Senior External Affairs Manager

Posting date:	02 October 2025
Salary:	£42,360 to £50,866 per year
Additional salary information:	Leeds: £42,360- £46,976 London: £46,612- £50,866
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	16 October 2025
Location:	Leeds
Company:	Government Recruitment Service
Job type:	Temporary
Job reference:	429914/1

Summary

In the Department of Health and Social Care, we are proud of our purpose – to enable everyone to live more independent, healthier lives for longer. To achieve this, and create a great place to work, we have four values: we are inclusive, we constantly improve, we challenge, and we are agile. If this sounds like an environment you would like to work in, we would love to hear from you.

The Communications Directorate leads the conversation about health and care by engaging people through innovative communications, supporting improvements to the health of the nation and the running of the NHS. However, we cannot achieve this mission without working with our health and care stakeholders.

The External Affairs team builds and maintains trusted relationships with a range of influential organisations and individuals to create an awareness and understanding of government policies. The team proactively engage with DHSC’s stakeholders who represent what the department’s audiences are thinking and feeling, as well as gathering and analysing insight to improve the impact of DHSC communications.

You will play a key role in building strong working relationships with a range of organisations and individuals, gathering stakeholder intelligence to help deliver effective communications and engagement campaigns for departmental announcements, Ministerial engagements and support the development of policy engagement plans.

This work is high profile, fast paced and ever changing so the role will suit a self-motivated, intellectually creative and persuasive person who can spot opportunities and take responsibility for achieving them.

DHSC Communications Directorate is looking for a Senior External Affairs Manager to join one of the biggest and busiest departments and work on some of the Government’s and public’s top priorities, as part of the Plan for Change.

Working as a Senior External Affairs Manager for Government Communications is an exciting, inspiring opportunity that will challenge and develop you as a professional communicator. You will be working on impactful initiatives, helping to shape communications on issues that directly influence communities and everyday lives across the country.

We are looking for a proactive and skilled individual to drive the delivery of high-quality stakeholder engagement across priority policy areas. In this role you will build, develop and maintain effective relationships with a diverse range of key stakeholders, contribute to strategic communications planning, and support senior leaders and Ministers in their engagement activities.

The External Affairs team builds and maintains trusted relationships with a range of influential organisations and individuals to create an awareness and understanding of government policies. The team proactively engage with DHSC’s stakeholders who represent what the department’s audiences are thinking and feeling, as well as gathering and analysing insight to improve the impact of DHSC communications.

You will work within a fast-paced environment, responding quickly to changing priorities while maintaining strategic focus. This role requires excellent judgement, strong interpersonal skills, and the ability to navigate complex policy landscapes while building trusted relationships with diverse stakeholders.

As part of the wider External Affairs team, you will contribute to an integrated approach to stakeholder management, ensuring consistent messaging and maximising the impact of our engagement activities.

About Government Communications

By joining a communications team, you will become a member of Government Communications, a well-established profession of communicators working in government departments, agencies and arm’s-length bodies. You’ll benefit from continuous professional development from our new learning and development curriculum, a network of skilled communicators sharing best practice, mentoring opportunities, and more!

For more information on how becoming a part of the Government Communications profession can support your career and development please visit our careers page.

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