Senior Engagement Manager - 12 Month Fixed Term Contract

Job Introduction

Role

The Senior Engagement Manager will be embedded within an area-based delivery team and will report directly into the Consents & Engagement Area Lead.

The Senior Engagement Manager will oversee and develop a small team of Community Engagement Managers and their Community Engagement Officer-level staff, and will be responsible for coordinating all community engagement over a specific geographic remit with the support of the Community Engagement Managers, setting engagement strategies and reporting mechanisms to support the Consents & Engagement Area Lead, and identify where targeted and high quality engagement practices are required to meet the needs of the construction project.

The role works closely with the Planning Consents Manager and Highway Consents Manager to ensure that high quality engagement plans are in place to support statutory consents and will represent and defend the project to external bodies, to achieve consents in time to commence works.

The role will deputise for the Consents & Engagement Area Lead when required for reporting purposes and establish good working relationships with senior delivery directors, core services directors, and the project client, with sound understanding of contractual processes. The role will also be expected to represent the project in negotiations with third parties where bespoke agreements are required in a politically sensitive environment.

With a complete understanding of our works, stakeholders, programme, the main works civils contract, and obligations under the HS2 Act including detailed knowledge of Undertakings and Assurances, the Senior Engagement Manager will provide advice and support to the broader team to ensure we manage risk and meet our objectives.

An important part of the role will be to monitor and report on the effectiveness of our engagement programme, seeking feedback from our stakeholders and community members for use in improving and adapting our engagement approach.

Role Responsibility

• Developing, delivering, maintaining and reporting on engagement strategies, plans, communications, events and other activities
• Overseeing and developing a small team to engage with consent granting bodies, key stakeholders, local community members, charities, businesses, and schools
• Enquiries and complaints management
• Meeting our strategic key performance indicators for enquiry response times and engagement plans
• Special projects as required such as process automation, community legacy and establishing frameworks in response to an expanding project scope
• Ensuring compliance with all commitments under the HS2 Act and main works civils contract
• Acting as deputy for the Consents and Engagement Area Lead as required

Key deliverables

• Engagement strategy and implementation
• Team leadership
• Effective enquiries and complaints process and management
• Reporting
• Stakeholder and community feedback mechanism
• Input to project-wide deliverables
• Compliance with project commitments
• Budget and programme management

The Ideal Candidate

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Detailed understanding of high-profile infrastructure projects and/or a strong communications and engagement background in a highly regulated sector.
• Strategic planning and management ability with demonstrated experience leading a team in the development and delivery of external engagement programmes.
• Excellent MS Excel skills and experience in, or ability to learn, preferred data and task management platforms such as MS Planner, Sharepoint lists and PowerBI or similar.
• Technologically competent with the ability to
  • capitalise on BIM, GIS and innovation specialists within the team
  • produce high-quality communications materials for physical and virtual channels
  • actively seek to implement efficiencies and improvements
  • oversee database management including reporting and improvements
• Ability to
  • understand and meet contractual responsibilities and strategic key performance indicators
  • ensure compliance with the obligations of the HS2 Act and contract, in particular HS2’s undertakings and assurances to external stakeholders

Desirable qualifications & skills

• Project management expertise
• Tertiary qualification in communications
• Membership of relevant association

SCS Railways