Job Title: Director of External Affairs

Job description

Job title: Director of External Affairs

Reporting to: Chief Executive and Registrar

Job family:

Pay level: Director

Role purpose

To ensure that External Relations Directorate is set up and structured correctly to enable the NMC to play a prominent and appropriate role in influencing external stakeholders across the health and regulatory landscape, exercising political judgement and identifying opportunities to influence for the benefit of public protection.

The interim role will lead on establishing the existing team to be able to champion and lead external relations activities that support the NMC vision to be a modern, dynamic and intelligence-led regulator, ensuring that messages are integrated to maximise reach and impact.

The role will have responsibility for corporate communications, media and digital as well as the setting up of parliamentary relations and stakeholder relations. The interim role will be responsible for working on the planning and working with the teams on establishing the groundwork for the permanent role who will take the plan forward to implementing a full stakeholder engagement plan.

The interim role will work with the team to provide a champion of the External Affairs Directorate to the Executive Board, Executive Team and the Chair and Chief Executive Officer and engage the organisation and support the team in preparation of the permanent post holder who will have executive accountability for the leadership and evaluation of external relations functions including public and strategic relationship management, media and brand management, working collegiately to ensure alignment of customer, supplier and employee relationship management across all NMC functions.

External Relations June 2017 Page 1 of 6 Key accountabilities

As a member of the Executive Team

 Play a full and collegiate role in the Executive team, working with, challenging and supporting other directors to make evidence-informed decisions and providing compelling, consistent corporate leadership which creates clarity of vision for all staff and builds a clear sense of shared accountability for the success of the organisation.

 Provide visible and cohesive corporate leadership, articulating the NMC’s vision and ambitions in a way that staff understand, demonstrating the NMC’s values and behaviours and acting as a role model for effective leadership behaviours.

 Develop and maintain excellent internal and external relationships, acting at all times as a corporate ambassador for the NMC and building the organisation’s reputation and profile as a provider of high quality regulatory and public protection services.

 Undertake any other duties that may reasonably be required by the Chief Executive.

Functional responsibilities

External Relations

 Prepare the team to ensure there are strong working relationships with leaders of key stakeholders across the health and regulatory landscape in the four nations, for the purposes of influencing policy, intelligence gathering, collaboration and reputation management. This will include ministers and politicians, civil servants in Health departments in the four countries, health patient and public representative bodies, registrants, nursing and midwifery unions, educational establishments, employers, the media and others.

 Act as an NMC brand ambassador and supporting the Chief Executive and Registrar on PR matters where required.

 Take responsibility for the production, agreement and dissemination of strategic policy and position statements relevant to the NMC, ensuring that strategic messages are conveyed proactively, accurately, fairly and effectively and that the NMC’s reputation is protected and enhanced through external-facing communications.

 Develop and execute action plans on wide variety of public policy and business issues of importance to the NMC that impacts on healthcare regulation.

 Support the Chief Executive and Registrar to co-ordinate external stakeholder engagement and partnership working activities including with nurses and midwives, the public, the media, nursing and midwifery unions and education providers, key influencers, ministers and government and evaluate their impact.

External Relations June 2017 Page 2 of 6  Provide communications, briefings, media training and support to the Chair, Chief Executive, members of Council and others who are involved in representing the NMC externally.

 Advise the Council and Executive Board of changes in the external environment that may impact on the NMC’s strategy, reputation and operations, identifying new opportunities for positive engagement and pro-actively mitigating risks.

 Be accountable for the NMC’s external relations, media management, marketing, PR, brand and impact strategies and associated implementation plans, ensuring all areas deliver high impact external-facing activities that enhance the NMC’s external profile and that are evaluated to demonstrate impact.

 Lead the development of the identity and brand of the NMC and establish its positioning with strategic partners and stakeholders.

 Develop market intelligence on health care reform implementation, including the role of key legislative committees, assessing risk and opportunities to NMC and planning responsive action as needed.

 Develop policy positions and appropriate messaging for legislators.

 Communicate in an appropriate and timely fashion to internal employees and external customers.

 Facilitate sharing of information internally to expedite progress and learning.

Directorate leadership

 Provide inspiring and motivational leadership that sets a clear direction, models the NMC’s values and behaviours, focuses on productivity, impact evaluation, continuous improvement and high performance and empowers and enables their team members to deliver excellence.

 Encourage innovation and the development of high performing teams among directorate managers, respecting their expertise and setting an appropriate balance between autonomy and accountability.

 Manage financial, human and other resources efficiently and effectively, ensuring there is the capacity and capability to discharge the directorate’s functions. Produce timely and accurate management information and oversee the preparation of the directorate’s annual business plan and budget.

 Devise appropriate performance targets for the directorate, closely monitoring achievement against them and evaluating their impact.

External Relations June 2017 Page 3 of 6 Standard responsibilities

People management

 Provide consistent and supportive performance management to direct reports, with regular feedback, formal and informal performance reviews, addressing business- focussed training and development needs and issues relating to conduct and capability as needed.

Other responsibilities

There are a number of standard duties and responsibilities that all employees, irrespective of their role and level of seniority within the NMC, are expected to be familiar with and adhere to.

 Comply at all times with the requirements of health and safety regulations to ensure their own wellbeing and that of their colleagues.

 Promote and comply with NMC policies on diversity and equality both in the delivery of services and treatment of others.

 Ensure confidentiality at all times, only releasing confidential information obtained during the course of employment to those acting in an official capacity in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and its amendments.

 Comply with NMC protocols on the appropriate use of telephone, email and internet facilities.

 Comply with the principles of risk management in relation to individual and corporate responsibilities.

 Comply with NMC policies and procedures as compiled on the organisation’s intranet.

This job description is not exhaustive and may change over time. The post holder is expected to be flexible and to recognise that business priorities may change.

External Relations June 2017 Page 4 of 6 Person specification

Job title: Director of External Relations

Qualifications and experience

 Educated to degree level, or equivalent, with a higher qualification in a relevant field.

 Substantial experience of working at executive level in a high profile and politically complex environment with diverse stakeholder interests, including representation of the organisation in the public arena.

 A seasoned leader of external relations and public affairs, with a good external profile in a relevant field and a strong track record of delivering high impact interventions, cultural change and service improvement.

 Strong intellectual skills, innovative thinking, analysis and practical application.

Knowledge, skills and abilities

 Demonstrable understanding of impact measurement in the context of a statutory regulator, and how impact measurement can be used to further the strategic goals of the NMC.

 A deep understanding of the external context in which the NMC operates (including regulatory, health and social policy) and of the challenges and opportunities associated with external engagement, media and communications in a regulatory environment.

 Political acumen

 Highly developed skills in networking, relationship development, partnership, communication, influencing and collaboration.

 The ability to work at pace and to manage a complex, high profile and multi-faceted portfolio of work.

 Excellent people leadership skills and ability to lead and empower diverse functions.

 Sound understanding of the importance of corporate governance.

 Financial acumen and proven ability to manage budgets and resources prudently.

Personal qualities

 Has the personal impact and gravitas to represent the NMC in the most effective way for the benefit of public protection and the NMC’s reputation.

External Relations June 2017 Page 5 of 6  An active networker with a diverse network of contacts across the health and regulatory landscape in the four countries.

 A visible and motivational leader and supportive team player who takes collective responsibility and is willing to challenge underlying assumptions in a collegiate manner.

 Resilient and self-confident to lead and drive through change.

External Relations June 2017 Page 6 of 6