Head of External Relations

Job Introduction

We have big ambitions for NNL’s future, including turning up the volume on our reputation and profile with external stakeholders. And that’s where you come in. 

Heading up a new team dedicated to making the most of our existing good reputation, you’ll lead our external relations work, supported by our public affairs agency. 

We’re a purpose-driven organisation - nuclear science to benefit society; we need the right people to connect with our ambition. As the importance of nuclear science grows, driven by population growth, increasing demand for energy, and the need to vastly reduce our carbon footprint, so the value and profile of our work will increase. 

As a new role there’s lots of groundwork to do. You’ll be starting with a blank sheet of paper to create our approach, process strategy, and plans. We’ll expect you to provide influential and trusted advice to our executive team and senior leaders.

This is a brilliant opportunity for someone with a passion for communicating technical messages to a variety of audiences to demonstrate how external relations can add real value to an organisation. Come and be a part of our future. 

If you would like to know more about this role - please click here.

This role can be based across any of NNL's sites but will generally be focused on the North West of England

Main Responsibilities

Here’s what we’ll expect from you:

• Establish your network within key organisations so you have relationships that can support the delivery of NNL’s purpose and business objectives.
• Give us the benefit of your wisdom in the form of proactive and strategic advice to the NNL executive team and senior leaders on stakeholder engagement and handling, and develop a programme of high quality engagement events to support this. 
• Craft NNL’s strategic engagement roadmap.
• Conceive and develop stakeholder handling and engagement approaches for high-profile, complex, and often challenging issues.
• Produce briefings and communications material for key audiences, such as businesses, academia, and industry organisations, to promote better understanding of key issues and initiatives.
• Use internal and external networks to keep abreast of developments in fields such as clean energy, nuclear energy, nuclear remediation, innovation, and others, to help identify and share opportunities for NNL to better achieve its purpose.
• Gather intelligence and analyse the effectiveness of external engagement to help inform current and future engagement approaches.
• Champion the establishment of common engagement principles and best practice to improve the quality of stakeholder engagement across the breadth of the organisation.
• Demonstrate excellent project management skills, including planning and prioritisation.
• Attend relevant events and represent NNL in external settings as appropriate.
• Be flexible enough to support the wider communications team in your work, including some internal communications work, in response to workload and capacity requirements within the team.
• Manage a budget to support delivery of activity, and manage external suppliers as required

The Ideal Candidate

Your current experience needs to cover:

• Proven ability to communicate with clarity and engage with stakeholders across a range of seniority, internally and externally.
• Evidence of delivering world-class communications and championing best practice stakeholder engagement ideally in technical or scientific environments.
• Experience in External Affairs/government relations and/or communications, with experience of UK politics, advocacy and policy. 
• The ability to perform under pressure and meet tight deadlines as well as managing longer term work. 
• Experience of working co-operatively effectively within both a small team and across the wider organisation.
• Evidence of managing and directing stakeholder management processes in a variety of environments.

The successful candidate is likely to be educated to degree level but candidates with corresponding “on the job” experience will also be considered.

You’ll need demonstrable experience in stakeholder and public engagement.

Ideally you will also have an understanding of the national and international nuclear landscape, including academia, industry, government, and multinational organisations.

About The Company

Do you want to be part of the future? At the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) we push the boundaries of science, technology, and innovation to ensure nuclear can continue to fulfil its vital role as a cornerstone of green industrial Britain and as a future enabler of carbon Net Zero.

We are recruiting for some key roles that will help to shape our organisation’s next phase of development.

NNL is unique, successful, and internationally recognised for good reason. Our science, technology and innovation are at our core. We offer an unrivalled breadth of technical solutions through our people, facilities, and equipment.

Nuclear science is everywhere– from x-rays and cancer treatment through providing the fuel sources for space exploration, to supplying almost 20% of the UK’s power needs. Nuclear power generation especially, will become even more important to the UK as we move away from relying on fossil fuels. If you want to be part of this incredible future, now’s your chance.

NNL has a vision for Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (ED&I) where NNL aims to be an inclusive workplace that attracts diverse talent through transparent and equal policies and procedures. We want you and the diverse mix of people that we employ, customers that we service and stakeholders that we influence to feel valued. We encourage a workplace culture where everyone can thrive with a sense of belonging.