Location
London

Hours
Full Time

Salary
£65,261 per annum

About the Role
An exciting opportunity has arisen to lead the Communications team in the South London Regional Research Delivery Network (RRDN), hosted by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. The Communications Manager will lead regional and national communications as part of the Research Delivery Network (RDN) Communications Team, dispersed across the 12 Regional Research Delivery Networks (RRDN) and the RDN Coordinating Centre. As a senior member of the RDN Communications Team, you will provide a high quality, professional and proactive communications service to the RDN regionally and nationally, reporting to the RRDN Head of Strategy, Engagement and Inclusion.

This role is responsible for RDN communication using a range of channels to promote the reputation of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research Delivery Network as a high-quality health and care research organisation. You will lead the delivery of a corporate communication strategy and associated communication activities, engagement events and marketing initiatives to enable the RDN to deliver on its strategic objectives and showcase its impact. You will also have line management responsibility for the Communications Officer.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts, providing a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and specialist care for patients from further afield. The Trust is home to the largest dental school in Europe, a £160 million Cancer Centre, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, and one of the largest critical care units and busiest emergency departments in the UK. The Trust is part of King’s Health Partners and has a reputation for clinical excellence, high quality teaching and research.

The NIHR RRDNs support research sites to enable effective and efficient initiation and delivery of funded research across the health and care system in England, develop new research delivery capability and capacity, and work jointly with the Coordinating Centre to ensure the Portfolio is maintained as a cohort of high-quality, fully-funded, viable and deliverable studies. The role contributes to these objectives through effective communications and engagement.

Experience
- Extensive professional experience in communications, media, web publishing or marketing, preferably in the health sector
- High level of experience in public relations, communications, marketing and/or journalism including social/web-based media
- Experience working in a large, complex organisation
- Experience of inter-agency working involving multiple and diverse partners
- Experience of line management and managing a customer-focused service
- Experience working at a similar level in the NHS or healthcare environment
- Good understanding of the health and care research environment
- Experience of providing communications support to a local authority (desirable)

About you
- Ability to exercise initiative with creativity, drive and flexibility
- Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Excellent interpersonal and leadership skills
- Ability to operate at all levels throughout an organisation
- Ability to write concise reports and Standard Operating Procedures
- Ability to work to tight deadlines under pressure
- Experience managing complex duties and delivering projects involving multiple agencies
- Media handling skills and ability to communicate complex information to diverse audiences
- Excellent IT literacy including Microsoft Office Suite or equivalent and relevant design packages such as Adobe InDesign and CANVA
- Ability to manage challenging and stressful situations
- Strong problem-solving skills
- Ability to work autonomously
- Compassionate, adaptable, politically aware, and understanding of change

Qualifications
- Degree level or equivalent experience with extensive professional communications experience
- Background in research and development, science or healthcare (desirable)