Can you build and maintain effective relationships with senior stakeholders across the transport, business and supply chain sectors? Do you have the confidence to influence and advise Ministers and senior leaders Have you built a strong track record in government relations, external affairs, public affairs or communications? If so, we’d love to hear from you! You will be responsible for developing stakeholder handling, engagement plans and visit proposals to deliver Ministerial and senior official priorities. You will build relationships with key stakeholders and represent the Department at meetings and events. You will regularly advise Ministers and senior officials on stakeholder issues, ensuring a consistently strong strategic approach to engagement across the department. You will have line management responsibilities and support senior colleagues in running a successful External Engagement team. The successful candidate will have a background in government relations / external affairs / public affairs and/or communications, with strong influencing skills, the ability to manage competing demands and the confidence to advise leaders on controversial and challenging reputational issues. Joining our department comes with many benefits, including: Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance. Read more in the Benefits section below! Find out more about what it's like working at DfT Communications: Communications - Department for Transport Careers We're looking for an experienced external engagement professional to join our team, leading stakeholder relationships across the transport, business and supply chain sectors. You'll provide strategic advice to Ministers and senior leaders, develop high-quality engagement plans and events, and manage an External Engagement Officer. With a background in government relations, public affairs or communications, you'll champion best practice engagement across the Department and play a key role in delivering our strategic priorities. Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to: 1. Building effective and proactive relationships with key organisations in the transport, business and supply chain sectors to support the Department’s objectives. 2. Supporting the wider External Engagement team to deliver the Department’s strategic engagement strategy, including developing stakeholder handling and engagement plans for high-profile and controversial issues. 3. Providing strategic advice to Ministers and our Executive Committee on stakeholder engagement and handling and develop a programme of high-quality engagement events and visits that highlight Ministerial and Departmental priorities. 4. Managing an External Engagement Officer, supporting them to plan and deliver Ministerial visits and develop their skills and capability. 5. Producing briefings and communications material for key audiences, such as businesses and industry organisations, to promote better understanding of key issues and initiatives. 6. Gathering intelligence and analysing the effectiveness of external engagement to help inform current and future engagement strategies. 7. Championing the establishment of common engagement principles and best practice to improve the quality of stakeholder engagement across the department and its agencies. 8. Assisting policy teams within the Department in the development and delivery of their own stakeholder engagement programmes. Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public. For further information on the role, please read the attached role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process. Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme Disability Confident About Disability Confident A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident .