Senior Communications Manager (public affairs)

Transformationunitgm; London; Hybrid; GBP 54,000 - 61,000; Full time

Job summary

The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust seeks a Band 7 Senior Communications Manager to join their award-winning communications team. This role involves developing public affairs strategies and ensuring strong relationships with stakeholders while managing internal communications efficiently. The position offers the chance to impact public engagement within a dynamic NHS environment, focused on delivering excellent patient care.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable ability to meet Trust Values.
• Specialist knowledge of media, PR, and marketing processes.
• Experience of managing social media platforms and developing digital content.

Responsibilities

• Ensure effective engagement and relationships with key stakeholders.
• Develop content for internal communications and manage key strategic changes.
• Play an integral part in public affairs/stakeholder engagement.

Skills

Excellent written and oral communication skills

Analytical and data presentation

Interpersonal communication and negotiation skills

Education

Evidence of continuous professional development in communications/PR

Tools

MS Office

Intranet management systems

Job description

Main area Communications Grade NHS AfC: Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours

• Full time
• Flexible working

37.5 hours per week (On an RFL trust site 3 days per week minimum, with the option for 2 days per week from home) Job ref 391-RFL-7020933

Employer Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Royal Free Hospital campus Town Hampstead Salary £54,320 - £60,981 per annum inclusive of HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 11/06/2025 23:59

Band 7 Senior Communications Manager (public affairs)

NHS AfC: Band 7

Our trust has over 17,000 staff serving 2 million patients every year. It comprises Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and more than 30 services in the community. This larger scale organisation provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue our pioneering work, particularly in finding ways to deliver even better care to our patients.

Our mission is to deliver world class care and expertise in our clinical services, underpinned by world class teaching and research and we will continue to measure our progress against our five governing objectives: excellent outcomes, excellent patient and staff experience, excellent value for taxpayers’ money, being safe and meeting our external duties, and building a strong organisation.

Everyone is welcome at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. We're proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME, gender equality, staff carers and people with disabilities and lived experiences to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.

Exciting times lie ahead for the Royal Free London (RFL), as we start work on delivering our five-year clinical strategy and focus on our commitment to providing world class expertise and care for our communities – close to home and across the entire NHS.

The RFL’s award-winning communications department is at the heart of the trust and its four main hospitals and many satellite sites.

We provide positive, proactive, honest, and timely communications and engagement. The communications team operate in a busy working environment. We serve a wide range of audiences that include approximately 17,000 staff and over a million patients who use our services every year, plus local and national broadcast and print media and GPs.

The team develops content for a number of internal communications channels, informs staff and other key stakeholders of key strategic and operational changes, manages the RFL intranet, the trust’s newly developed website and social media channels, handles hundreds of media calls every year, and oversees the design and production of patient information.

The trust's senior communications manager (public affairs) will be responsible for ensuring effective engagement and relationships with the trust's key stakeholders.

Main duties of the job

This is a chance to work with an award-winning communications team at a time of great change and opportunity.

The Royal Free London group is leading the way in many areas of the NHS. We have recently launched our clinical strategy; merged with North Middlesex University Hospital; and our clinical teams continue to deliver UK and world firsts.

This role is an opportunity to make a real impact on how we develop our public affairs/stakeholder engagement, working closely alongside media, digital communications, and internal communications colleagues.

You will be an experienced and dynamic communications professional who will play an integral part in ensuring our key stakeholders are kept informed and updated - somebody who can hit the ground running and build strong professional relationships with key influencers.

You will be a well-rounded communicator with excellent written skills, initiative, drive and tenacity.

You will be part of a team that spends a lot of time working across all locations in the RFL group, meeting colleagues and really understanding the challenges facing the NHS, and our trust, and celebrating the achievements of colleagues.

You will role model our approach to spending a minimum of one day per week at a trust site away from our HQ, connecting with staff and developing a thorough understanding of the challenges and opportunities for our hospital and business units.

Working for our organisation

The RFL is a large NHS trust which employs more than 17,000 staff and serves a population of over 2 million people across 70 sites in north London and Hertfordshire.

Our mission is to be world class in terms of our healthcare services, clinical research and teaching excellence.

The Royal Free London’s ambition is to bring the best of the NHS to every patient — no matter which of our hospitals or services they visit.

To support us to achieve this aim, the Royal Free London group was established in 2017, when we were one of four trusts selected to develop and lead a group of NHS providers to share services and resources to improve patient experience and care.

Working side-by-side with other healthcare experts, we are sharing ways of working which we know deliver the best outcomes. By working collectively, we can reduce unnecessary variations in patient care.

We have created a blueprint to deliver world-leading healthcare for all our patients, meet growing demands on our services and create a healthier future for our local communities.

We will transform the way we deliver care, in response to the needs of our patients and the way they want to access healthcare.

With advances in digital technology, detailed health data, and the growing emphasis on prevention and integrated care, we have developed this plan to better meet our patients’ needs, alongside our relentless focus on providing world class care and local expertise.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached job description for more information about this role and working at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.

Person specification

Royal Free World Class Values

• Demonstrable ability to meet the Trust Values

Education & professional Qualifications

• Evidence of continuous professional development in communications/PR

Experience

• Specialist knowledge underpinned by theory and experience of internal communications
• Managing and leading a team, and leading integrated teams on projects and/or campaigns
• Maintaining effective relationships with organisational leadership
• Research and evaluation methods and techniques
• Working with sensitive/confidential issues
• Intranet management and content management systems
• Writing, editing, and producing publications
• Specialist knowledge of media, PR and marketing processes and techniques
• Basic NHS functions, structure, issues, and values
• Development of policies
• Design and print processes
• Experience of managing social media platforms and developing content for digital channels, particularly LinkedIn

Skills and Aptitudes

• Understanding of when team members need support to succeed with challenging tasks and when intervention is needed
• Able to present strategic options where opinions are divided, and the issues are highly complex
• Able to have frequent periods of concentration and cope with frequent interruptions / deal with issues as they arise, prioritising heavy workloads and managing multiple projects at the same time
• Proven organisational abilities
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, and the ability to teach others
• Able to master a complex brief quickly and interpret it for a non-specialist audience
• Analytical and data presentation skills
• Able to build confident working relationships with colleagues at all levels
• Ability to cope calmly with distressing/emotional situations
• Able to anticipate problems before they arise and offer appropriate solutions, demonstrating sound judgement
• Advanced software skills (MS Office, intranet packages, email software)

Personal Qualities & attributes

• Highly developed interpersonal communication and negotiation skills; a team player able to contribute to the wider mission of the organisation, with a supportive and flexible approach
• Self-motivated, Proactive and Positive
• Resilient to cope with challenge and criticism
• Ability to inspire confidence when presenting
• Team player, willing to ‘roll up sleeves’ where necessary
• Highly organised approach and ability to prioritise own work in order to meet strict deadlines and targets
• Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to work closely and effectively with staff at all levels within the organisation, including ability to persuade as well as be diplomatic
• Values diversity and difference, operates with integrity and openness
• Actively develops themselves and others
• Self-awareness in terms of emotional intelligence, biases and personal triggers with cultural sensitivity and awareness
• Demonstrable commitment to partnership working with a range of external organisations

Getting vaccinated, and getting a booster, remains the best defence against COVID-19.
We encourage and support staff to get COVID-19 vaccine and a booster dose as and when they are eligible.

• AT* - Apprenticeship Training. Where AT* is entered next to the job title indicates that this vacancy is for an apprenticeship role.
• By applying for this role, you accept if successful, that your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS.This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which aims at saving you time and improving efficiencies within the NHS when your employment transfers.Therefore we require you to complete your stat and Man e-learning modules prior to joining our organisation.
• If you are an EU/EEA citizen who does not have EU Settlement or Pre-Settled status, you will require a visa to work in the UK.
• Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. Before submitting your application and to avoid disappointment please check that you are eligible under the UKVI points based system .
• If you are offered a role with one of the NLPSS partner trusts, as part of pre-employment checks youridentity and right to work documentation will be verifiedremotely (in most circumstances), using a certified identity verification service provider TrustID. You will be asked to capture an image of the relevant documents as well as a “selfie” using your smartphone/tablet (if available) for facial matching. TrustID will also perform a digital address check using Trunarrative and Equifax, which is a soft check and does not leave a footprint on your credit rating. For more information, visit www.trustid.co.uk
• The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.
• The Trust will request a DBS(CRB) if post involves regulated activities. The Trust is compliant with the Disclosure and Barring Service Codes of practice and the Rehabilitation of offenders act.
• By applying for this post you are agreeing to Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
• Please be aware of scams – unless specified above, we will only communicate with you via @recruit.trac.jobs or nhs.net e-mails and we will never ask you for any payments.

Applications are welcome from people wishing to job share or work flexible patterns. We are committed to equal opportunities.

Please note:

• Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close this vacancy before the advertised closing date. Therefore please apply for this post as soon as you can, if you are interested and you meet the requirements of the Person Specification
• Only those candidates who clearly demonstrate how they meet the person specification will be shortlisted for this job.
• Interview arrangements will be communicated via email so please check your email regularly following the closing date.

Please be advised that due to exceptionally high demand, all Royal Free accommodation is at full capacity and waiting lists are being held. Average waiting times are 12 months. Please do not rely on Trust accommodation when you commence your role and ensure you investigate alternative accommodation for your arrival.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Application numbers

This vacancy may close early if it receives a high number of applications. Please complete and submit your application in good time to avoid disappointment.

Name Ian Lloyd Job title Director of communications Email address [e-mail] Telephone number 07967 595 592

If you have problems applying, contact

Address RFL
Telephone If you have any queries, please contact NLPSS Recruitment Helpdesk tel. [phone]