Head of External Communications London, England
Job description
Genomics England partners with the NHS to provide whole genome sequencing diagnostics. We also equip researchers to find the causes of disease and develop new treatments – with patients and participants at the heart of it all.
Our mission is to continue refining, scaling, and evolving our ability to enable others to deliver genomic healthcare and conduct genomic research.
We are accelerating our impact and working with patients, doctors, scientists, government and industry to improve genomic testing, and help researchers access the health data and technology they need to make new medical discoveries and create more effective, targeted medicines for everybody.
As our Head of External Communications, you will lead the delivery of external communications campaigns, media and crisis communications, public affairs, events and manage a press office function, all with the aim of building and maintaining Genomics England's reputation and meaningful engagement with key audiences. They will work with stakeholders across the business to develop an external communications strategy and manage the delivery of engaging communications and events tailored to a range of audiences and channels in line with the organisation’s operational priorities and strategy.
- Working with the Communications Director, develop an external communications strategy to cover multiple audiences and channels and with the Engagement and Public Partnerships Director, develop and manage a public affairs engagement function
- Working with the Communications Director, manage media relations and crisis communications for the organisation, with a view to maintain and build the reputation of Genomics England
- Build relationships with journalists, media organisations and external stakeholders including Comms and Engagement counterparts in other organisations to plan and deliver successful external communications and media campaigns ensuring messaging is clear and accurate, target audiences are identified and reached, and outcomes are tracked
- Oversee delivery of campaigns using the full range of platforms and techniques and, working closely with and managing the events team, continue to build Genomics England’s exceptional reputation on events
- Provide input into the wider Communications & Engagement grid, ensuring timelines for external communications activity are regularly updated, and work with others across the directorate to support the planning and implementation of specific, timely communications across our channels
- Develop and implement an evaluation model for external communications and events to measure engagement, track sentiment and show value of activity for wider organisational objectives
- Build strong relationships with key stakeholders internally, including the ELT, acting as counsel to them for key messaging, and drafting messaging and materials to support their attendance at events and speaking opportunities
- Act as a company brand champion, ensuring that external communications reflect our brand and messaging
- Manage and lead an inclusive, high performing team, ensuring that we have the right skills in place to deliver our mission and matrix manage others across wider directorate allocating appropriate talent and resources in all communications and engagement initiatives, defining priorities and coordinating cross-functional initiatives
- Manage and ensure good governance and compliance with all relevant requirements including budgets, workforce plan, and all data and IT requirements
None specific, we are interested in your experience. We are looking for the following experience of:
- Exceptional and proven experience of managing an External Communication, supporting growth and motivating and engaging the team in an inclusive manner whilst communicating a clear vision and roadmap
- Demonstrated understanding of how to implement communications strategies and driving communications strategies and plans to support wider organisational aims
- Understanding how evaluation metrics can be developed to track engagement and effectiveness of communications
- Developing narratives and presentations which are relevant for specific audiences, turning complex text into a compelling story for any audience
- Delivering on teams and own commitments.
Additional Information
Being an integral part of such a meaningful mission is extremely rewarding in itself, but in order to support our people, we’re continually improving our benefits package. We pride ourselves on investing in our people and supporting them to achieve their career goals, as well as offering a benefits package including:
- 30 days’ holiday (plus bank holidays), with additional days for long service awards
- A generous pension scheme of up to 15% combined contribution
- Life Assurance (3 x salary)
- Individual learning budgets for every colleague, a Blinkist account and a wide variety of courses on our portal
- A wide variety of wellness benefits including Gympass, a Headspace account, free weekly Yoga classes
- Enhanced maternity & paternity benefits
- Blended working arrangements
Talk to our Talent Team and find out how a career with Genomics England will benefit you.
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As part of our recruitment process, all successful candidates are subject to a Standard Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. We therefore require applicants to disclose any previous offences at point of application, as some unspent convictions may mean we are unable to proceed with your application due to the nature of our work in healthcare.
Genomics England operates a blended working model as we know our people appreciate the flexibility. We expect most people to come into the office 2 times each month as a minimum. However, this will vary according to role and will be agreed with your team leader. For some people this is 1 day a quarter, for others it is several days a week. There is no expectation that staff will return to the office full time unless they want to. The exception would be some of our roles that would require you to be on site full time e.g., lab teams, reception team.
Our teams and squads have, and will continue to, reflect on what works best for them to work together successfully and have the freedom to design working patterns to suit, beyond the minimum. Our office locations are Canary Wharf, Cambridge and Leeds.
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