Head of Policy, Public Affairs and Research - Healthwatch England (FTC) Salary: GBP50,466 (National Framework) or GBP55,635 (London Framework if you are London office based or homebased and live within the boundary of the M25) There is also an additional homeworking allowance of GBP529 per annum for those working from home Hours: Full-time, 37 hours per week. Job share will be considered Contract: 12 month Fixed Term/Secondment opportunity Location: Home-based or London office based. Talk to us about flexible working Closing date: Sunday 16th April 2023 at 11.59pm About Us Healthwatch England is a statutory committee of the Care Quality Commission. We are your health and social care champion, making sure NHS leaders and other health and social care decision-makers hear your voice and use your feedback to improve care. Last year, we supported over two million people to have their say or get the advice they needed. Using the power of people s stories, we aim to help improve how services are run now and in the future. We re now looking for a Head of Policy, Public Affairs and Research to join our team on a full-time basis for a 12 month fixed term contract. The Benefits - 27 days annual leave, rising with service to 32.5 days, plus 8 Bank Holidays - NHS pension scheme, with around a 14% employer contribution - Free employee assistance service 24 hours a day - Discounts to supermarkets, high street stores, electronics and fleet cars - Discounted gym vouchers - Cycle to work scheme - Internal reward scheme where you could win a voucher or two! - Equipment for homeworking Why this could be a great role for you . This is an outstanding opportunity for a high calibre individual with experience managing risk, handling complex projects and exceptional stakeholder engagement skills to join our essential organisation. Your expertise will play a vital role in improving everyone s experiences of health and care across England, leading to a happier and healthier nation. Whilst your professional life is thriving, we ll be working to ensure your personal life is supported as well! From a brilliant pension scheme to a fantastic range of supermarket and high street discounts to make a real difference to your spending, we ve got it all. What you will bring To be considered as our Head of Policy, Public Affairs and Research, you will need: - Experience identifying and managing risk and handling complex projects to good outcomes - Experience in business planning and strategy development - Experience leading stakeholder engagement with a broad range of organisations and senior sector leaders - Experience acting as organisational spokesperson at national level - Experience working with a board - Experience of budget management - The ability to lead the development and delivery of policy and research programmes - The ability to demonstrate understanding of complex policy issues - Developed networking skills - Excellent communication skills - To be educated to degree level or equivalent experience What you ll be doing As our Head of Policy, Public Affairs and Research, you will identify, shape and deliver our policy and research priority activities. Managing our Policy and Public Affairs and Research teams, you will lead on designing and developing our proactive research priorities and policy positions, ensuring all activity aligns with national committee ambitions and complies with governance. You will lead our public affairs programme and assist with public campaigns designed to use our insight to improve public experiences of Health and Care. Additionally, you will: - Oversee our strategic stakeholder relationships - Act as a spokesperson on national platforms - Oversee the policy and research budget - Lead relationships with key stakeholders Next steps If you require any support or assistance with the recruitment process, please get in touch with our team or include a note in your application. We know diverse teams allow for a more creative and productive environment and therefore encourage applications from everyone regardless of age, gender/sex, gender identity or expression, religion or belief, disability, ethnicity or sexual orientation. So, if you d like to join us as our Head of Policy, Public Affairs and Research, please apply via the button shown. Other organisations may call this role Policy, Public Affairs and Research Lead, Head of Strategy and Policy, Head of Policy, Head of Influencing Strategy, Public Affairs Lead, Head of Communications and Engagement Manager, or Head of Research and Evidence