Deputy Director of Communications Hatfield, East of England, England
Job description
We are looking for a Deputy Director of Communications who demonstrates our values and will ensure that the internal and external voice of HPFT reflects our strategy and vision. The successful candidate will have strategic responsibility for stakeholder engagement and reputation management, alongside communications and the development of the HPFT brand – they will be able to advise the Board and senior colleagues in times of crisis, and will be expert in the utilisation of digital and social media in delivering an effective communications service – they will also be a vital member of the senior leadership team and will be contributing to key discussions and decisions outside of the traditional portfolio remit.
We actively welcome applications from outside of the NHS, as well as from those within the sector. What is important is that you can demonstrate your passion, drive and curiosity, as well as a track record of delivery in a role of this breadth; that your leadership style is compatible with our values led approach and you have the gravitas to be recognised within a senior leadership peer group that are innovative, driven and put our service users and our people at the heart of everything we do. We would particularly encourage applications from those with protected characteristics who can contribute to diversity of thought within our Trust.
The Deputy Director will be responsible for the provision of a leading edge, proactive communications and engagement function for the Trust. They will lead and manage both the internal communications and engagement team and the outward facing communications and engagement/public relations team. The post-holder will work closely with the Executive, the Board and senior leaders within the Trust to develop effective strategies and plans for communicating and engaging with staff, service users, their families and carers, as well as with our governors, partners and stakeholders.
Hertfordshire Partnerships University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) are a leading and progressive provider of mental health and learning disability services. We provide services to a population of 1.2million people in Hertfordshire, with additional services provided to the populations of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Norfolk. With 60,000 referrals per year, we have over 450,000 contacts with service users and patients we support in community settings. In May 2019 the Trust was assessed as ‘Outstanding’ by its regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
We are a values driven organisation and our aim is to ensure that we deliver an experience that is consistently welcoming, kind, positive, respectful and professional. Our people are highly motivated, as evidenced by some of the best staff survey results in the NHS and their response during the pandemic period has been nothing short of exceptional. There is no complacency and we are continually striving to improve and deliver great care and great outcomes to everyone we support.
The Deputy Director of Communications will lead on enhancing the reputation of the Trust, both internally and externally. They will be responsible for the development and delivery of a Communications Strategy that will allow the Trust to be both proactive and responsive in delivering to the priorities and needs of our service users, our staff, our partners and other stakeholders. The strategy will have effective and comprehensive communications, engagement and networking programmes to enable delivery of the Trust’s work.
The Deputy Director will support the Board of Directors, Executive Team and senior management team as the most senior expert on communications and critical decision making in the Trust.
