About the role

We are looking for a media relations professional to join our fast-paced, supportive and hard-working team at the NHS Confederation and help to place the experiences of health leaders at the centre of national health reporting. As External Affairs Officer you will be responsible for a range of activities, including:

• helping us to maintain a high profile and an excellent reputation with journalists and other key partners.
• liaising directly with journalists from across all forms of media as well as the press offices of our key national stakeholders.
• helping to develop a range of proactive stories, as well as responding quickly to emerging events, including enquiries from journalists and statements about breaking news.
• monitoring the news agenda, as well as supporting our social media presence and our internal planning
• helping to brief of our senior spokespeople, ahead of their media interviews

About you

We would love to hear from you if you:

• have experience in a media relations role and understand what makes a story
• have excellent written and oral communication skills
• thrive in working in a fast-paced environment and can juggle proactive and reactive workloads at the same time
• are organised, have fresh ideas and are great at building relationships

This is an exciting opportunity for someone who is looking to develop their understanding of media relations, build their contact base and contribute to improving the NHS and the experiences of its workforce, while being exposed to broader communications disciplines, including stakeholder management and public affairs.

About us

The NHS Confederation is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive environment for our staff. A place where we can all be ourselves and succeed on merit. We offer a range of inclusive employment policies including family friendly policies and flexible working and we have range of channels to support staff from different backgrounds including our staff networks and a staff forum.

The NHS Confederation is committed to being a flexible employer. We understand the value and benefit to our employees being able to work flexibly and our agile working principles are designed to empower our people to work with optimal flexibility and minimal constraints to support a work life balance and take care of employee health and wellbeing.

You will receive an excellent benefits package, including 30 days annual leave (plus bank holidays), pension scheme, cycle to work scheme, salary sacrifice schemes and travel season ticket loans.