Are you passionate about building strong relationships and driving meaningful engagement across political landscapes? The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is looking for a dynamic and politically astute professional to lead and deliver high-impact engagement with Elected Members and Local Authorities across the region. This role sits at the heart of strategic collaboration, supporting the delivery of major corporate priorities and ensuring WMCA is represented with clarity, professionalism, and purpose. As a senior engagement lead, youll manage complex stakeholder relationships, coordinate impactful events and communications, and champion continuous improvement across the organisation. Youll be a trusted advisor, a confident communicator, and a visible advocate for the WMCAs work, ensuring our voice is heard and our partnerships thrive. What you will be doing. Identify and manage internal stakeholders to support member and local authority engagement. Collaborate with Communications and Public Affairs teams for integrated local authority engagement. Lead delivery of Councillor Visits, Induction, Training, and Mayoral Surgeries. Manage engagement with Non-Constituent Chief Executives. Align engagement activities with the WMCA Annual Business Plan. Coordinate politically sensitive engagement to support successful Board outcomes. Monitor and interpret Local Authority plans and political developments for proactive engagement. Represent Mayor and WMCA interests in communications with Local Authority partners. Build strong relationships across WMCA and with external stakeholders. Coach colleagues on effective engagement with elected members and authorities. Brief Senior Leaders ahead of Local Authority meetings and support their attendance when needed. Oversee team-wide engagement activity and ensure delivery standards are met. Maintain and utilise CRM data to track stakeholder views and identify engagement gaps. Evaluate Councillor engagement impact and report trends for improvement. Support complex Councillor casework and correspondence resolution. Plan and deliver member induction, development, and training. Organise Member Visits in collaboration with external bodies. Monitor engagement opportunities via Local Authority plans and programmes. Support stakeholder strategy delivery for constituent and non-constituent authorities. Ensure accuracy and follow-up of WMCA reports presented to Local Authorities. Respond to urgent operational or communications issues, including out-of-hours. What you need. Degree level of education or equivalent experience. Evidence of working with and understanding Elected Members needs. Evidence of taking a senior role within multi-disciplinary teams to achieve a common goal. Able to demonstrate an understanding of how scrutiny works in a local authority setting, and its impact on decision-making. Evidence of working with and managing the needs of a variety of stakeholders. Able to demonstrate professional level written skills and coordinating responses to external stakeholders. Experience working in a political environment, able to demonstrate discretion and confidentiality when working with political figures and other senior stakeholders. Evidence of organising visits and preparing relevant briefing materials. Experience supporting senior leadership or political stakeholders across multiple departments or organisations, including coordinating briefings, visits or communications. Ability to act on initiative, to work under pressure and exercise own judgement. Good understanding of the organisational landscape of the local public sector in the West Midlands. Highly developed communication skills with the proven ability to lead, influence, negotiate and challenge colleagues. Highly organised, able to prioritise and handle change, and be able to work effectively under pressure and to deadlines. Political awareness, with the ability to anticipate and respond to reputational risk in a high-profile public sector setting. Ability to communicate confidently and diplomatically with senior political figures and internal leaders in pressured situations. Location. The location for this role is 16 Summer Lane, Birmingham, B19 3SD with at least 2 days a week spent in the office. How to apply. Applying for a role with WMCA is straight forward. Follow these steps to get started. Create your Careers Account. Register with your name, email address, and a password. Build your Profile. Upload your CV to help populate your career and education details. Write your Supporting Statement.
Make sure to address each of the required essential criteria. Submit your application.
Do one final check and once complete, click submit. Anonymised Applications. Your uploaded CV wont be visible after submission. Our process is anonymised, and only the information in your profile is used for shortlisting. Be thorough in each section. its your chance to showcase your skills and experience. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) We cannot stop anyone from using AI help write application content. Used right, it can be a great tool. If you choose to use AI, then use it as a helper rather than relying on it wholly to write your application. Applications that rely too heavily on AI may be rejected during shortlisting. For help on how to write a supporting statement, please visit the FAQs section of our careers site. Reasonable adjustments. If you have an accessibility need, disability, or condition that means you might require changes to the application or recruitment process, please get in touch with our Recruitment Team (). Salary and benefits. We advertise salary ranges, with new appointments typically starting at the lowest salary point. In exceptional cases, the salary point may be adjusted to secure the best candidate. This approach allows for potential year-on-year salary increases, offering progression and appropriate rewards to employees. Requests for salaries above the maximum advertised range will not be considered. We offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes: Local Government Pension Scheme ( one of the most generous pension schemes in the UK ). 28 days
paid annual leave (with an option to purchase more) EV car benefit scheme Ethical
saving options
and
healthcare plans. Discounted
gym membership, will writing and mortgage advice. An option to
buy a bicycle, including e-bikes and adapted pedal cycles, at a discounted rate. 3 days
of paid leave each year to
volunteer. Interest free financing
through SmartTech to buy the latest technology Discounted shopping
with over 2,000 big-name retailers, and more. For more information, please visit the benefits page on our career site. Why join WMCA? WMCA is laser-focused on improving the West Midlands, bringing economic growth, jobs, homes, and better journeys to the region. We target local needs where it matters most, ensuring everyone has a job that pays well and has access to safe and affordable places they can call home. We put people and place at the heart of everything we do, working hand in hand with our partners to direct funding where it's needed most. What you do, really matters. Your expertise will help make a big difference, improving people's lives, every day. Creating an inclusive workplace. WMCA holds diversity accreditations, such as the RACE Code Quality Mark, Armed Forces Covenant (Gold status) and has been recognised as one of the Inclusive Top 50 Employers and The Times Top 50 Employers for Women. Were a Disability Confident Employer with Leader status, committed to interviewing applicants with disabilities who meet all the essential role criteria. We recognise that certain groups, such as women and people of colour, may be less likely to apply for roles if they feel they do not meet all the requirements. However, we encourage individuals who are passionate about the role and want to make a difference to still apply. We value potential and encourage applicants to highlight their skills, including transferable ones, even if they don't fit the traditional "perfect candidate" mould. We gladly consider part-time, flexible, and job share arrangements, so please don't let these factors deter you from applying Right to Work in the UK Proof of Right to Work in the UK will be required for all applicants in accordance with UK Home Office requirements, before any employment offer can be confirmed. Non-UK applicants (excluding Ireland) would be required to hold a relevant Visa from the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI).
TPBN1_UKTJ