Policy & Communications Officer
Location: London (Smart Working)
Purpose of Job:
To lead the MDU's public policy work, representing the organisation and its members' interests to governments, legislators, NHS bodies, regulators and other stakeholders – whilst building and nurturing external networks via the design and delivery of a public affairs plan.
Key Accountabilities
- Develop official MDU public policy by responding to a variety of public consultation exercises and inquiries.
- Horizon scan to proactively identify opportunities for the MDU to advocate on behalf our members.
- Monitor legislative and other external developments; read reports, publications and identify key issues for the MDU – sharing that information with relevant colleagues.
- Devise, plan and execute campaigns to highlight and drive forward our policy work, working in close partnership with the media team.
- Explore and identify optimum ways to involve MDU members in policy formulation.
- Provide the secretariat for the MDU's Policy Forum: an internal, expert group for policy formulation, under the direction of the Head of Policy and Strategic Communications.
- Build strong relationships with external stakeholders such as the General Medical Council, NHS England, the British Medical Association, medical royal colleges, and others.
- Build effective relationships with MPs, Peers, MSPs, MLAs and MSs: to ensure the MDU is able to influence political debate on issues affecting the medico-legal and dento-legal interests of our members.
- At the direction of the Head of Department, support engagement with government departments across UK and Republic of Ireland.
- Support the Head of Department in bi-annual audit of MDU's relationship with external stakeholders via the Stakeholder Relationship Audit (SRA) process.
- Devise and execute an annual Public Affairs Plan.
- Nurture strong working relationships with the Executive, Senior Leadership Team, and members of the Professional Services Division – to ensure there is maximum input to, and support for, our policy work.
- Promote and exemplify cross-team working by liaising with relevant colleagues and subject matter experts before deploying communications.
- Manage stakeholder expectations and keep them informed of progress to key milestones.
- Support the promotion, maintenance and growth of the MDU intranet - Synapse
- Support the wider work of the Strategic Communications Team during periods of heightened activity: working with media relations, internal communication and library services as required.
Qualifications and skills
- A keen interest in, and understanding of, politics, parliament and government is essential.
- An undergraduate degree in a relevant subject (politics, law, history, philosophy etc) is an advantage but not essential.
- Excellent writing, editing and proofreading skills with experience in writing for a variety of different audiences.
- Experience of successfully influencing change.
- An ability to take technical and complex content and turn it into compelling and authoritative copy.
- Strong interpersonal skills including influencing, negotiating, and relationship-building with the ability to deal confidently with senior colleagues and explain policy decisions.
- Ability to gain credibility quickly in dealing with and advising senior colleagues.
- Strong speaking/presentation skills and ability to communicate effectively with all stakeholders
- Exceptional attention to detail, organisation and problem-solving skills
Key outputs and measures
- Public consultation responses
- Feedback to external organisations
- Proactive policy campaigns
- Stakeholder Relationship Audit
You may also have experience in the following: Communications Officer, Internal Communications, CRM, Marketing Assistant, Marketing Executive, Marketing Officer, Communications Executive, Communications Assistant, Degree, Graduate Public Affairs Officer, Senior Public Affairs Officer, Campaigns Officer, Policy Officer, Community Engagement, Public Relations Officer, Communications Advisor, Communications Officer, Public Relations Executive, Campaign Officer, Stakeholder Management, Relationship Management etc.
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