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Job summary

Main area
Communications
Grade
Band 6
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
225-CORP-6560104
Employer
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Stephenson Street, Birmingham, or New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, with travel to locations across the West Midlandsn
Town
Wolverhampton
Salary
£37,338 - £44,962 per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
29/09/2024 23:59

Employer heading

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust logo

Senior Communications Officer

Band 6

 

 

Job overview

There are approximately two million people in the UK living with or affected by cancer, with more than 360,000 new diagnoses every year.  Are you passionate about improving the lives of people with cancer? Work in collaboration with the national NHS Cancer Programme. 

The West Midlands Cancer Alliance (WMCA) is one of 21 Cancer Alliances across England. Hosted by the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT), it is one of the largest Alliances in the country.

Cancer Alliances were set-up to deliver the ambitions identified by the National Cancer Taskforce, with the aim of increasing survival rates across the area and the experience of those living with and beyond cancer, ensuring they address inequalities and improve patient experience wherever possible. They do this by bringing together all the organisations that commission, provide, and contribute to cancer services across the region to enable quality improvement and better outcomes for patients through effective and coordinated partnership working.

An opportunity has arisen to join the dynamic, high profile, busy WMCA team as their primary point of contact for communications. You will sit within the RWT’s friendly and well-regarded communications team and report into the Trust’s Head of Communications, but you will act as communications business partner to the Alliance, leading on all aspects of their day-to-day communications and managing relationships with key partners across the West Midlands region.

Main duties of the job

The Senior Communications Officer will play a critical role in developing and implementing effective internal and external communications plans for the West Midlands Cancer Alliance. This position will involve all aspects of the communications mix, including managing media relations, digital communications, and stakeholder engagement, to enhance the reputation and profile of the Alliance. You will support the WMCA for a minimum of three days per week, but the role will be based within the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust communications team and will support broader team resilience, including leading on cancer-related internal and external communication campaigns and projects for the Trust as required.

Working for our organisation

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust is one of the largest NHS trusts in the West Midlands, providing primary, acute and community services and we are incredibly proud of the diversity of both our staff and the communities we serve. We are delighted that we have been rated as “Good” by the CQC and have achieved numerous awards.

We are committed to building a workforce that can help us to fulfil our values, improve quality of care for patients, and solve the healthcare problems of tomorrow. We’re passionate about the value that diversity of thinking and lived experience brings in enabling us to become a learning organisation and a leader in delivering compassionate care for our patients.

The Trust is a supportive working environment committed to creating flexible working arrangements that suit your needs and as such will consider all requests from applicants who wish to work flexibly.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Key responsibilities include:

Working proactively to develop and maintain the WMCA’s positive                    reputation

Ensuring the WMCA workforce is kept engaged and informed

Communicating achievements and initiatives openly and transparently via PR, social media and other communications channels

Building and supporting strong local stakeholder relationships

Increasing engagement with the WMCA brand

Delivering the local response to national NHS cancer campaigns 

Ensuring the WMCA operates in line with national brand guidelines and communications guidelines

Achieving value-for-money from communications activities using a                  range of tools

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Educated to degree level in relevant subject or equivalent experience
Desirable criteria
  • Communication or PR specific qualification

Knowledge and Experience

Essential criteria
  • Demonstrated experience in a communications role in a large organisation
  • Able to work unsupervised and be decisive within a specialised field.
  • Experience of working in a highly pressured, deadline-driven and customer-focused environment, delivering a high volume of work within timescales, deadlines and within budget.
Desirable criteria
  • Experience of working within the NHS

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Knowledge and experience of a wide area of communication techniques, including new advances in technology within the field
Desirable criteria
  • Be inquisitive and aware of topical and relevant issues that affect the organisation at a local and national level.

Skills

Essential criteria
  • Advance IT skills, and be able to understand and use alternative IT systems and platforms.
  • Project management skills.
  • Excellent interpersonal and communications skills.
  • Excellent verbal and written skills, able to write copy to a high standard.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Apprenticeships logoNo smoking policyAge positiveCare quality commission - GoodArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardDisability confident employerNursing Times Workforce Summit & Awards WinnerStep into health

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Hannah Murdoch
Job title
Head of Communications
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
07917626124
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