External Affairs Manager

Working in an external affairs team is an exciting, inspiring opportunity that will challenge and develop you as a professional communicator. You will be working on impactful initiatives, helping to shape communications on issues that directly influence communities and everyday lives across the country. We are looking for a dynamic and creative individual to join us and support our mission to deliver outstanding communications for audiences across the UK and beyond. As External Affairs Manager, you will lead on developing and maintaining strategic relationships with key stakeholders and partners to support organisational objectives and reputation. Working closely with policy teams and senior leaders, and a diverse range of external partners and audience groups you will manage stakeholder relationships and create compelling engagement strategies that drive positive outcomes. You will use various techniques to understand and inform stakeholder conversations, while working collaboratively across government to deliver communications priorities. About Government Communications Service By joining a communications team, you will become a member of Government Communications Service (GCS), a well-established profession of communicators working in government departments, agencies and arm's-length bodies. The External Affairs function develops the strategic engagement content in the GCS Modern Communications Model (MCOM). You'll benefit from continuous professional development from our new learning and development curriculum, a network of skilled communicators sharing best practice, mentoring opportunities, and more! For more information on how becoming a part of the Government Communications profession can support your career and development please visit our careers page. For our top tips on how to write your application, please look at our recruitment top tips for candidates guide. The role is full time and will be based in Caxton House, London. The purpose of the External Affairs team is to:

• Develop and manage long-lasting two-way relationships with stakeholders, built on a clear understanding of stakeholder needs.
• Facilitate the gathering of stakeholder insight, feeding this into the communications directorate and the wider Department to support the development of better policy. Use this insight to identify and mitigate risks while capitalising on opportunities.
• Deliver exceptional stakeholder communications, partnerships and collaborations to ensure that stakeholders - and through them, our key audiences, understand DWP policies and the Department's objectives.
Your key responsibilities will include:
• Shape and bring to life stakeholder engagement approaches that align with your organisation's vision and help achieve important outcomes.
• Share your insights with leadership teams on building meaningful connections with stakeholders.
• Create and maintain detailed stakeholder mapping and analysis to inform strategic decision-making and track engagement outcomes.
• Nurture key stakeholder relationships, crafting informative briefings for senior leaders and creating engagement opportunities.
• Create and deliver stakeholder events and publication launches that resonate with audiences and make a genuine difference.
• Gather and reflect on stakeholder feedback to enhance future engagement approaches.
With the support of an experienced network of peers and a strong focus on professional development, you will develop skills in line with these areas. Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme Disability Confident About Disability Confident A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.