Rail - Public Affairs Officer - Endeavour Square

Public affairs officer

Purpose of the Job

To manage the public affairs activity in support of the overall company communications and stakeholder strategy and lead on specific subject areas.

Principal Accountabilities

• Build and maintaining the project reputation and trust with political and business audiences.
• Support the Public Affairs Manager, Head of External Affairs and Chief of Staff in the delivery of national, regional and London government, political and business liaison.
• Implement a defined portfolio of key work streams and associated engagement programmes working closely with the Chairman, CEO and Executive team.
• Monitor and research government, Parliamentary and other political activity, speeches, policy announcements and project related issues, and prepare briefings, presentations and responses for key individuals and teams within company.
• Work closely with the Community Relations Manager to support the delivery of an engagement programme with Borough leaders and Officers, as well as support issues resolution with local communities across the route.
• Support the organisation and senior personnel through political enquires and scrutiny from Government and non-Governmental Bodies as well as London Assembly and Parliamentary Committees.
• Support the daily liaison for the project route engagement for Public Affairs, including working closely with the community relations team and Network Rail as well as route MPs' offices and the London Assembly.
• Deliver key stakeholder visits to company worksites; including responding to all enquiries, checking for suitability; prioritising visits, and coordinating as required. Manage the logistics of site visits, ensuring health and safety is accounted for at every stage.
• Source and brief company spokespeople for public presentations and speeches ensuring presentation material is appropriate for the specific audience
• Arrange and attend meetings with the CEO, Chairman and Executive members as appropriate
• Keep an up to date record of engagement and issues log with key political stakeholders and draft letters and responses to enquiries
• Support company's engagement with the company APPG, ensuring is the delivery of an active and engaging programme
• Support the arrangements for the annual High-Level Forum and Planning Forum, including providing briefing support for the CEO, Chairman, Deputy Chairman, Mayor and company Minister
• Manage engagement with other external audiences such as business groups and international audiences
• Undertake out of hour's on-call external affairs responsibilities.
• Take reasonable care of your own and others' health and safety and of those who may be affected in the day-to-day delivery of this role by taking personal responsibility for working to the company Target Zero principles.
• Co-operate with company in all matters relating to health and safety, including following safe working procedures at all times.
• Act as a role model for company's vision and values, behaving in ways that are in alignment with company's Ways of Working. Encourage and support others to do so too.
• Promote equality in the workplace and adopt appropriate behaviour when interacting with colleagues.
• Take necessary care to properly protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of corporate information from unauthorised disclosure, modification or destruction. Never knowingly put company's information or information systems at risk.

Main challenges of the job

• Understanding the key challenges and opportunities arising from the delivery of the Company project
• Understanding and managing complex political and government stakeholder relationships and understand issues relating to relevant government and political audiences
• Understanding of the wider strategic industry challenges and approaches including productivity, skills, innovation, procurement, sustainability and exports
• Supporting the CEO, Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Executive Group in their engagement with key political stakeholders
• Work to tight deadlines while continuing to provide a consistently high standard of work
• Effectively communicating complex and detailed information in a clear, concise and compelling way, understanding the needs of different audiences
• Able to communicate with people at all levels of the organisation and in all disciplines
• Ability to work on own initiative with minimal guidance as well as collaboratively, prioritising own workload and reacting flexibly to changing issues and agenda
• Understanding and handling the competing, and sometimes conflicting needs of multiple stakeholders
• Maintaining a robust contact programme and associated records
• Prioritising Health and Safety at every stage when planning site visits.

Person Specification

• Demonstrable and in-depth knowledge and experience of the mechanics of the GLA, Westminster and Whitehall including London government / politics.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and influencing skills.
• Ability to produce written material to a high standard in a clear and concise manner.
• Ability to brief stakeholders effectively on complex and technical issues.
• Demonstrate a high degree of organisation and creativity.
• Good IT skills - Word, Excel and Powerpoint.
• Knowledge of the rail industry and/or major infrastructure projects.
• An understanding of the company Act 2008 and appreciation of legislative requirements.