Requirements
Experience and qualifications
- Exceptional leadership and team management experience gained in a complex, private, public or third sector organisation.
- Experience of engaging complex stakeholder groups including those within government or the wider public sector to increase an organisation’s influence.
- Representational experience at a senior level and with the media.
- Experience of strategy development, implementation and evaluation, ideally as part of a senior leadership team, including of working with a Board.
- High level people management experience with the confidence to delegate, resolve conflict, tackle difficult issues openly and admit mistakes.
- Evidence of an ability to lead on building sustainable relationships.
- A proven commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and how to enable positive change in an organisation.
Knowledge
- A senior communications professional, from any sector, with the ability to lead across the spectrum of the British Academy’s wide communications portfolio.
- Significant experience in leading proactive and reactive strategic communications.
- Outstanding advocacy, presentation and interpersonal skills to promote and represent the Academy to a diverse set of audiences and stakeholders both nationally and internationally.
- Clear understanding of managing resource and ambition to deliver objectives, and an ability to make and justify decisions to prioritise, deprioritise, or discontinue activity.
- The ability to work in a Director role in a Fellowship organisation.
- A blend of performance management and interpersonal skills to get the best out of a team individually and collectively.
- Knowledge of or interest in higher education and research.
Skills
- A strong understanding of brand and marketing.
- A strategic and innovative big picture thinker and doer.
- The ability to communicate clearly and concisely in writing and in person.
- The ability to make critical decisions, and to be able to justify them.
- Good analytical and diagnostic skills.
- Vision, creativity, energy, commitment.
- Strong decision-making skills in the face of uncertainty.
Personal style and behaviours
- A commitment to the vision of the Academy and to the public value of the humanities and social sciences.
- Strong self-awareness, resilience, and a high level of integrity and honesty.
- Objectivity and sound judgement, allied to common sense and a sense of proportion.