External Affairs and Influencing Manager

Maudsley Charity

Salary: £48,000 per annum

Contract: Full time, permanent role

Location: Hybrid role between home and London office, with two days per week in the Denmark Hill office

Closing date for applications: 9am on Tuesday 28th July
First round interviews will be held remotely on: Thursday 13th August
Second round interviews will be held in person on: Thursday 20th and Friday 21st August

Charity People is delighted to be partnering once again with Maudsley Charity to recruit an External Affairs and Influencing Manager.

A hugely exciting new role within the Communications team at the charity, the postholder will work across media, external affairs and influencing to engage with key stakeholders, boost the charity’s profile, and promote learning and adoption of the solutions the organisation funds. You will be responsible for sharing evidence and learning in order to influence the people who fund, adopt and commission mental health care and services, and will work closely with the CEO to increase engagement with policy work which the Maudsley Charity undertakes through it’s work in coalitions.

About Maudsley Charity

Maudsley Charity funds and supports clinical, academic, and community partners to ensure that everyone experiencing mental illness can access the right care, while using insights from their work to drive wider improvements across the UK.

Recognising the profound impact of mental illness and the inequalities in access, experience, and outcomes – particularly those linked to social deprivation and racism – the organisation focusses on addressing gaps in care.

With an approach that combines evidence, lived experience, and a commitment to equity, the organisation backs impactful, evidence-based solutions, ensuring services are shaped by real-world insight, and prioritising support for those most underserved to drive improvements that benefit all.

About the role

This is a core role within the organisation’s influencing strategy, and your primary responsibilities will include:

External Affairs & Influencing:

Develop and deliver influencing plans to promote adoption of effective mental health care initiatives being funded by the charity
Develop productive relationships with key stakeholders (journalists, NHS trust leaders, ICBs, ICSs, VCSE orgs) to gather intelligence and shape strategy to inform the charity’s positioning
Lead the charity’s thought leadership development providing strategic advice to senior leadership on political, NHS and mental health policy developments
Strengthen the charity’s role in mental health policy and advocacy coalitions, by contributing to collaborative advocacy, media and communications outputs
Lead the charity’s response to government mental health care consultations and calls for evidence
Monitor funder sector trends and conversations, and actively seek out opportunities for the charity to strategically engage and influence by sharing learning from its grant making practice

Media management

Develop and implement integrated external affairs campaigns that support the charity’s influencing work
Create persuasive materials, including press releases, op-eds, spokespeople briefings, comment pieces, and digital content and pitch to relevant outlets
Maintain and grow relationships with journalists, broadcasters and sector media to secure relevant high-quality coverage of the charity’s activities, grant holders and their projects
Act as first point of contact for media enquiries, managing proactive and reactive press activity

This role is expected to grow and develop and the postholder will be fully supported from across the organisation as the position evolves, within an organisation that offers a friendly, values led culture.

We would love to hear from individuals with the following skills and experience:

Demonstrable track record of developing and implementing successful influencing strategies in the mental health sector
Experience of stakeholder management within mental health care, including NHS Trust leaders, Integrated Care Boards, commissioners and senior clinicians, and with academics and researchers
Strong experience in media relations, including briefing senior spokespeople, drafting press releases, media handling, and securing media coverage with a good understanding of the needs and expectations of different outlets and publications
Keen understanding of the NHS, mental health policy landscape, and the related environment, key stakeholders and sector drivers
Understanding of the key components and considerations of successful external affairs media and influencing
Understanding of the sensitivities around mental illness, including working in an empathetic manner with people with lived experience
Understanding of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion principles and a commitment to apply them in your work and as an organisation
Influencing skills including confidence and credibility in working with stakeholders,
Communication skills and the ability to produce clear and effective communications and the ability to confidently and accurately represent the organisation externally
Written and editorial skills including the ability to craft narratives for different external audiences and communicate the charity’s work in press releases, articles, policy briefs

How to apply

Maudsley Charity is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and strongly encourages applications from underrepresented backgrounds. We welcome applications from non-graduates.

Applications are managed via Charity People and involve a structured, anonymised process focusing on your experience and potential. Please send your CV to Alice at Charity People alice@charitypeople.co.uk in the first instance.

You can view the full job pack here: https://charitypeople.co.uk/maudsley-charity-external-affairs-and-influencing-manager-job-pack/

Please see full job description here: ht/tps://charitypeople.co.uk/maudsley-charity-external-affairs-and-influencing-manager-job-description

Equal Opportunities monitoring

We ask that applicants complete our DEI monitoring form when submitting their CV for this role. The form can be found here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PXF9NWT?JobRef=113442&CPDept=Comms&Org=Maudsley&Con=Longlist

Maudsley Charity is an equal opportunities employer, and makes no discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and sex. Specifically, we will also oppose unfair discrimination of those with mental health issues.

Charity People is a forward thinking, inclusive organisation that actively and deliberately promotes equity, diversity and inclusion. We know organisations thrive when inclusion is at the forefront. We evidence our commitment by matching charity needs with the skills and experience of candidates irrespective of background e.g. age, disability (including hidden disabilities), gender, gender identity or gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. We do this because we believe that greater diversity leads to greater results for the charities we work with.