Senior Public Affairs and Policy Manager

Job title: Senior public affairs and policy manager

Contract type: Permanent

Salary: Grade 6, £49,550 - £51,000 (depending on experience) 

Location: London

Working arrangements: Full time, 35 hours per week. Hybrid working, with a minimum of 6 days per month in the office (the policy and campaigns team tends to come into the office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays).

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Royal College of Physicians at a crucial time. The RCP is the oldest medical royal college representing doctors in over 30 specialties from cardiology and gastroenterology to geriatric and respiratory medicine.

The senior public affairs and policy manager will help us to understand the key policy issues in health and healthcare and lead our influencing work, developing the RCP’s networks, particularly in parliament and government.

You will help manage and oversee a portfolio of high-profile work across a range of topics, proactively identifying opportunities for the RCP to influence the agenda and working with RCP fellows and members to shape and progress our campaigns. You will lead and manage our public affairs work, contributing your expertise to design and lead influencing strategies, campaign planning and policy development for a range of issues.

You will have demonstrable experience of developing and delivering successful influencing strategies, using a range of parliamentary influencing tactics to achieve policy change. You will be as comfortable speaking to parliamentarians and briefing senior leaders for meetings as you are writing consultation responses and policy briefings. You will be able to engage with the policy detail, while appreciating the bigger political picture and our place in it.

You will lead and manage the organisation’s stakeholder engagement to uphold our position as a leading health and care organisation. Central to that will be maintaining a network of contacts across the sector, in parliament, including political advisers, and the civil service. You will work with the president and senior officers to develop policy positions and advocate for them to external stakeholders within UK Government, Parliament and the wider health and care sector.  

You will maintain a keen awareness of developments in the external landscape and make recommendations for how to evolve and progress our campaign messaging and policy positioning in response. Working closely with media colleagues, you will help to develop our voice with communications approaches that ensure high impact for our policy and campaigns work, including the Inequalities in Health Alliance. You will help us to analyse and interpret complex information to aid understanding and decision making and develop lines to take, draft public statements and media comments and brief senior officers and staff. 

The policy and campaigns team – and the wider communications, policy and research directorate - is a fast paced, collaborative and innovative environment. We value the opinions and ideas of every team member and actively seek their contributions. You will help us set our objectives and improve the ways we work.  

Purpose and scope

Key responsibilities

• Maintaining a keen awareness of issues within the health sector, politics and the media in order to advise senior officers and staff; identify opportunities for influencing and policy development; provide support and advice to RCP boards and committees; and inform other RCP activities as appropriate. 
• Working proactively to identify opportunities for parliamentary engagement, working with the media team to ensure relevant issues are highlighted to the media. 
• Developing proactive and reactive policy positions on high-profile issues relating to the RCP’s work as required, working in partnership with senior officers, RCP members, communications colleagues and other staff and organisations.   
• Building and owning relationships with sector stakeholders, Parliamentarians, their staff and civil servants, arms-length bodies and other organisations relevant to the RCP’s policy and campaigns aims.  
• Preparing senior officers and staff for stakeholder meetings, supporting them in those meetings and yourself representing the RCP at meetings and events. 
• Working flexibly and proactively without close supervision, undertaking a range of work such as writing briefings, letters, policy positions and consultation responses. 
• Working with the media team to develop our voice with communications approaches that ensure high impact for our influencing and campaigns work. 
• Supporting the RCP’s Inequalities in Health Alliance.  
• Managing an adviser and developing them to the best of their ability. 
• Any other duties commensurate with your post, including deputising for the head of policy and campaigns and director of communications, policy and research, and managing your team’s budget. 

About you

You will

• have a strong background in public affairs, policy development and effective influencing 
• have significant experience of developing and delivering successful influencing campaigns and having used a range of public affairs tactics, including media, to achieve policy change 
• have significant experience of the policy development process and understanding of how to influence national and/or arms-length body policy processes.  
• have excellent writing skills and experience of producing briefings, consultation responses and other communications on behalf of an organisation and senior people 
• have strong experience of giving advice to senior people, getting buy-in for your ideas and influencing opinion internally 
• have strong experience of successfully managing competing views, priorities and interests to achieve your aims.  
• be able to quickly develop positive and effective working relationships with a diverse range of people, including those at senior level  
• have experience of successfully managing high profile issues, relationships and events 
• act on your own initiative to develop new work, proposing reasonable and realistic solutions 
• understand the importance of and be committed to involving a diverse range of organisations and people in developing and delivering campaigns. 

You may have experience of

• health and/or social care policy
• communications management
• working in a membership organisation and involving members in advocacy
• people management
• budget management.

For more information about the role please view the job description and person specification.

Our benefits

Working at the RCP comes with lots of benefits designed to ensure that you feel valued and supported in your role. The benefits we offer include:

• 29 days holiday per annum, plus bank holidays
• group personal pension plan with 7% employer contribution
• interest-free season ticket loan 
• life assurance
• annual pay award 
• flexible working hours
• employee assistance programme – 24/7 advice and support for any work-related issues as well as any problems affecting your home life
• occupational health team – includes employment and work-related health assessments, health checks and work station assessments
• cycle to work scheme 
• corporate eye care scheme
• professional training and development opportunities
• enhanced maternity and paternity pay
• staff discounts platform – including discounts on cinema tickets and a range of high street brands

About the RCP

The Royal College of Physicians is a rewarding and friendly place to work with an incredible history, dating back to our foundation in 1518. We are a professional membership body for physicians – doctors who work in hospitals – with over 40,000 members in the UK and around the world working to improve patient care and reduce illness. Our activities focus on educating, improving and influencing for better health and care.

How to apply

To apply, please submit your CV and cover letter outlining how your skills and experience meet the job description. Please note that applications received without a cover letter will not be shortlisted.

For more information about the role, please view the job description and person specification. 

Closing date: Thursday 6 June 

Shortlisted candidates will be notified by: Friday 14 June

Interview date: Wednesday 19 June (interviews will be conducted in person at our London office).

The RCP positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, transgender status, religion or belief, marital status or pregnancy and maternity.

The RCP is all about our people – our members, staff, volunteers and leaders. We educate, influence and collaborate to improve health and healthcare for everyone and know we can only do this by being inclusive, encouraging and celebrating diverse perspectives. Welcoming into our community people who represent the 21st-century medical workforce and the diverse population of patients we serve is a priority for us.