Location
London or Birmingham

Hours
Full Time

Salary
From £41,092 per annum (Birmingham) or £44,380 per annum (London) depending on skills and experience. In addition, a flexible benefits fund of 15% is paid on top of the base salary and is fully pensionable, along with a range of competitive benefits.

About the Role
As a Briefings, Correspondence and FOI (BCFOI) Manager at HS2 Ltd, you will play a key role in managing the company’s reputation internally and externally, ensuring statutory duties are fulfilled and agreements with the Department for Transport and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) are delivered. You will actively promote and embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work and support organisational initiatives on EDI.

You will deputise for the Senior Manager BCFOI, acting as the principal HS2 authority on Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), providing strategic and expert advice to senior colleagues including HS2 Executive members and the CEO Office.

Your responsibilities include managing relationships with key external stakeholders such as the ICO, Department for Transport correspondence teams, Members of Parliament, and Peers to ensure legally compliant and coherent delivery of BCFOI services. You will oversee the day-to-day operations of the BCFOI team, managing FOI and EIR requests, HS2’s Publication Scheme, Parliamentary Questions, Ministerial correspondence, and the Parliamentary Advice Line.

You will manage effective working relationships and information flows across HS2 Ltd, chairing regular meetings to ensure timely coordination between teams. You will ensure high quality, accurate, and timely responses to information and briefing requests, acting as an escalation point for complex queries while safeguarding HS2 Ltd’s reputation.

Additional duties include developing and maintaining briefing materials and templates, leading the BCFOI team, identifying key risks and opportunities from stakeholder feedback, and delivering awareness and training programmes across the business. You will also lead the administration of the HS2 senior stakeholder speaker engagement programme and participate in the BCFOI/Public Affairs rota, including on-call out of hours duties when required.

HS2 Ltd is committed to inclusion and providing personal and professional development opportunities, fostering a positive and supportive working environment.

Experience
- Managing and supporting teams responding to briefings, correspondence, and FOI requests involving multiple stakeholders at senior levels.
- Delivering briefings and correspondence within tight statutory deadlines.
- Managing FOI/EIR requests in compliance with FOI Act 2000 and EIR 2004.
- Handling sensitive data and enquiries in challenging environments.
- Developing persuasive content for diverse communication channels.

About You
- Strong management skills with the ability to lead teams to achieve deliverables to specified standards.
- Excellent influencing and negotiation skills with internal and external senior audiences.
- Ability to deliver accurate, targeted communications and represent the organisation professionally.
- Advisory skills on complex legislative matters at senior levels.
- Skilled in stakeholder management, adapting to different audiences in complex political environments.
- Strong analytical, organisational, planning, and problem resolution skills.
- Ability to handle confidential information sensitively and discreetly.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office, especially Excel.
- Committed to promoting and embedding Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all work.

Knowledge
- Political awareness and understanding of HS2-related matters.
- Knowledge of planning and parliamentary processes.
- Understanding of corporate communications, community engagement, internal communications, social media, public relations, media relations, and customer complaints.
- Detailed knowledge of FOI Act, EIR, ICO legislation, guidance, and codes of practice.
- Understanding of government communications processes and customer relationship management (CRM) databases.
- Knowledge of transport and/or major infrastructure projects.

Qualifications
- Right to Work in the UK is required at the time of application.
- Commitment to HS2 values of Safety, Leadership, Integrity and Respect.
- Willingness to comply with pre-employment checks including Nationality & Immigration Status, employment references, DBS, financial and education checks.