Location
London

Hours
Full Time

Salary
£47,369 per annum

About the Role
As our External Affairs Officer, you will play a key role in helping Notting Hill Genesis build, protect and enhance its reputation with external audiences. Sitting within our Corporate Affairs function and reporting to the Head of External Affairs, you will help tell NHG's story as a purpose-driven organisation making a significant contribution to tackling London's housing crisis. You will be at the heart of our media relations, public affairs and stakeholder engagement activity, working directly with journalists, MPs, councillors, industry bodies and other external partners. Your work will help ensure NHG is seen as a credible, responsive and collaborative organisation while supporting our wider transformation agenda and resident-focused approach.

This is an exciting opportunity for a communications, public affairs or political engagement professional who enjoys working in a fast-paced environment, has a strong interest in the political and media landscape, and wants to make a meaningful impact through their work.

Key responsibilities include delivering key aspects of an integrated external communications programme, engaging with media, MPs, councillors, stakeholders and external audiences across London. You will manage and respond to media enquiries in a timely and professional manner, helping to protect and enhance NHG's reputation. You will coordinate the out-of-hours press office rota and support the management of the media inbox.

Working alongside customer-facing teams, you will monitor social media channels and identify issues that could create reputational risk. You will produce daily media briefings, summarising relevant sector, political and NHG-related news for colleagues, and manage media monitoring activity, providing analysis of coverage, key themes and messaging.

You will support proactive stakeholder engagement with MPs, councillors, London Assembly members and industry bodies, develop briefing notes, correspondence, statements, stakeholder communications and other written materials, and prepare senior leaders and operational teams for high-profile stakeholder meetings, visits and engagements.

Additionally, you will contribute to incident response and crisis communications activity, including developing handling plans when required. Monitoring political, regulatory and sector developments, you will identify opportunities, emerging risks and relevant insights for the business. You will work collaboratively across NHG to ensure external communications reflect our values, resident focus and strategic priorities.

Experience
- Experience in media relations, corporate affairs, public affairs, government relations, political engagement or a related communications role.
- Experience gained within an in-house communications team, agency, public sector organisation, parliament, the civil service or another complex environment.
- A track record of developing and delivering communications activity that achieves measurable impact with external audiences.
- Experience delivering proactive and reactive media relations activity.
- Ability to draft high-quality briefing notes, handling plans, press statements, stakeholder communications and correspondence with minimal supervision.
- Strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to build productive relationships with a wide range of audiences.
- An active interest in UK politics, current affairs and the wider public policy environment.
- Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and work effectively under pressure.
- A proactive and curious approach, with the confidence to identify risks, propose solutions and continuously improve ways of working.
- The ability to work collaboratively across functions and build strong relationships with internal stakeholders.
- Excellent attention to detail and the ability to identify and manage reputational risks.

About you
You are a communications, public affairs or political engagement professional who thrives in a fast-paced environment. You have a strong interest in the political and media landscape and are motivated to make a meaningful impact through your work. You demonstrate excellent written and verbal communication skills, translating complex information into clear and compelling messages. You are confident in managing multiple priorities and working collaboratively across teams to achieve strategic goals.

Qualifications
While specific qualifications are not detailed, relevant experience in communications, public affairs or related fields is essential. Desirable qualifications include experience within housing, local government, social purpose organisations or regulated sectors, and knowledge of media monitoring, analysis and reporting tools.