Head of External Affairs

Salary: National: £48,797, London: £54,277

Location: Birmingham, Bristol, Croydon, Leeds, London, Newcastle

Do you have a passion for communications?  Do you want a job that enables you to use that passion to make a positive contribution to society?

We are looking for a creative senior communications professional to join the team at the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).

The VOA is the Government’s property valuation expert. Our business rate and council tax valuations underpin more than £50 billion of local government taxation, funding vital public services.

But we cannot do it alone. We need to work effectively with our partners, explain our plans and priorities and listen, understand and respond to our stakeholders.

Joining us in this senior communications role, you will lead and shape a team that will coordinate delivery of our stakeholder engagement, public affairs and marketing strategy, helping the organisation prioritise and target our key customers and stakeholder groups.

You and your team will provide strategic advice, ensuring the agency focuses on the right relationships and issues. Working closely with the stakeholder strategy and local authority engagement policy teams, your remit will range from mapping, prioritising and segmenting stakeholder groups, through to creating channel plans and engagement opportunities. You will also be responsible for the agency’s media handling strategy and marketing activity.

A persuasive and authoritative individual, your proven talent for influencing others to achieve common goals will be at the heart of your success.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the coordinated delivery of the VOA’s external affairs strategy.

• Manage and professionally develop a team of two communications professionals.

• Provide strategic advice to the chief executive, executive committee and other senior staff on external affairs.

• Build effective and proactive relationships and two-way dialogue with key organisations across the property and local government sector.

• Gather intelligence and analyse the effectiveness of external engagement to help inform current and future engagement strategies. 

• Working closely with the stakeholder strategy and local authority engagement policy teams, develop and coordinate the delivery of effective stakeholder engagement plans across the agency.

• Manage proactive and reactive media relations working closely with the HMRC media team.

• Devise, develop and implement a refreshed marketing strategy for the agency.

• Establish common engagement principles and best practice to improve the quality of stakeholder engagement across the agency and its directorates.

Key knowledge and skills

• A strong track record in a senior communications role with experience of external affairs, government relations and stakeholder engagement.

• Experience in driving evidence-based multi-channel marketing campaigns.

• The confidence to work alongside senior officials, strong influencing skills and the ability to prioritise and manage competing demands.

• Commitment to delivering world-class communications and championing best practice external engagement.

• Political awareness, understanding of wider government agenda and propriety issues.

• Excellent planning and organisational skills and proven ability to manage multiple projects and challenges.

Closing date: 21 Oct 2019