communication tools
• accurate and attentive to detail, particularly when handling consultation material, correspondence and records
• able to work independently while building effective relationships across different teams
• committed to inclusive engagement and ensuring people have appropriate opportunities to contribute
• interested in road safety, sustainable transport, active travel and improving places for Kent's communities.

Previous experience of engagement, consultation, communications, highways, local government or project support would be advantageous.

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure Application to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

The Road Safety and Active Travel Group delivers projects that have a visible impact on communities across Kent.

You will have the opportunity to work on a diverse programme covering road safety, walking, wheeling and cycling, helping ensure that communities understand what we are proposing and that stakeholder insight is properly considered as projects develop.

You will join a supportive multidisciplinary environment, working alongside project managers, engineers and engagement specialists while developing valuable experience across communications, consultation and infrastructure delivery.

About the Company

Work that works for you and us - let's talk flexibility!

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county's working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and those with caring responsibilities, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Location Kroner House, Eurogate Business Park, Ashford, United Kingdom