Overview:

We are looking for an experienced and talented Head of Charity Marketing and Communications to develop brand strategies and marketing communications for income generation and engagement. This is an exciting time to be joining the organisation to drive forwards our three newly launched NHS charity brands – Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity, Evelina London Children’s Charity and Guy’s Cancer Charity which raise money for our partner Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

The new brands were created to achieve distinction from the work of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation as a health foundation, investor and funder and enable us to have separation between consumer facing and B2B comms. They launched in late 2021 and so we are in the process of operationalising and embedding them. We have ambitious plans to grow our impact for patients and NHS staff which will require significant income growth. Audience testing suggests that the potential for the new brands is huge, and we are also in the early stages of developing plans grow profile and engagement with supporters and staff across the Trust.Leading a three-brand portfolio is a unique and exciting challenge and will require someone who is passionate about brands, audience insight and storytelling and thrives in a busy and fast-paced environment. We are looking for a motivated and strong leader who can develop, motivate and manage a high performing communication team to deliver great quality and impactful communications, backed by strong policies and processes. The Head of Communications needs to be proactive, highly organised and adept at building high trust and effective relationships with a range of colleagues and stakeholders.The role sits within our Communications and Engagement department, which works in a matrix set up to provide dedicated support across the breadth of the Foundation’s work. It plays a central role in our Charities Team which includes dedicated funding and fundraising teams as well as colleagues embedded in the Trust. Key relationships include the Director of Communications and Director of Digital as well as Heads of Fundraising and Supporter Development and communications and strategy colleagues at Trust. This requires a high comfort level and confidence in working in a matrix organisation across multiple sites and departments.

At Guys and St. Thomas’, care never stands still - so neither can we. So come lead a team that is supporting the transformation and innovation of care for patients, families and staff across Lambeth, Southwark and beyond

About us

Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity, Guy’s Cancer Charity and Evelina London Children’s Charity are part of Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation.  Our collective mission is to build the foundations of a healthier society.

As part of our team, you will work alongside talented people from a mix of personal and professional backgrounds. We are a Living Wage employer and support flexible working, part-time roles and job shares. Though our ambitions are serious, this is a friendly place to work with lots of opportunities to meet and socialise with colleagues. We believe there is immense power in diversity and aim to recruit and nurture talent who think and act differently.

 There is more information about working with us on our website, where you can read about:

•     how we approach recruitment

•     our team, culture and values

•     the benefits of working with us

•     and our approach to diversity, equity & inclusion, health & wellbeing, and learning & development

Overall purpose of the role:

The purpose of this role is to develop and lead a high performing team in the delivery of great quality, high impact marketing, brand and communications to support our funding, fundraising and supporter goals. To lead the development of exceptional brand strategies and communications outputs across our three new charity brands: Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity, Evelina London Children’s Charity and Guy’s Cancer Charity, amplifying our need for charitable funds and the impact of these for the patients, families and staff of Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust.

Key responsibilities:

Team leadership

•          Provide outstanding leadership and direction for the Charity Marketing and Communications team, bringing energy and drive to our ambition

•          To communicate a clear strategic vision for the team that supports the delivery of the overall strategy

•          Manage the team in the day to day delivery and prioritisation of multiple projects ensuring deadlines are met and expectations managed

•          Support the team in trouble-shooting, planning and issues management

•          Promote a culture of learning, striving for continuous improvement and innovation of our approaches and outputs

•          Support the learning and development of the team through ongoing coaching and facilitation of professional development

•          Demonstrate their commitment to our DEI strategy and initiatives and lead by example

Strategy

•          Development and delivery of integrated marketing and brand strategies that increase our profile, build engagement, and drive sustainable growth in income 

•          Work as one team with fundraising colleagues and Trust stakeholders to ensure alignment and successful implementation of plans

•          Combine best practice with leading edge approaches to take our Charity communications and marketing to the next level

 Brand and marketing

•          Lead on the development and ongoing delivery of brand marketing strategies for each of our differentiated three Charity brands, supporting the transition to an audience led approach

•          Maximise innovation and development opportunities in line with strategic priorities, identifying areas for growth and making recommendations for investment that will grow our profile and supporter base

•          Implement and embed our new brand portfolio across our organisation and the Trust including successful application of new brand identities, values, key messages and tone of voice.

•          Develop specific brand awareness and engagement campaigns to communicate the impact of our charitable funding

•          Provide advice to colleagues as a trusted advisor, act as a brand champion and promote GDPR best practice

•          Plan and mitigate against brand and organisational reputational risk and manage crisis communications effectively

Supporter, Media and Trust communications

•          Provide expert advice and guidance to fundraising colleagues on all aspects of brand, marketing and communications to ensure delivery of consistent, high quality outputs

•          Work collaboratively with fundraising, digital and Trust colleagues to develop and deliver a consistent and coordinated end-to-end supporter journey across all channels

•          To ensure teams and colleagues use an audience-led and insight driven approach to communications

•          To ensure that all supporters, donors and Trust staff receive the highest standards of communications including cases for support, reports, proposals and stewardship

•          Lead the team to produce compelling, inspiring and engaging communications about funding opportunities for Trust staff, working with Trust colleagues to maximise internal comms and engagement channels

•          Develop and devise media relations plans, working with team and Trust colleagues to amplify fundraising messages in local, regional and national press

•          Identify and develop plans to mitigate reputational brand risk

•          Support the cultivation and stewardship of celebrity charity brand ambassadors

•          Embed and implement DEI understanding and best practice across our charity communications and channels

 Delivery
•          Leading the team to deliver across brands, through effective project management and prioritisation as well as ensuring alignment of stakeholder expectations against agreed objectives.

•          Effectively collaborate with fundraising, Trust Engagement colleagues and stakeholders to ensure that all communications projects are integrated and are delivered to the highest possible standards.

•          Support fundraising colleagues across Events and Community, Direct Marketing, Corporate, Legacies, Public Fundraising and major giving to deliver on marketing plans for income generation and engagement.

•          Collaborate with the Director of Digital and team to ensure strong performance of our digital channels in support of our Charity brand goals

•          Work across stakeholders and colleagues to develop robust and effective processes and policies for all Charity Marketing and Communications activities.

•          Work with creative, marketing and brand development agencies and freelancers to ensure understanding of the new brands and success of campaigns and brand content

Relationships and collaboration

•          Build a network of strategic relationships with key stakeholders across teams and partners to support a one team approach, integrated planning and effective delivery

•          Helping to promote a culture of philanthropy at the Trust that supports our goals for fundraising and funding. Collaborating and negotiating to overcome any challenges to across the hospital sites

Insights and evaluation

•          Lead on our Charity audience insight work, using and interpreting available data  and sector benchmarks to better understand, target and grow our audiences

•          To lead and develop a rigorous data led approach to comms and marketing, ensuring a focus on audience and return in investment and setting and monitoring relevant and stretching KPIs

•          Regularly assess existing activities, content and plans against strategy and performance

Administration and reporting

•          Manage the team and operational budget and business plan

•          Produce performance and progress reports to support internal monitoring and planning plus updates for our Board of Trustees

•          Playing a proactive role in planning and budgeting to ensure that processes are followed, and reporting is delivered in a timely fashion

•          HR responsibilities associated with line management

Professional development

•          Keep updated on the latest fundraising, marketing and communications innovations and best practice, identifying new opportunities and making appropriate recommendations

•          Maintain up-to-date knowledge of law and regulations surrounding fundraising, marketing, DEI and data protection

•          Ensure continual personal professional development of competency, knowledge and skills

•          Seek and act upon feedback from colleagues

Person Specification

Experience:

•          Significant experience at a senior level in a Charity Communications, PR, Brand or Marketing background is essential

•          Proven track record of developing and implementing effective brand strategies and embedding brands across an organisation

•          Demonstrable experience of marketing and communications activity and/or campaigns that increases income and engagement

•          Experience of managing and developing a high-performing team

•          Exceptional organisational skills to manage a multi-brand portfolio in a fast-paced environment

•          Experience of managing budgets to ensure projects meet departmental, team and personal objectives and KPIs

•          Experience of building high trust and collaborative relationships and managing multiple stakeholders at senior level

•          Experience and understanding of working with diverse audiences and stakeholders

•          Experience of briefing and successfully working with marketing and creative agencies

•          Experience of proactive PR, reactive and crisis communications

•          Strong understanding of the NHS landscape

Desired

·         Experience of working with health, children or cancer charity brands

·         Experience of managing a multiple brand portfolio

Skills, abilities, and knowledge

•          Excellent interpersonal and relationship development skills

•          Inspiring and motivational leadership style

•          Ability to be both a strategic and creative thinker

•          Sophisticated level of problem-solving

•          An excellent eye for detail and upholding high quality standards

•          Ability to plan, deliver and project manage multiple campaigns and projects within budgets and on time

•          Not afraid to get stuck in and be “hands on” when needed

•          Ability to use audience insight and data to inform brand, campaign and fundraising strategies

•          Advanced computer literacy across all standard programmes i.e. Word, Outlook, Excel.

•          A demonstrable understanding of data protection, charity law, fundraising techniques

•          Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills including the ability to work with a range of data to inform strategy

•          Highly proficient at handling multiple deadlines, shifting priorities and rapid change with ease, while maintaining focus on the most important priorities for achieving success

Personal attributes:

•          A motivational leadership style, inspiring and empowering others in a constructive and collaborative way

•          A team player with a collaborative working style and a clear focus on delivering outcomes

•          Passionate about brand strategy and the creative process

•          Energetic, approachable and confident at presenting and negotiating

•          Enjoys managing, developing, coaching and mentoring a team

•          Excellent interpersonal skills

•          Thrives in busy environment, resilient and calm under pressure

•          Proactive, solution focussed and enterprising in their approach

•          Gravitas and confidence to develop close, positive relationships with senior stakeholders.

•          Highly developed communication skills, both written and verbal34esd