Head of National Influencing

About The Role
Interview date: 7th November
 
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
 
The Head of National Influencing is critical to our mission to make dementia the priority it needs to be.  This is way more than a typical public affairs job.  In fact, it’s not a typical public affairs job at all.  We do things differently here.  We don’t carp from the side-lines and moan about how bad everything is.  Instead, we develop overwhelming, evidence and policy-based cases for change which we deploy based on our deep understanding of a complex, constantly adapting system across multiple nations.

Dementia is a whole system challenge so it demands a whole system approach.  That means our Head of National Influencing needs to determine key decisionmakers capable of shaping national policy across England, Northern Ireland and Wales, and then engaging them directly with an overwhelming case for change.  Understanding the system is paramount, as is deploying evidence and policy in the most impactful way.  Essential to the success of the role – and the success of the whole team – is the need to plan and deliver a highly integrated influencing strategy alongside our Head of Local Systems Influencing.  Integration and teamwork is everything in this role – with colleagues internally and with the system externally.  

You’ll have the privilege of leading a big team spread across three nations, and be part of an even larger Evidence, Policy & Influencing function which is laser-focused on ending the devastation of dementia through changing policy.  We take an evidence-based approach to all our work, we focus on impact rather than activity, and the Head of National Influencing is a key role model for how we go about our business.  That includes the most important aspect of this role: leading our people.  With joint responsibility for the whole team’s (not just your team’s!) culture and performance shared between you and our other department heads, the development of our talent is central to the impact we want to make.
 
You will:

- Develop and lead a large team of professionals straddling three nations, while taking responsibility with your peers for the development of the whole Evidence, Policy & Influencing team
- Measure and report on performance and impact rather than activity
- Role model a 3 nations approach to our work
- Drive integration across the team and wider organisation
- Use evidence and policy to create highly impactful cases for change leading to national policy change
- Be responsible for our awareness and compliance with rules around lobbying
- Work with teams across the Society to optimise supporter journeys
- Make us a highly authoritative thought leader in the research, health and care environment
- Provide proactive, high quality analyses of the national external environment to inform strategic decision-making

About you
We need a credible, authoritative leader able to personally influence top decisionmakers and colleagues alike.  

You’ll be someone who is – or aspires to be – a thought and system leader in their own right, pragmatic about the complexities, imperfections and challenges in the system in which we operate.  In fact, you’ll enjoy the challenge of plotting our path through the system we’re trying to change.  You’ll love working with people with different perspectives to challenge your own thinking and ultimately share responsibility for the work of a dynamic, constantly developing team of amazing professionals.  

You’ll have a clear understanding that integration of our influencing work nationally and locally, across strategic evidence gathering, policy development and into the wider work of the Society is key to making the impact.  Above all, you’ll be someone who strives for excellence and who role-models vulnerability, transparency, teamwork and adaptability.
In this role, you have the opportunity to – alongside your team – do genuinely career-defining work in an area of policy which demands innovative, focused and different ways of making change.  The scope for making that change, and personally making it happen, is huge.  We have loads to do and we need someone with the drive, intellect and intolerance for the status quo to help us achieve our goals. 

You are:

- An experienced and inspiring leader who can instil a high challenge, high support culture
- An expert in the external policy environment and are comfortable working across multiple UK nations.
- Comfortable with change, ambiguity and leading major programmes of work
- Highly accountable, able to handle lots of responsibility
- Open and collaborative, able to work across team and geographical boundaries to do things better
- Committed to continuous, evidence-based improvement 
- Curious and enthusiastic about never accepting the status quo when it comes to making things better for people living with dementia
- Up for debate, alternative perspectives and different ways of doing things to achieve impact.