Public Affairs Officer

Purpose of the Job

To manage the public affairs activity in support of the overall 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 the 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 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 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 engagement with the 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 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 Target Zero principles.

Co-operate in all matters relating to health and safety, including following safe working procedures at all times.

Act as a role model for vision and values, behaving in ways that are in alignment with 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 information or information systems at risk.

Main challenges of the job

Understanding the key challenges and opportunities arising from the delivery of the 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.