Role Description

The Organisation: Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust

The Role: Communications and Marketing Director

Location: Sheffield

Salary: c.£95,000 plus benefits

An introduction to Sheffield Children’s

Sheffield Children’s has been dedicated to providing world class services to children and young people for over 146 years. We are proud of our history and great achievements, we want to build on these to go further and aspire to even greater care and outcomes for the patients and families we serve.

We are an integrated Trust, providing physical and mental health care in a wide range of acute and community settings to patients locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, with an annual income of circa £298m. We are rated ‘Good’ by the CQC and have many areas of outstanding practice upon which to build as we deliver our strategy ‘Caring Together’.

We are working successfully with our partners including The Children’s Hospital Charity; the Sheffield place-based partnership and the wider South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, including members of the Acute Federation, Mental Health Collaborative and leading a Children and Young People’s Alliance in South Yorkshire. We also hold a strong position within the North East and Yorkshire’s Children’s and Young People’s Transformation Programme and have a major role in the national Children’s Hospital Alliance.

As well as having enormous pride in what we do, we are a friendly, welcoming and ambitious Trust. One of our three strategic aims is to create a brilliant place to work for all. Every day patients and their families tell us how caring and compassionate our 3,800 colleagues have been, and how they’ve been made to feel safe and at home with us. Professionally many of our clinicians are amongst the best in their fields, with some recognised nationally and internationally for their expertise. Indeed, outstanding patient care and being a leader in children’s health are our other two strategic aims.

Within the next few years, we have exciting plans to go even further, including building a new helipad supporting our role as a Paediatric Major Trauma Centre, digitalising our patient systems and creating new innovative care models with a focus on communities and population health. We have recently agreed a five-year Clinical Strategy and will also deliver the first National Centre for Child Health Technology on the Olympic Legacy Park which will build on our reputation as a leader in research and give us the opportunity for a new site for clinical services. You will join at a time we will be delivering on these projects and working towards the celebrations of our 150^th year in 2026.

The role

The Trust is looking to recruit a Communications and Marketing Director to join our dynamic and ambitious Executive Team of Directors. This newly created role will be responsible for bringing these functions together and cementing a unified brand proposition for the Trust, working alongside our Charity. Sheffield Children’s is seeking an exceptional individual with significant experience in strategic and high-level operational marketing, communications and brand leadership.

This is an exciting and challenging role, covering a broad span of external relations, including employer branding, digital and traditional marketing, internal communications, media relations, widening participation, public relations and engagement. The post holder will have a close working relationship with the Chief Executive and work closely with the Board and as part of the Executive Team to build affinity for the Trust among a wide range of audiences.

The role of the Director will be to lead on the development of the Trust’s public positioning and profile, engaging and influencing audiences locally, nationally and internationally, promoting our key messages and the institutional narrative, whilst ensuring the Trust’s brand is recognised and embedded consistently across Sheffield, South Yorkshire, nationally and internationally.

A key member of the Trust’s Executive Team, the postholder will be the internal champion for external relations, and will bring significant experience of leading marketing, brand development, crisis management, supporting exceptional colleague and stakeholder engagement. This includes the further development of our Youth Forum. You will develop internal communication strategies, developing the team and functions in a complex and partnership-driven organisation.

The postholder will be an experienced, intellectually strong, senior level communicator and marketing leader. They will have the drive and determination to secure high levels of exposure for the Trust, enhancing Sheffield Children’s reputation and ensuring it stands out in the sector.

Whilst knowledge and experience of the NHS may be an advantage, the Trust is open to candidates from the private sector and other areas of the public sector. The Trust is also committed to recruiting a more diverse senior team and welcomes applications from people with backgrounds or heritage currently under-represented at senior levels in the Trust.

Key Responsibilities

To provide strategic leadership to a communications and marketing team, acting as the accountable officer for this service, and working closely with The Children’s Hospital Charity.
To develop a world class communications and marketing function and team to showcase Sheffield Children’s within the NHS, the UK and around the world.
To develop and implement the Trust’s communication, marketing and engagement strategies.
To further develop the role and function of the Youth Forum
To provide professional advice, expertise and leadership on all aspects of communication and stakeholder engagement to the Board and Executive Team.
To develop the Trust brand and reputation.
To ensure our values are effectively communicated in all marketing and communication.

Primary Duties include (but not limited to):

Marketing, Communications and External Affairs

Serve as the brand manager for the Trust. Ensure brand integrity, compliance, consistency of message and clear connection to brand identity.
Develop and implement annual strategic marketing and communication plan – includes plans for target market, increase brand awareness.
Direct the development and content for internal and external marketing and communications, press releases, social media, website, mobile apps and on-line presence.
Engage regularly with Executive Team to ensure alignment on Trust and team priorities. Support leadership through development of internal and external communications.
Develop procedures, standards and policies around media management, events, VIP visits, corporate identity, patient communications and other areas of communications and ensure they are applied consistently and appropriately.
Ensure that the behaviour framework of the Trust is reflected in all communications, and that our corporate identity is applied consistently.
Ensure that publicity/marketing materials are of a high standard and accessible to and appropriate for relevant audiences as well as reflecting the diversity of the communities served by the Trust.
Be responsible for the development of an effective website for the Trust.
Help identify, coordinate and/or develop media awareness training programmes for all colleagues.
Lead community engagement initiatives, planning and/or attending community events on behalf of the Trust, both virtually and in-person, including occasional nights and weekends.
Advise the Trust Board and Executive Team on media strategy and handling in order to ensure positive outcomes for the Trust by overseeing press releases, interviews, consultation responses, statements and briefings.
Develop and maintain positive relationships with the media on behalf of the Trust.
Provide advice to on-call managers and directors on media issues out of hours.
Ensure that the Trust’s views are appropriately represented at all times by overseeing press releases, interviews, consultation responses, statements, Freedom of Information requests from the media, and ministerial briefings.
Managing colleagues/partners appropriately in representing the Trust’s views when posting on personal/professional social media.
Give accurate and timely responses to media enquiries and monitor media coverage to develop and protect the Trust’s reputation.
Write and coordinate crisis communications for the Trust.
Ensure proper storage of photos and database of patient/subject consents.
Responsible for providing leadership to all team members, providing assistance for delivery of work as necessary.
Provide coaching, support and guidance to team members and enable a collaborative, innovative and transparent working environment. Ensure the provision of regular supervision, objective setting, appraisal and personal development plans for all team members.
Be responsible for highly complex, timely, clear efficient strategic and operational communications to internal and external audiences, to be conducted using a range of recognised channels and communications methods suited to the target audience.
Develop and gain executive team alignment to the three-year communications marketing strategy and annual plan. Write an annual business case for the marketing plan.

Internal communications

Provide communication advice to directors, clinicians and managers and develop an appropriate internal communications programme.
Manage the strategy for internal communications which ensures relevant and timely communication for all colleague groups and delivers key corporate messages reflecting the Trust’s strategy, vision, objectives and behaviour framework.
Oversee the content of all internal communications.
Work with the colleague engagement lead to develop a strategic, two-way internal communication approach that keeps colleagues engaged and informed.
Ensure internal communications enable colleagues to understand the Trust’s strategy, vision, ambitions and culture and behaviour framework.
Ensure internal communications make colleagues feel valued and involved.
Develop and promote effective communications mechanisms to all Trust employees.
Ensure that communication links and strong relationships are developed with all services to ensure they have an opportunity to develop their internal and external profiles.
Manage internal crisis communications.

Public Relations

Develop and operationalise annual media advocacy plan.
Proactively pitch priority messages to media.
Enhance media engagement through formal stewardship programme.
Coordinate interview and meeting logistics; develop briefings for spokespeople; develop key messages and talking points; and prepare spokespeople for interviews.

Project Management

Handle multiple projects simultaneously including task delegation, project oversight, and resource allocation.
Manage ads campaigns and manage and spend budgets.
Prepare and report on return on investment, advertising reach, Google Analytics, as well as other reports as needed.
Oversee the work of vendors, advertising agency and partners on marketing, advertising and brand initiatives.
To undertake, interpret and respond to insight/research, ensuring that the communications service meets the demands/preferences of stakeholders.

Leadership

Support the ongoing development of an organisational culture that effectively engages with colleagues, patients and the wider health and local community to improve clinical, quality and safety outcomes, including both patient and colleague experience.
Promote the Trust’s We CARE values through leadership by example, exemplifying the behavioural standards that underpin these and ensuring that the Trust is fully inclusive in its approach to people.
Act as a role model in the promotion of a culture that is patient and quality/safety focused, where the highest standards of quality care are delivered according to the best available evidence.
Ensure the leadership and management development of colleagues within the Communications and Marketing function is undertaken in line with the Trust leadership model and includes career paths / succession planning.
Contribute to the development and maintenance of comprehensive assurance systems that effectively deliver clinical and corporate governance through accountability frameworks, ensuring compliance and appropriately managing all risks.
Actively promote equality, diversity and inclusiveness in service delivery and employment, including in the tackling of health inequalities.
Contribute to the Trust’s Talent Management and Succession Planning programmes – identifying, supporting and nurturing talent at all levels.

On Call

Participate in and fulfil the requirements of the communications on-call arrangements.

General

Demonstrate and role model the behaviours that are consistent with the values of the Trust and the Trust’s Culture and Behavior Framework, Lead with CARE.
Comply with the Fit and Proper person requirements set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
This job description is neither definitive nor exhaustive. It may be reviewed in the light of changing circumstances following consultation with the post holder.