Coventry, York Job Summary If you want to use your engagement, policy and communication skills to make a difference to the lives of tens of thousands of people, our Head of Policy and Communications role is for you. You will lead a small team that has big impact. Your work will use our complaint casework findings to drive change in public policy and local government services across England. Helping local authorities and adult care providers to learn from complaints, you will work in an organisation that leads the way in transparency and innovation through a culture of trust, empowerment and confidence. For over 50 years, we’ve helped people resolve complaints with their local council or adult social care provider. We don’t take sides: we make fair decisions after listening to both sides of the story and weighing up all the evidence. Our service is free and we are committed to delivering value for money. We know that our success depends on the integrity and skills of our staff. Job Description Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, and part of the Executive Team, you will be responsible for developing and implementing communications and engagement strategies that increase the impact of our casework and share the learning from it with all local authorities in England, all care providers and with Government. You will also lead the development of our external policy positions, working closely with colleagues across the organisation to base our approach on evidence and our unique insight. While you may have local government, ombudsman or public sector experience, it is your proven ability to increase the impact of an organisation’s work that is key. You will be responsible for all our external policy and internal and external communications. This includes staff engagement, media relations, stakeholder management, social media, publications, policy development, parliamentary engagement, scrutiny, intervention and external training. You will also oversee our committee governance and information governance work. As well as being highly motivated and outcome-oriented, you will be a team player with excellent planning and influencing skills, able to lead, empower and inspire your team and others to achieve results. With senior level communications and / or policy experience in an organisation with a high public profile, you will have a track record of advising at the most senior level and extensive experience of working with the media and stakeholders in a high profile, national organisation. Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, and part of the Executive Team, you will be responsible for developing and implementing communications and engagement strategies that increase the impact of our casework and share the learning from it with all local authorities in England, all care providers and with Government. You will also lead the development of our external policy positions, working closely with colleagues across the organisation to base our approach on evidence and our unique insight. While you may have local government, ombudsman or public sector experience, it is your proven ability to increase the impact of an organisation’s work that is key. You will be responsible for all our external policy and internal and external communications. This includes staff engagement, media relations, stakeholder management, social media, publications, policy development, parliamentary engagement, scrutiny, intervention and external training. You will also oversee our committee governance and information governance work. As well as being highly motivated and outcome-oriented, you will be a team player with excellent planning and influencing skills, able to lead, empower and inspire your team and others to achieve results. With senior level communications and / or policy experience in an organisation with a high public profile, you will have a track record of advising at the most senior level and extensive experience of working with the media and stakeholders in a high profile, national organisation. Person specification See Job Description On Our Website For Details. Learning and development tailored to your role An environment with flexible working options A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity A Civil Service pension Selection process details Interviews will be held on Thursday 1 May at our Coventry office. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Nationality requirements This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups UK nationals nationals of the Republic of Ireland nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020 Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) Working for the Civil Service Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window). Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Contact point for applicants Job Contact Name : recruitmentlgo.org.uk Email : recruitmentlgo.org.uk Recruitment team Email : recruitmentlgo.org.uk Further information Email c.morganlgo.org.uk https://www.lgo.org.uk/