NHSSussex ICB ambition is to create an inclusive working environment which reflects our commitment to celebrate and promote diversity for all groups. We are particularly under-represented in staff from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and disabled communities and actively encourage and welcome applications from these communities. Furthermore, we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us.
We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us confidentially during the application process so that we can statistically monitor how fair and equitable our recruitment process is and how well we are reaching applicants from diverse communities and identify where we need to improve. This information is removed before shortlisting.
For any current NHS employees the opportunity can only be undertaken via a secondment, NHS staff should obtain agreement from their current employer that they can be released for a secondment before applying.
Main duties of the job
Are you an experienced communications professional, who can turn their hand to answering media enquiries, drafting engaging copy for e-newsletters, and advising busy colleagues about sometimes complex and controversial topics? Can you quickly absorb healthcare issues and provide expert guidance to colleagues who are under pressure? Can you develop creative campaign communications which help tell the story of primary care improvement across Sussex?
If yes, you could be just who we are looking for!
We have a fixed-term / secondment opportunity for a communications manager, who will lead on primary care, in our friendly and busy communications team at NHS Sussex. The communications and engagement team works on everything from campaigns to working with local MPs, creative graphic and digital communications, working with local journalists through to working with all of the health and care organisations which make up Sussex Health and Care the ICS for Sussex.
In this role, you will support busy general practice colleagues, work alongside our working with people and communities team, advise senior leaders, and work as part of the NHS Sussex integrated communications team to help tell the story of primary care improvement in Sussex, including the work of general practice, dentistry, and pharmacies.
If you would like to know more about the role, please email emma.fleetwood-jones@nhs.net for an informal discussion. Interviews will be during the week of 10 March.
About us
NHS Sussex ICB are committed to enabling team members to work in an agile and flexible way. We adopt a flexible first approach to working patterns. We empower our people to work where, when, and how they choose with minimum constraints to support their wellbeing to sustain good work-life balance and to optimise performance and delivery.
We celebrate diversity and promote equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
Agile working is not just related to working from different locations or at different times. It is about effectively utilising technology to improve work practices and to work differently to increase our overall effectiveness to improve health outcomes for our population.
Should you require a reasonable adjustment to our recruitment process please contact the Recruitment Team at scw.peopleresource@nhs.net to ensure that measures can be put in place to support you.
NHS Sussex has committed to achieving Net Zero Carbon emissions by 2045. As a member of staff you will be encouraged and supported to implement new ways of working that will help us achieve that goal.
Working for us - Sussex Health and Care (ics.nhs.uk)
Job responsibilities
The Communications Manager (Primary Care) will be a key member of our communications team, taking a lead for communications around the work of primary care and our GP practices across Sussex.
Responsibilities of this role will include helping us to develop and deliver communication strategies to support GP practices and their patients, as well as the wider work of the communications team. It will include planning and delivering high quality public communications, stakeholder engagement, and proactive and reactive media management. It will also require close working with public involvement colleagues to ensure communications are responsive to insight and feedback from patients and our communities.
Areas of work will include GP access, new GP practice developments, practice mergers, and showcasing the work of primary care in our communities.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Educated to masters level in relevant subject or equivalent level qualification or significant experience of working at a similar level in specialist area.
* Evidence of continued professional development.
Skills and Knowledge
* Comprehensive knowledge of project principles, techniques, and tools, such as Prince 2 Foundation and Microsoft Project.
* Demonstrated capability to plan over short, medium, and long-term timeframes and adjust plans and resource requirements accordingly.
* Experience of setting up and implementing internal processes and procedures.
* Ability to prepare and produce concise yet insightful communications for dissemination to senior stakeholders and a broad range of stakeholders as required.
* Experience of creating and giving presentations to a varied group of internal and external stakeholders.
* Ability to analyse very complex issues where material is conflicting and drawn from multiple sources.
* Demonstrated capability to act upon incomplete information, using experience to make inferences and decision making.
* Numerate and able to understand complex financial issues combined with deep analytical skills.
* Experience of setting up and implementing internal processes and procedures.
* Knowledge of Financial Systems e.g., monitoring budget management, processing invoices and procurement.
Experience
* Significant experience of successfully operating in a politically sensitive environment.
* Demonstrated experience of co-ordinating projects in complex and challenging environments. Experience of managing risks and reporting.
* Experience of monitoring budgets and business planning processes.
* Understanding of the public sector.
* Demonstrated experience in a Healthcare environment. Knowledge of Financial Systems e.g., monitoring budget management, processing invoices and procurement.
* Experience of setting up and implementing internal processes and procedures.
Other
* Experience of managing a team without direct line management.
* Demonstrated capabilities to manage own workload and make informed decisions in the absence of required information, working to tight and often changing timescales.
* Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and an understanding of equal opportunities.
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