As a Meridian Policy Manager at HS2 you will deliver political and wider stakeholder engagement programmes that build confidence in the HS2 project, enhance the reputation of HS2 Ltd and enable the delivery of the new high-speed railway. You will build, maintain and improve relationships with key stakeholders – including national, regional and local politicians, business groups, industry stakeholders and international representatives.
About the role:
- Build, maintain and improve relationships with identified key stakeholders to build understanding, co-operation, support, and advocacy;
- Manage meetings, events and other engagement activities to support the delivery of Meridian Policy engagement programmes and the wider External Affairs Plan;
- Organise and deliver stakeholder visits to HS2 construction sites and our supply chain, working across External Affairs teams to maximise communications and engagement opportunities;
- Prepare clear and concise briefings, presentations and reports to support the delivery of Meridian Policy engagement plans;
- Manage proactive and reactive correspondence with identified key stakeholders ensuring all responses are timely, accurate and of high quality in both tone and content;
- Proactively identify opportunities to involve key stakeholders in the project and work with colleagues across HS2 to plan and deliver engagement activities;
- Provide political monitoring, intelligence and insight to inform and advise the External Affairs Directorate and wider business;
- Develop and maintain an overview of the politics, stakeholder issues and activities in identified areas, identifying and feeding back into the business key risks and opportunities;
- Act as an external advocate for the organisation, attending networking events, building relationships and promoting activity to support HS2 Ltd objectives and help deliver the programme;
- Work with the Head of Meridian Policy and Senior Meridian Policy Mangers to support the Senior Leadership Team’s engagement with external stakeholders, including speaker opportunities;
- Work as part of the Meridian Policy rota, performing on-call out of hours duties when required.
About You:
Skills:
- Able to work with external audiences to build understanding and political support;
- Able to build trust and collaborative working relationships with key internal and external stakeholders;
- Able to produce clear, persuasive written and verbal communications, using a range of styles, tools and techniques to tailor to the audience;
- Able to influence and communicate with both internal and external audiences, including MPs and their advisers;
- Able to analyse complex issues and provide clear and consistent advice, intelligence and briefings, including to senior colleagues;
- Able to manage own workload and competing stakeholder priorities to meet agreed deadlines;
- Able to respond effectively to reputational issues or crisis communications incidents
Knowledge:
- Knowledge of local, regional and national political and industry stakeholders;
- Knowledge of how UK Parliament works and an understanding of the most effective methods of engaging with politicians at a local, regional and national level;
- Knowledge of the planning and parliamentary processes;
- Understanding of the political environment within which HS2 operates;
- Understanding of how to build support with and through wider audiences.
Types of Experience:
- Experience of designing and delivering Meridian Policy plans and campaigns;
- Experience of working with political and industry stakeholders within a contentious or complex environment;
- Experience of engaging with MPs, Peers and political influencers;
- Experience of providing advice on Meridian Policy and reputation management;
- Experience of developing persuasive content across a range of communications channels;
- Experience of delivery against challenging timescales and developing requirements;
- Experience of working on infrastructure projects of similar scale, scope and complexity.
Location: This role can be based in either Birmingham or London and is a Hybrid role.
Salary: Base salary: £38,550 - £45,350 (Birmingham) or £41,750 - £49,100 (London) depending on skills and experience. In addition, we offer flexible benefits fund of 15% which is paid on top base salary and is fully pensionable, as well as a range of competitive benefits - check them out in the Benefits section on our website.