Senior Strategic Communications Manager

Salary: Up to £67,752 per annum plus benefits

Contract type: Permanent

Hours per week: 37.5 hours per week. All staff are required to work in person for a minimum of two days per week, in line with our hybrid working policy. The post-holder may be required to undertake some work outside normal working hours.

About the Health Foundation 

Health is our most precious asset. Good health enables us to live happy, fulfilling lives, fuels our prosperity and helps build a stronger society. Yet good health remains out of reach for too many people in the UK, and health and care services are struggling to provide access to timely, high-quality care.

The Health Foundation is an independent charitable organisation with a mission to build a healthier UK. We work to achieve this by generating high quality research and analysis; developing practical solutions to the biggest problems in health and health services; engaging, convening and building coalitions to build understanding, inform debate and drive action; and developing the long-term capability needed to transform health and care.  

Our values

We expect everyone who works with us to be committed to our values and to share our commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation. Our values are impact, evidence, integrity, and collaboration. You can read more about them in our five-year strategy. We also expect everyone to share our commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation and to help deliver our EDI strategy.

About the role

We are looking for a Senior Strategic Communications Manager to lead strategic communications activity, increasing the reach, influence and impact of the Health Foundation’s work.

You will work closely with colleagues across the organisation to develop clear, evidence-informed communications strategies and plans for some of our most important programmes and priorities. Bringing together media relations, digital communications, stakeholder engagement, events and internal communications, you will ensure our work reaches the right audiences and influence debate and action on health and care.

You will also lead and develop the Strategic Communications team, provide strategic advice to senior colleagues, and help ensure our communications are well planned, coordinated and prioritised.

In this role you will:

• Lead the development and delivery of integrated communications strategies for thematic programmes and organisational priorities.
• Provide strategic communications advice and support to programme directors, senior leaders and colleagues across the Foundation.
• Plan and coordinate communications activity across multiple programmes and priorities to maximise impact and ensure work is effectively prioritised.
• Build understanding of key audiences and stakeholders, developing approaches to increase the reach, influence and impact of our work.
• Lead, support and develop a team of Strategic Communications Managers, creating an inclusive, collaborative and high-performing team culture.
• Use evaluation, insight and learning to improve communications activity and drive continuous improvement across the team.

How to apply

Our priority is to find the right individual for each opportunity. We are dedicated to building an inclusive workplace that values diversity and invite you to find out more. 

To apply, please submit your CV, and answer the application questions below. Your supporting statement, covering all three questions, should be no more than two sides of A4 (minimum 11-point font). Please be concise and focus on the most relevant examples and outcomes.

• Describe an integrated communications strategy you have led for a complex programme, policy area or organisational priority. What were you trying to achieve, how did you use evidence, insight and audience understanding to shape your approach, and what impact did it have?
• Describe a time when you worked with senior leaders and managed competing priorities to maximise impact. How did you influence decisions, prioritise activity and bring together different communications disciplines and stakeholders to deliver impact?
• Describe your experience of line managing and developing a team of communications professionals. How have you built an inclusive, high-performing team and strengthened strategic communications within your organisation?

Our commitment to equality, inclusion and diversity

We are committed to an inclusive hiring process, where every candidate has the chance to showcase their unique skills and experience in an accessible and supported environment, to ensure that we can make the best appointment for each opportunity on merit.

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and encourage those from underrepresented groups in this field to apply to us.

We have identified three key areas to improving diversity. Our aim to achieve a more balanced representation across our organisation, with a particular focus on increasing the number of women in leadership, enhancing the representation of people from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds and welcoming more people with disabilities. As part of this commitment, we strongly encourage applications from these groups.

Apply to join our team and let's work towards building a more diverse and inclusive workplace together.

If you require any support through this process, please contact us. Help us work together to make the recruitment process and potential future employment more accessible and enjoyable for you.

Closing date: Thursday, 30 July 2026

Interview / Contact date: Tuesday, 18 July 2026, and Wednesday 19 July 2026.